An Analysis of Fertility Differentials Among The Scheduled Tribes in The Kokrajhar District of Assam, Based on Poisson Regression Technique

The study on the impact of different factors on fertility and determining the groups having higher and lower fertility remains a key interest ‎of policymakers. From such a study, demographers can gain insights into future trends regarding the proportions of different groups in a population. This study aims to investigate the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of children ever born among ‎Scheduled Tribe women in the Kokrajhar district of Assam. Using a stratified random sampling method, the villages within four medical blocks of the Kokrajhar district were chosen. Interviews were conducted with 960 women who had at least one child. In the bivariate ‎and multivariate analyses, one-way ANOVA and Poisson regression were employed. The study found a significant adverse correlation ‎between women’s education and the total number of children ever born. High fertility is linked with women’s age and the utilization of ‎modern contraceptive techniques. The mean number of children ever born in the study region is 1.57 children per woman. Maintaining the ‎fertility rate among the Scheduled Tribes of the study region requires greater focus on using media to highlight the advantages of small ‎families and family planning initiatives‎. List of abbreviations:‎ ‎Child ever born: CEB. ‎Scheduled Tribes: ST. ‎Scheduled Caste: SC. ‎United Nations: UN. ‎Total Fertility Rate: TFR. ‎National Family Health Survey: NFHS. ‎Incidence Rate Ratio: IRR. ‎Negative binomial: NB.