Showing papers on "Fertility published in 1972"
100 citations
TL;DR: The hypothesis that in some less developed countries in Africa and Asia the desire for a minimum number of sons directly affects fertility behavior was tested but the findings fail to support that in countries with strong son preference fertility limitation is affected by the strong desire to ensure the survival of 1 or more sons.
Abstract: The hypothesis that in some less developed countries in Africa and Asia the desire for a minimum number of sons directly affects fertility behavior was tested. 4 groups of existing data from well-conducted sample surveys in countries typified by strong son preference were used. 2 were selected from North India 1 from the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh and 1 from Morocco. The data include the necessary reproductive histories. The findings fail to support the hypothesis that in countries with strong son preference fertility limitation is affected by the strong desire to ensure the survival of 1 or more sons. Actually the families without sons or with a higher proportion of daugh ters tend to have fewer children. In contrast families with more sons are inclined to have higher fertility. If this is true neither the concept that families in such countries are trying to achieve an ideal family size with more sons than daughters in its unit nor the evidence that families in which sterilization or contraceptive use has been accep ted have a preponderance of sons are supported by the findings. However the consideration of fertility limitation as in part a response to demographic pressure the pressure of many dependents on limited family income is consistent with this studys findings. If sons actually do contribute more to family income or impose less of a financi al burden families with a high proportion of sons would feel less demographic pressure to limit families than those with a high proportion of daughters. There would be a tendency toward higher fertility among these families and the need for fertility limitation would become salient later in the reproductive history.
88 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it is suggested that to overcome the twin problems of malnutrition and population, a concerted approach is needed rather than compartmentalised programmes as is so often the case.
83 citations
77 citations
TL;DR: The central fact of the demographic history of early North America is rapid growth, and interpretations of early American demography have centered on the high fertility associated with near universal marriage for women at a low average age.
Abstract: The central fact of the demographic history of early North America is rapid growth Both Canada and the white population of the English colonies experienced increases of 2½ percent per year during the eighteenth century Seventeenth-century rates, beginning from a low base and more influenced by immigration, were even higher In contrast, the expansion of population in early modern Europe rarely exceeded 1 percent per annum over an extended period Since Franklin and Malthus, interpretations of early American demography have centered on the high fertility associated with near universal marriage for women at a low average age The extremely youthful population, high dependency ratio, and one of the largest mean census family sizes ever recorded all follow from the high level of fertility
67 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that the investigations reviewed strongly suggest that immune factors do cause problems with regard to fertility, however these factors are not necessarily exclusive; more traditional causes may be involved as well.
Abstract: A comprehensive review of the literature on the immunology of reproduction is presented. In addition to the species-specific and sperm-specific antigens blood group transplantation and spermatozoa-coating antigens are considered. A weakness of existing investigations is their exclusive reliance on agglutination methods for demonstrating an immune or autoimmune state against human spermatozoa. More reliable are studies that include not only the detection of antibodies but also the kind of phenomena related to cellular immunology e.g. delayed hypersensitivity. The study of sperm agglutination is complicated by difficulties arising from the natural occurrence of antibody-like activities. Research on the relationship of sperm antibodies to both male and female infertility is reported and the problems encountered in the various spermagglutination methods are analyzed. The treatment of patients with immunological infertility problems is also discussed. The relationship between sperm antibodies and infertility can be approached from 2 directions. The 1st approach questions whether a state of infertility can be induced by the action of an intentionally induced antibody. The 2nd is based on the discovery that at least some unexplained infertility is due to the action of sperm antibodies. It is concluded that the investigations reviewed strongly suggest that immune factors do cause problems with regard to fertility. However these factors are not necessarily exclusive; more traditional causes may be involved as well. Future studies should strive to overcome the lack of precision and quantitation that has characterized much research in this field.
66 citations
65 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the demographic processes of fertility, mortality, and migration are defined as a set of alternative means available to populations which seek an equilibrium between their size and sustenance organization.
Abstract: Following the suggestions of Hawley, Dwncan, and Schnore, this paper investigates the possibility of viewing the variables subsumed under the population rubric of the ecological complex as dependent variables. The demographic processes of fertility, mortality, and migration are defined as a set of alternative means available to populations which seek an equilibrium between their size and sustenance organization. Focusing on migration, a general model is developed which suggests that neither environmental nor technological factors affect migration directly; but rather, that their effect on migration is produced through changes in organization which they generate. A modest empirical test of the model is carried out through an examination of Southern black migration rates, and general support for the model is obtained.
59 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1972
51 citations
TL;DR: Of particular interest is the nature of the relation betweens female labour force participation and education and fertility, and the implications these relations may have for future fertility reduction, particularly in the developing world.
Abstract: Increasingly, discussion of the appropriateness and effectiveness of methods to limit population growth have focussed both on measures which seek to provide new and efficient contraceptives to an ever larger target population and on those measures which go beyond family planning to emphasize the need for adoption of policies ‘expressly related to family roles and opportunities for legitimate alternative satisfactions and activities’.1 Proponents of the latter course of action argur that such policies offer greater promise of reduction in family size because they directly assault the motivational framework of reproduction. Among the means suggested for limiting reproductioe within marriage as well as postponing marriage is modification of the complementarity of the rolen of men and women.2 Of particular interest in this regard is the nature of the relation betweens female labour force participation and education and fertility, and the implications these relations may have for future fertility redu...
47 citations
TL;DR: The relative importance of marital and fertility characteristics upon female employment rates is tested in an attempt to explain the significant differential in women's non-agricultural participation rates between Latin American and Middle Eastern countries as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The relative importance of marital and fertility characteristics upon female employment rates is tested in an attempt to explain the significant differential in women's nonagricultural participation rates between Latin American and Middle Eastern countries. Despite the striking differences in characteristics between the two populations with respect to variables centrally related to woman's employability, there is not enough evidence of the influence of these differences upon female employment rates. When the female population in Chile is subjected through standardization analysis to the same marital and fertility characteristics of Egypt, they continued to manifest high overall participation rates. Estimation of the womanpower potential in three Middle Eastern countries given their presetnt marital characteristics shows that if women in these societies had the same propensity to be employed as women in Latin America, the overall nonagricultural female activity rate would increase threefold in Morocco, fivefold in Egypt and sevenfold in Pakistan. It is suggested that the explanation for the regional differential has to be sought in a comparative study of family and kinship organization between Latin American and Middle Eastern societies with special reference to the role of the kinship unit in the system of social control.
TL;DR: A review of recent literature on the 1st question shows that the probability of conception increases as the average frequency of coitus per week increases because the fertile period is so short.
Abstract: Some have suggested that a high frequency of coitus is a factor contributing to the high level of fertility in developing societies where modern contraceptives are not used. This suggestion raises 2 questions. 1) Is there a correlation between average frequency of coitus and the probability of conception? and 2) Do women in developing countries have intercourese more often than women in industrialized countries? A review of recent literature on the 1st question shows that the probability of conception increases as the average frequency of coitus per week increases because the fertile period is so short. Data from India and the U.S. show no evidence for an affirmative answer to the 2nd question. The average frequency of coitus among Indian women of various age groups is less than among American white women of the same age. Cultural religious and other factors in India contributing to the lessened frequency of coitus are discussed.(AUTHORS MODIFIED)
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the crucial variable determining the relationship between maternal employment and fertility may be the extent of incompatibility between joint occupancy of the roles of mother and worker, where these two roles are incompatible.
Abstract: Based on fertility surveys conducted in seven Latin American cities, this study examines the proposition that the crucial variable determining the relationship between maternal employment and fertility may be the extent of incompatibility between joint occupancy of the roles of mother and worker. Where these two roles are incompatible, female employees should have fewer children than the nonemployed. Two structural aspects of role incompatibility (employment outside the home and white collar employment) are related to fertility in most cities. The number of hours employed outside the home is usually unrelated to fertility. Many of the relationships are simply due to more education and greater approval of nondomestic activities among employed wives. The wife's motivation for employment, her education, and her preferred role seem to exert greater influence on her fertility than her actual role of employee or homemaker. A significant finding of the research is the role of individual city and the ecological conditions operative within each.
TL;DR: 3 island-wide surveys of all married women of childbearing years (22-39 years) were conducted in 1965 1967 and 1970 by the Taiwan Provencial Committee on Family Planning to provide data to analyze trends in family size and family planning.
Abstract: 3 island-wide surveys of all married women of childbearing years (22-39 years) were conducted in 1965 1967 and 1970 by the Taiwan Provencial Committee on Family Planning. The third survey involved reinterview of 50% of those interviewed in 1967 and an additional sample representing those married 1967-1970. Each survey attempted to provide data to analyze trends in family size and family planning from information obtained on fertility history desired number of children attitudes toward and knowledge and use of family planning socioeconomic status family values living arrangements and modernity. There was a small but consistent downward shift (.2) in average number of desired children on all levels; the average at 3.8 the result of a greater choice of 3 rather than 4 children. Recent trends (1971) indicate a rapid decline in desired number of children among the under 30 group. Change in the ideal lags behind change in fertility behavior. Modernity measures indicate a preference for fewer children in this group with education showing the greatest differential. "Mainland" couples averaged a lower desired number of children as opposed to the 2 major island groups and the highest use of contraception throughout the study. There is a persistent desire for 2 sons and number of living sons affects other attitudes and behavior towards family planning. Traditional extended family relationships account for this behavior. There was a very rapid rise in family planning especially in women over 30 (38% in 1965; 72% in 1970) and in the less modern population strata. Family planning practices rose from 30% in 1965 to 57% in 1970 in all segments with a rise from 75% to 95% in 1970 for stated approval. Changes in reproductive patterns were seen in a lengthening of the open birth interval among older women. Decreases in cumulative fertility are not yet realized.
TL;DR: It was concluded that elites probably have a preference for large families.
Abstract: The objectives of this study were to compare the fertility of elites with the fertility of the general American population to examine the fertility of elites by selected differentials and to examine the historical trend in elite fertility. A sample of 359 males listed in both Whos Who and the Social Register was chosen with the chief variable being the number of children born. The mean number of children was 2.68 close to the national average for females. The men married later in life (33% between 26 and 29) than the general population. The majority were college graduates. Catholics had lower fertility than Protestants. It was concluded that elites probably have a preference for large families.
TL;DR: Evidence indicates efficent fertility control is less likely at earlier ages and further data taking into account the complex interrelationships involved is needed before differentials in fertility by age are explained.
Abstract: Relationships between family size and age at marriage are explored using family size figures from England and Wales. 2 hypotheses 2 postulating a casual relation between age at marriage and family size and the other suggesting a spurious association between the 2 factors are examined in the light of the variables affecting family size. These variables length of family building period fecundity patterns of sexual intercourse and use of contraceptives are discussed in detail. While figures show those marrying before age 20 have 1 more child than those marrying at the ages 25-29 no single relationship between the age of marriage and number of children has been established. Evidence indicates efficent fertility control is less likely at earlier ages. Further data taking into account the complex interrelationships involved is needed before differentials in fertility by age are explained.
TL;DR: The drastic alteration of the fertility laws in Romania in 1966 is of special interest in that it provides something approaching an experimental context for examining the effect of a legal code on fertility.
Abstract: There is much interest to-day in governmental actions and regulations designed to have an effect on fertility. Widespread concern with the implications of population growth has led to unprecedented attention to the design and implementation of governmental policies intended to affect fertility. Unfortunately, there is very little empirical evidence of the effect of governmental action, largely because of the difficulty of interpreting the causal relations between changes in laws or programmes on the one hand, and fertility trends on the other. For this reason, the drastic alteration of the fertility laws in Romania in 1966 is of special interest in that it provides something approaching an experimental context for examining the effect of a legal code on fertility.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a survey of studies of the relationship between intelligence and fertility, and give a misleading impression of the relation between intelligence as measured by standard intelligence tests and academic success, claiming that such test results have a ''strong predictive value'' for later achievement.
Abstract: SIR,-In an otherwise useful survey of studies of the relationship between intelligence and fertility, your leading article (15 April, p. 125) gives a misleading impression of the relationship between intelligence as measured by standard intelligence tests and academic success, claiming that such test results have a \"strong predictive value ... especially in the more difficult subjects and for later achievement.\" This is simply not so; university selection would be a great deal easier and more fruitful if it was. In fact, as I have pointed out at greater length elsewhere,' we have no measures of \"strong predictive value\" for academic success. Even the best available measures of ability are unable to account for as much as half of the variance in academic performance. Eysenck2 surveyed 34 carefully designed studies, and found an average correlation of 058 between ability-test results and a number of academic criteria-this would account for hardly 35% of the variance in academic results. More studies have reported correlations as low as 020. While statistically significant, this would account for only 4% of variance in university achievement. Schwartzman et al.3 compared a group of failing medical students with a successful group, and found them to have approximately equal intellectual abilities despite their scholastic disparity. As many as one-fifth of all failures at university may have I.Q.'s of 130 v1us. There is little evidence to suggest that intelligence tests have any greater predictive value in \"more difficult subjects,\" whatever those are, and none to suggest that they have any correlation whatever with \"later achievement,\" however one measures that. The predictive value of all available measures is highest for first-year performance, and falls steadily with successive years at university. Performance later in life is not usefully predictable; as a study of historical biographies will make clear. It is important to realize that although I.Q. and previous academic performance have some modest predictive value, this value is very seldom high enough to justify the touching, and at times pathetic, faith often placed in them.-I am, etc.,
TL;DR: Results demonstrate that family planning attitudes and actual behavior can be viewed as rational except in the area of risk taking by a large number of contraceptive users a part that requires more study.
Abstract: Of 350 couples married in Hull in 1965-66 and interviewed shortly after marriage for their views on family size and birth spacing 312 were available for reinterview to compare initial intentions with fertility experience during the first 5 years of marriage (1970-71). There was a downward revision in intended family size (2.61 children first interview 2.23 reinterview) and a dissappearance of correlates of differences in fertility intention (occupation length of education of husband diminished effect of religion). Upward revaluations were due primarily to unintentional over-achievement. Birth intervals were shorter than intended. 93% had used contraceptives; 52.8% before first pregnancy 75.4% before second. 3 contraceptive methods were employed: condom (59%) pill (48%) and withdrawal (41%). Social profiles of users of the various contraceptives were outlined. 2/3 of the pregnancies were planned. Results demonstrate that family planning attitudes and actual behavior can be viewed as rational except in the area of risk taking by a large number of contraceptive users a part that requires more study.
TL;DR: It was concluded that N.P.M.S.E.E could be used to identify potential low fertility males for removal from the breeding flock as well as to indicate males with high fertilizing potential.
TL;DR: Two unrelated males with cystic fibrosis had normal sperm counts and volume of ejaculate, and one of them fathered two children, and it is made mandatory to evaluate the semen (at a minimum, sperm count and ejaculate volume measurement) in all postpubescent males with this disease before counseling.
TL;DR: Demographers have for some time suggested that the cost of children has an important bearing on couples' fertility decisions and banks, Myrdal, and Day and Day have echoed this same theme.
Abstract: Demographers have for some time suggested that the cost of children has an important bearing on couples' fertility decisions. Dublin and Lotka, for example, voiced the opinion that ‘it is undoubtedly the anticipation of greatly increased expenditures, the sudden demands made on the family exchequer when a child is born and for some time after, that causes people of limited income to restrict the size of their families’. Banks, Myrdal, and Day and Day have echoed this same theme.
TL;DR: A survey conducted by the Population Council and the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan was undertaken in Taiwan in 1969 to examine linkages between economic change and fertility change at the family level.
Abstract: A survey financed by the Population Council and the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan was undertaken in Taiwan in 1969 to examine linkages between economic change and fertility change at the family level The study was based on personal interviews with a cross-section of 2200 Taiwanese men living island wide whose wives interviewed 20 months earlier had provided detailed information on the couples fertility histories and contraceptive use The interviews with the men brought this information up to date but was devoted largely to inquiry on economic matters The wives were all 42 years old or younger Parts I and II of the paper are descriptive and methodological respectively Parts III and IV focus on socioeconomic and demographic factors as possible determinants of contraceptive use and consequent family size In short economic considerations do affect fertility decision Couples tend to practice stricter fertility control as a function to a large extent of educational advancement and to a lesser extent of rising income increasing exposure to mass media and increasing availability of consumer goods These factors seem more important than the shift per se from agriculture to industry and the resulting urbanization The influence of economic attitudes is strongest among couples under age 30 Individuals often confront family planning with ambivalent attitudes; the small family has economic advantages but the large family has certain emotional and traditional appeals
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The objective is to identify the underlying explanatory factors of a number of analytical hypotheses concerning fertility differentials, and to examine whether the factors thus identified can be located in the fertility model presented in the earlier paper.
Abstract: In an earlier paper a working model of marital fertility was presented.(1) That model grew out of a close study of Becker's economic model for fertility analysis.(2) Becker's model was modified in several respects in order to meet a number of major objections levelled against it by Judith Blake, Deborah Freedman, and others.(3) The purpose of the present paper is to examine how far the model presented earlier can serve as a 'binder' for the interpretative schemes now available in the literature on fertility differentials. More specifically, the objective is to identify the underlying explanatory factors of a number of analytical hypotheses concerning fertility differentials, and to examine whether the factors thus identified can be located in the fertility model presented in the earlier paper.(4) Little attention will be paid to the causal directions, if any, recognized in the hypotheses studied, nor will we attempt to provide a systematic review of empirical findings.