Estimation of parity progression ratios from the distribution of births by order and age of the mother.

"This paper presents a methodology for estimating parity progression ratios (the probability that a woman after delivering...any particular birth will ever proceed to the next birth), utilizing data on births tabulated by birth order and age of the mother in a particular year. This approach...does not need estimates of [gross reproductive rate] as well as the infant mortality rate but it requires knowledge of the growth rate of the population." The technique is illustrated with data from the 1984-1987 Pakistan Fertility Survey.