Caldwell B
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Health Transit Rev. 1996;6 Suppl:45-60.
Sri Lanka has almost completed the demographic transition with low mortality rates and fertility rates approaching replacement levels. Sri Lanka shares these characteristics with the South Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in contrast to elsewhere in South Asia where mortality and especially fertility rates remain much higher. A key part of the explanation for these differences lies in the nature of the family. The Sri Lankan family is essentially the conjugal unit of husband, wife and dependent children whereas in northern South Asia agnatic relations between son and parents are central to family structure. Related to this family system the position of women in Sri Lankan society was relatively high in South Asian terms. Consequently women had a strong say in health and fertility behaviour. When required, for example, mothers take the initiative in seeking health care for themselves and their children. Importantly family structure has facilitated female education which is associated with both mortality and fertility decline. There are few concerns that the values imparted by secular education are contrary to the values of the family or to women's roles within it. The egalitarian family structure has also contributed to fertility decline by raising the costs of children and reducing the long-run benefits to be gained from them. Sri Lanka is particularly distinctive in the contribution of changes in female age at marriage to its fertility decline, marriage age having risen six years this century. This change has been accompanied in recent times by a shift from family-arranged to self-selected (love) marriage. The explanation lies in changes in the socio-economic system which have reduced the centrality of the family in wider social and economic relations, and placed a greater premium on an individual's own abilities and attributes.
斯里兰卡几乎完成了人口转变，死亡率低，生育率接近更替水平。与南亚其他地区死亡率尤其是生育率仍高得多的情况不同，斯里兰卡与印度南部的喀拉拉邦和泰米尔纳德邦具有这些共同特征。对这些差异的一个关键解释在于家庭的性质。斯里兰卡的家庭本质上是由丈夫、妻子和受抚养子女组成的婚姻单位，而在南亚北部，儿子与父母之间的父系关系是家庭结构的核心。与这种家庭制度相关，从南亚的角度来看，斯里兰卡社会中女性的地位相对较高。因此，女性在健康和生育行为方面有很大的发言权。例如，在需要时，母亲会主动为自己和孩子寻求医疗保健。重要的是，家庭结构促进了女性教育，而女性教育与死亡率和生育率下降都有关联。人们很少担心世俗教育所传授的价值观与家庭价值观或女性在家庭中的角色相悖。平等主义的家庭结构还通过提高养育孩子的成本并减少从孩子身上获得的长期利益，促进了生育率的下降。斯里兰卡在女性结婚年龄变化对生育率下降的贡献方面尤为独特，本世纪结婚年龄已上升了六岁。近年来，这种变化伴随着从家庭包办婚姻向自主选择（恋爱）婚姻的转变。其原因在于社会经济制度的变化，这些变化降低了家庭在更广泛社会和经济关系中的核心地位，并更加重视个人自身的能力和特质。
