Page 10 - IJPS-11-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Role of nuptiality patterns to fertility

Table 1. Description of variables and their measurement used in the analysis
Type Name and label Description and measurement Source
Outcome Children ever born (v201) Lifetime fertility of women Individual interview data
(numerical)
Independent Age at first marriage (v511) Age at the start of the first marriage or union is calculated from the start Individual interview data
(numerical) date of the first marriage or union and the date of birth of the respondent.
Independent Age at first birth of baby (v212) All respondents with one or more births had a record of this variable. The Individual interview data
(numerical) respondent’s age at first birth is calculated from the date of first birth and
the date of birth of the respondent.
Independent Age at first sex (v531) Age at first sexual intercourse - imputed. This variable was chosen because Individual interview data
(numerical) it had a complete record in that data editions were made on it, and
inconsistent records were avoided.
Independent Region (V224) The place resident of each respondent along with the regional state Computed
(categorical) (1=Agrarian, 2=Emerging, 3=Mainly urban)
Independent Place of residence (v102) Type of place of residence where the respondent was interviewed, as either Individual interview data
(categorical) urban or rural (1=Urban, 2=Rural)
Independent Educational level (v106) Highest education level attended. This variable shows the level of education Individual interview data
(categorical) in the following categories: 0=No education, 1=Primary, 2=Secondary, and
3=Higher.
Independent Occupation (v717) Respondents’ occupation group classified as 0=Not working (student and Computed from
(categorical) pensioner), 1=Agricultural employee, 2=Industry employee individual interview data
Independent Religion (v130) The religious affiliation of respondents coded as 1=Christians (Orthodox, Computed from
(categorical) Protestant, and Catholic), 2=Muslim, 3=Others individual interview data
Independent Contraceptive use (v302) Ever use of any modern contraceptive use. It will be computed from Computed from
(categorical) interview data and recoded as 0=No (never used a modern method), 1=Yes individual interview data
(used a modern method).
Independent Household wealth (hv271) A composite measure of a household’s cumulative living standard. It Household interview data
(categorical) is calculated using the household’s ownership of selected assets. It is
generated using a statistical procedure known as principal components
analysis. It places individual households on a continuous scale of relative
wealth and all interviewed households into five wealth quintiles (1=Lowest,
2=Lower, 3=Middle, 4=Richer, 5=Richest).
Independent Community affluence Percentage of population living in a well-off household in a community Computed from
(numerical) (enumeration area) household data
Independent Community literacy Percentage of population (age-appropriate) with at least a secondary level Computed from
(numerical) of education in a community (enumeration area) household data

Lifetime fertility transition: The lifetime fertility 2.2. Data processing and analysis
transition typically involves a decline in the average The data were cleaned and analyzed using the STATA
number of children born to women, often influenced by version 16 software. A multivariate Poisson decomposition
factors such as increased educational level, economic model was employed. This model aimed to separate
opportunities, and access to family planning. the change in the average number of children born into
Early marriage: This parameter refers to marriage components attributable to the evolving characteristics of
occurring before the age of 18 without prior engagement women and changes in women’s reproductive behavior.
in premarital sexual activity (PMS). Poisson regression has the advantage of fitting nonlinear
models over linear regression models, including situations
Premarital sex: This parameter refers to instances
where girls engaged in sexual activity outside the context involving the number of occurrences of an event. Poisson
regression with situations in which the dependent variable
of marriage. is counted. Changes in the proportion of the population
Marital stability: PMS reflects number of marital unions have changing characteristics in specific social, economic,
a woman experienced, distinguishing between stable and demographic features, whereas changes in the
single-marriage trajectories and those involving multiple population’s behavior are referred to as changing behaviors
unions due to remarriage or marital dissolution. resulting from changing characteristics. Decomposition

Volume 11 Issue 3 (2025) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.5749