Showing papers on "Fertility published in 1987"
Journal Article•
TL;DR: By 1985, fertility rates in Europe were below the replacement level of 2.1 births/woman in all but Albania, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and Turkey, following a steady decline from a 1965 postwar peak well above 2.5 in Northern, Western, and Southern Europe and an erratic trend from a lower level in Eastern Europe as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: By 1985, fertility rates in Europe were below the replacement level of 2.1 births/woman in all but Albania, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and Turkey, following a steady decline from a 1965 postwar peak well above 2.5 in Northern, Western, and Southern Europe and an erratic trend from a lower level in Eastern Europe. Natural decrease (fewer births than deaths) had begun already in Austria, Denmark, Hungary, and the Federal Republic of Germany and can be expected shortly in many other countries. According to current UN medium projections, Europe's population (minus the USSR) will grow only 6% between 1985 and 2025, from 492 to 524 million and 18.4% of the population in 2025 will be 65 and over. The decline to low fertility in the 1930s during Europe's 1st demographic transition was propelled by a concern for family and offspring. Behind the 2nd transition is a dramatic shift in norms toward progressiveness and individualism, which is moving Europeans away from marriage and parenthood. Cohabitation and out-of-wedlock fertility are increasingly acceptable; having a child is more and more a deliberate choice made to achieve greater self-fulfillment. Many Europeans view population decline and aging as threats to national influence and the welfare state. However, governments outside Eastern Europe, except for France, have hesitated to try politically risky and costly economic pronatalist incentives. As used in Eastern Europe, coupled with some restrictions on legal abortion, such incentives have not managed to boost fertility back up to replacement level. Immigration as a solution is unfeasible. All countries of immigration have now imposed strict controls, tried to stimulate return migration of guestworkers recruited during labor shortages of the 1960s and early 1970s, and now aim at rapid integration of minorities. Only measures compatible with the shift to individualism might slow or reverse the fertility decline, but a rebound to replacement level seems unlikely and long-term population decline appears inevitable for most of Europe. Language: en
1,379 citations
TL;DR: Meeting: Workshop on Differential Female Mortality and Health Care in South Asia, Jan. 1987, Dhaka, BD.
Abstract: South Asia is well known as being a region of the world where the normally higher number of females than males in the total population is reversed. Among the Indian states historically Punjab in the Northwest has had the most imbalanced sex ratios. The excessive mortality of females that this reflects is commonly hypothesized to be due to discrimination against females particularly female children relative to males in the allocation of food and health care within the household. This article examines the hypothesis that discrimination against girls is not generalized but rather is closely related to individual parents family-building strategies. It goes on to explore the mechanisms--allocation of food clothing and medical expenses--whereby these differentials in mortality are brought about. Finally it examines the reasons why son preference is so strong in Punjab society. The data support the hypothesis that sex bias is not generalized but focused on higher birth order girls. Sex differentials by birth order are far stronger than those by socioeconomic status. Moreover these differentials show a remarkable persistence in the face of socioeconomic development mortality decline and fertility decline. In fact fertility decline appears to heighten such selective discrimination. Interestingly womens education is associated with reduced child mortality but stronger discrimination against higher birth order girls. This strong underlying preference for sons appears to be the outcome of womens structural marginalization in this culture which results in their being of low value to their parents.
1,080 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors predict that fertility decline should not be expected in sub-Saharan Africa during this century, in the absence of radical change in government attitudes toward family planning, the crude birth rate is not likely to fall from its present level of 47/1000 to much less than 45/1000 by the year 2000.
Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa may offer greater resistance to fertility decline than any other world region as a result of a lineage-based traditional belief system. Traditional African religious values have sustained high fertility in 2 ways: 1stthey have acted directly to equate fertility with virtue and reproductive failure with sin and 2nd they have provided support for a system of upward flows of wealth. The African family structure generally places reproductive decision making in the hands of the husband and the economic burden for the support of children on the shoulders of the wife. Because of the weakness of the conjugal bond men tend not to realize the full burden of reproductive decisions. Thus reproductive decisions and behavior are only loosely related to the subsequent dependency burden. On the other hand there are signs of a destabilization of this high fertility system. At the individual level growing numbers of women in sub-Sahara Africa are facing economic difficulties and would like to take defensive action to limit births. At the national level there are recurrent problems with faltering economic growth and uncertain food supplies. Secular influences such as models of the family taught by the media and the schools may help make the conjugal family more dominant than homage to living ancestors. The demand for female contraceptive methods in sub-Sahara Africa is likely to grow. The pill and the IUD will probably be most employed but a demand for injectables and implants can be expected as well. However the authors predict that radical fertility declines should not be expected in sub-Saharan Africa during this century. In the absence of radical change in government attitudes toward family planning the crude birth rate is not likely to fall from its present level of 47/1000 to much less than 45/1000 by the year 2000.
747 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: In this article, the quality of China's population data is analyzed and the setting for fertility decline is discussed, including late marriage and birth planning, and the one-child family campaign.
Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. The quality of China's population data 3. Health and morbidity 4. Mortality 5. The setting for fertility decline 6. Late marriage and birth planning 7. The one-child family campaign 8. Fertility 9. Population distribution, internal migration, and ethnic groups 10. Review and prospect Appendixes Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index.
496 citations
TL;DR: Cox regression analysis showed that cancer survivors who married and were presumed to be at risk of pregnancy were less likely than their sibling controls to have ever begun a pregnancy.
Abstract: In a retrospective cohort study of survivors of cancer and of controls, we estimated the risk of infertility after treatment for cancer during childhood or adolescence. We interviewed 2283 long-term survivors of childhood or adolescent cancer diagnosed in the period from 1945 through 1975, who were identified at five cancer centers in the United States. Requirements for admission to the study were diagnosis before the age of 20, survival for at least five years, and attainment of the age of 21. In addition, 3270 controls selected from among the survivors' siblings were interviewed. Cox regression analysis showed that cancer survivors who married and were presumed to be at risk of pregnancy were less likely than their sibling controls to have ever begun a pregnancy (relative fertility, 0.85; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.78 to 0.92). Radiation therapy directed below the diaphragm depressed fertility in both sexes by about 25 percent. Chemotherapy with alkylating agents, with or without radiation to sites below the diaphragm, was associated with a fertility deficit of about 60 percent in the men. Among the women, there was no apparent effect of alkylating-agent therapy administered alone (relative fertility, 1.02) and only a moderate fertility deficit when alkylating-agent therapy was combined with radiation below the diaphragm (relative fertility, 0.81). Relative fertility in the survivors varied considerably according to sex, site of cancer, and type of treatment; these factors should be taken into consideration in counseling survivors about the long-term consequences of disease.
403 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the extent of women's autonomy, women's economic dependency, and other aspects of their position vis-a-vis men influence fertility in Third World populations, and women's position or status seems likely to be related to the supply of children because of its links with age at marriage.
Abstract: This paper examines ideas about possible ways in which the extent of women's autonomy, women's economic dependency, and other aspects of their position vis-a-vis men influence fertility in Third World populations. Women's position or “status” seems likely to be related to the supply of children because of its links with age at marriage. Women's position may also affect the demand for children and the costs of fertility regulation, though some connections suggested in the literature are implausible. The paper ends with suggestions for future research.
251 citations
234 citations
TL;DR: A review of available empirical research on gender factors suggests 4 generalizations: 1) there is considerable variation in the relative fertility goals of the sexes across countries and studies; 2) the area of greatest gender asymmetry is the extent to which sons are preferred over daughters; 3) mens tendency to strongly prefer sons may account for their weak tendency to desire additional children more than women do; and 4) more often than not mens and womens fertility goals are the same as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Clearer understanding of the impact of gender on reproductive decision making is important for the formulation of family planning policy in developing countries. In general gender differences in fertilty goals are most likely to be found in highly patriarchal low-income high-fertility lineage-dominated societies in which formal schooling is relatively uncommon. It is unclear however whether men or women are likely to be more pronatalist in such settings. The physical costs to women of bearing children their responsibility for the day-to-day care of children and mens control over most of the resources could result in higher family size desires on the part of men in patriarchal societies. On the other hand womens economic vulnerability in these societies and the dominance of the maternal role could make women more favorable to higher fertility than men. Under relatively modern gender-equal conditions there is most likely to be a similarity of mens and womens fertility goals. A review of available empirical research on gender factors suggests 4 generalizations: 1) there is considerable variation in the relative fertility goals of the sexes across countries and studies; 2) the area of greatest gender asymmetry is the extent to which sons are preferred over daughters; 3) mens tendency to strongly prefer sons may account for their weak tendency to desire additional children more than women do; and 4) more often than not mens and womens fertility goals are the same.
218 citations
TL;DR: An alternative viewpoint is posited: that teenage childbearing in a highly developed industrial country such as the United States is a social response to disadvantage, and that the excessive infant mortality associated with it is a consequence of the same disadvantage rather than of early fertility per se.
Abstract: In the United States, further reducing the incidence of infant mortality remains a highly desirable goal. Particularly acute is the need to reduce black infant mortality, which is approximately twice the rate for whites. 1 Because one feature of black American fertility patterns is a high rate of teenage childbearing, some have suggested that early fertility plays an important role in high rates of black infant mortality. Correspondingly, one policy view is that efforts to prevent teenage childbearing will also reduce infant mortality. The logic underpinning this policy approach is based on a common interpretation of the observed association between teenage childbearing and excessive infant mortality, namely, that early fertility is inherently detrimental to child survival. This article reconsiders that assumption and posits an alternative viewpoint: that teenage childbearing in a highly developed industrial country such as the United States is a social response to disadvantage, and that the excessive infant mortality associated with it is a consequence of the same disadvantage rather than of early fertility per se. Teenage motherhood in the United States occurs almost exclusively among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, in which women at any age may be exposed to environmental factors that elevate infant mortality (Geronimus, 1986a). If environmentally induced risk factors are the primary explanation of the association between early fertility and excess infant mortality, then policy initiatives focusing directly on altering the childbearing behavior of teenagers will not reduce infant mortality. Furthermore, if environmental influences are more important than inherent biological factors, then fundamental questions arise regarding the possibility of extrapolating from US experience to countries, particularly less developed ones, with different population parameters and environmental considerations.
190 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that nutrition of the mother is most important during the early phase of rapid infant growth, because at that time the energetic requirements of lactation are high; and that a mother's ability to assess her infant's demands and needs for nutrition for growth leads to alterations in suckling frequencies which result in variation in female fertility.
Abstract: While the energetics of reproduction have been intensively investigated among women, studies of mother-offspring relationships among non-human primates have tended to neglect the effect of nutrition of the mother on lactational performance and on growth and survival of offspring. Typically fertility has been compared between populations under different nutritional regimes. In this paper, the relations between suckling frequencies, the time of weaning, the survivorship of offspring, the contraceptive effects of lactation and the quality of maternal diets are outlined. Energy transfer from mother to offspring in the form of milk is proposed as a measurable component of maternal investment, and the behavioural causes and consequences of lactational anoestrus are explored using data from free-ranging vervet monkeys. It is suggested that nutrition of the mother is most important during the early phase of rapid infant growth, because at that time the energetic requirements of lactation are high; and that a mother's ability to assess her infant's demands and needs for nutrition for growth leads to alterations in suckling frequencies which result in variation in female fertility.
187 citations
TL;DR: Observations that dominant individuals sometimes feed on better quality foods, expend less energy or time in obtaining food, or are interrupted less often when feeding, indicate that the effects of competition on fertility could be working through nutrition.
Abstract: Under some circumstances dominant females in social groups of primates start to breed significantly earlier in life than do subordinate ones, produce significantly more offspring per year, and mate significantly earlier in the breeding season, if there is one. Thus, competition appears to influence fertility. Observations that dominant individuals sometimes feed on better quality foods, expend less energy or time in obtaining food, or are interrupted less often when feeding, indicate that the effects of competition on fertility could be working through nutrition. In addition, subordinate animals usually suffer more threats and have to avoid others more frequently than do dominants, which may result in ‘stress’ causing lowering of fertility. Whilst ‘stress’ might explain the total suppression of reproduction in subordinate female tamarins in the wild, a correlation between ‘stress’ and fertility has yet to be conclusively demonstrated in wild Old World primates. Evidence that competitive ability might influence a female's rate or timing of copulation is sparse, and nobody has shown that subordinate females mate so infrequently that their fertility is compromised. The situation in which dominant animals are especially likely to produce more offspring than subordinates is seen when resources are so clumped that the dominants can exert their greater competitive ability with sufficient frequency to obtain preferential access to the resources and maybe to influence levels of ‘stress’. The effects of belonging to a large group seem to be very similar to those of being a subordinate, and might operate through the same mechanisms of nutrition and ‘stress’. If so, analysis of the relationship between competitive ability and fertility could be confounded. Whatever the social correlates of variance in fertility, most stages of reproduction appear to be influenced by nutrition and ‘stress’. Finally, in the wild, where mortality rates are often high, a female's reproductive success might be determined more by characteristics that promote survival of offspring than by those that favour production of them.
TL;DR: Easterlin and Crimmins as mentioned in this paper present and test a supply-demand theory of fertility determination that integrates both economic and sociologic approaches and find that a couples use of fertility control varies directly with the excess of their supply of children over demand and inversely with the perceived costs (both objective and subjective) of regulating fertility.
Abstract: Easterlin and Crimmins present and test a supply-demand theory of fertility determination that integrates both economic and sociologic approaches. According to this theory a couples use of fertility control varies directly with the excess of their supply of children over demand (motivation for family planning) and inversely with the perceived costs (both objective and subjective) of regulating fertility. This model is tested with household data from Sri Lanka and Colombia aggregative population data from Taiwan and the Indian state of Karnataka and macro data from 10 Indian states. In all data sets examined motivation for fertility control was consistently and significantly related to use of control. Changes in the supply of and demand for children that increase motivation appear to be most important in generating family planning adoption whereas changes in regulation costs appear less significant. Interestingly supply is as important as demand and perhaps more so. This approach to the fertility transition asserts that with the onset of modernization the number of children that would result from unregulated fertility comes to exceed desired family size and incentives to limit family size develop. The growing excess of the potential supply of children over demand appears to be due to increases in parents potential supply in turn due both to declining infant and child mortality and increasing natural fertility. Once use of fertility control has spread to 50% of married women 35-44 years of age a fertility decline can be expected. By raising the supply of children and lowering demand socioeconomic modernization is both increasing motivation for fertility control and lowering the costs of fertility regulation. The data suggest that family planning programs should be formulated with careful attention to the populations state of motivation and perceived costs of regulation. Early in the modernization process before motivation for family planning has emerged socioeconomic development programs should be prioritized. The targeting of populations for a family planning effort should be based on their motivation not their actual fertility levels and methods that are perceived as entailing low regulation costs should be promoted.
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TL;DR: The research suggests that advancing age is not a major factor in infertility and couples should not be excluded from investigation and treatment on the basis of age alone.
Abstract: Data from Western communities where no artificial methods are used to control fertility show a gradual decline in fertility with age that becomes steeper after age 40 years and approaches 0 by 49 years. Increasing age of the male partner and reduced coital frequency may also influence this decline. The authors of a recent review of the literature in this field have concluded that women who defer childbearing until their early 30s risk only a slight biological decline in their fecundity provided that they have avoided hazards of early sexual activity such as tubal disease. Tubal disease however is not an important cause of infertility and there is no evidence that prolonged use of oral contraceptives has an adverse effect on fertility. Of most concern is the idea that fertility is declining in both men and women because of environmental factors. Such factors would predominantly affect older women because of the prolonged exposure of their oocytes to such influences but deteriorations in semen characteristics have also been reported. In general the research suggests that advancing age is not a major factor in infertility and couples should not be excluded from investigation and treatment on the basis of age alone.
TL;DR: The authors argued that family formation is conditioned not only by economic factors (more particularly, opportunity structures), but also by ideational changes: the economic factors produce period fluctuations that are superimposed on long-term (and often cohort-driven) ideational effects.
Abstract: It is argued in this article that family formation is conditioned not only by economic factors (more particularly, opportunity structures), but also by ideational changes: the economic factors produce period fluctuations that are superimposed on long-term (and often cohort-driven) ideational effects. Value orientations are explored and compared across countries and across age groups using the internationally-comparable data sets provided by the European Values Studies. The analysis indicates the existence of two latent dimensions with respect to familism: tolerance of non-conformism in family formation, and the meaning attached to parenthood. These two dimensions are not completely distinct from each other though, and both are related to religious and political variables (religiosity, ‘post-materialism’, nationalism, leftism, etc.). Theoretical links are made both with Easterlin's hypothesis which implies fluctuating fertility levels and with Simon's thesis concerning the importance of ‘civil religion’ in supporting fertility. The results are, however, largely in line with Aries' thesis of two successive and quite distinct fertility transitions in the West, and suggest that fertility is very likely to remain at below-replacement levels.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The progesterone profile and length of interovulatory interval for mares with uterine inflammation supported the hypotheses that embryonic loss in this herd was due to uterine-induced luteolysis rather than primary luteal inadequacy.
Abstract: The incidence of intrauterine fluid collections during dioestrus (12/43, 28%) and uterine cysts throughout the oestrous cycle (11/73, 15%) found in this study indicates that these ultrasonically detectable abnormalities are prevalent in mares. The hypothesis that uterine cysts do not affect pregnancy was not supported. Intrauterine fluid collections at dioestrus represented the presence of an inflammatory process as indicated by a high biopsy score, reduced progesterone concentrations, and a shorter interovulatory interval. Mares with fluid collections at dioestrus had a lower pregnancy rate at Day 11 and a higher embryonic loss rate by Day 20 than did mares without such collections. The progesterone profile and length of interovulatory interval for mares with uterine inflammation supported the hypotheses that embryonic loss in this herd was due to uterine-induced luteolysis rather than primary luteal inadequacy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the declines in fertility in Europe and the Third World and conclude that lower levels of fertility were largely due to the adoption of innovative behavior within marriage.
Abstract: This article compares the declines in fertility in Europe and the Third World. Lower levels of fertility were largely due to the adoption of innovative behavior within marriage. So far this transformation of reproduction has been monotonic and rapid. Socioeconomic development is associated with the timing of the onset of the transition and is responsible for differences among groups during the transition, although it is not yet possible to rule out alternative explanations such as ideational or institutional change. The pace and pervasiveness of the declines, however, suggest that a mechanism of diffusion is involved.
TL;DR: Tabular and multivariate analyses supported the strong possibility that both fertility behavior and indirect associations regarding timing of fertility-related life course events were transmitted intergenerationally.
Abstract: The direct relationship between fertility and fertility behavior of mothers and daughters was examined. It was hypothesized that the relative propensity to control family sizes in 1 generation is transmitted to the following generation and that transmission of fertility levels across generations is in part a result of the transmission of specific fertility-determining life-course behaviors across generations. The data were derived from the Mormon Historical Demography projects set of computerized family geneologies. To assess the importance of cohort effects the completed fertility of 1st daughters and last daughters was compared by mothers completed family size and mothers birth cohort. Daughters who were the last born tended to have lower fertility than 1st born daughters. For 1st born daughters a positive association between mothers and daughters family size was confirmed. The distribution of mothers and daughters relative to the median births for their respective cohorts was examined. Each woman was allocated to 1 of 3 groups: low -- completed fertility was 2 or more children less than the median for all women in the birth cohort; medium -- completed fertility was equal to + or - 1 child from the median for other women in the same birth cohort; and high -- completed fertility was 2 or more children greater than the median for all women in the birth cohort. It was expected that a greater proportion of daughters than mothers would have relatively low fertility. For the 1830-39 cohort only 15% of the mothers had relatively low fertility but 25% of their daughters did; for other mother cohorts the comparisons were 15:26 18:26 and 15:23. It also was expected that the daughters of low fertility mothers would be more likely to have relatively low fertility. For low fertility mothers in the 1830-39 cohort 33% of daughters had relatively low fertility; 24% fell in the relatively high fertility group. The expected difference was found for the 1840-49 cohort of mothers and for the 1860-69 cohort but not for the 1850-59 cohort. It also was expected that the daughters of relatively high fertility mothers would have relatively high fertility. 33% of daughters with high fertility mothers in the 1st cohort had relatively high fertility; only 23% had low fertility. This pattern was consistent for each of the other cohorts of mothers. Tabular and multivariate analyses supported the strong possibility that both fertility behavior and indirect associations regarding timing of fertility-related life course events were transmitted intergenerationally. Cohort-specific influences were substantial. The analyses confirmed both the hypothesized intergenerational fertility association and the hypothesized cohort-specific effects.
TL;DR: In this article, the consequences for children's schooling and birthweight of the exogenous variability in the supply of births in one low-income country, Malaysia, have been investigated using information on contraceptive techniques employed by couples to estimate directly the technology of reproduction and provide a means of disentangling the biological and demand factors that contribute to the variation in fertility across couples.
TL;DR: This paper presents period parity progression ratios for China and its urban and rural areas for the years 1955–81, using the birth history data from the one-per-thousand fertility survey of 1982.
Abstract: Parity progression measures are uniquely suited to the study of fertility in China, because Chinese policies and programmes focus so closely on parity and birth order In this paper we present period parity progression ratios for China and its urban and rural areas for the years 1955–81, using the birth history data from the one-per-thousand fertility survey of 1982 Our period parity progression ratios differ from those introduced by Henry in that they provide an overall level of fertility which may be compared with measures based on age-specific birth rates We compare the two measures empirically for China, finding both similarities and divergences, and then analyse the relation between them It is suggested that, where fertility is low and fluctuating, as in China, the parity-progression-based measures provide a substantially truer picture of fertility levels and trends than do age-based measures
TL;DR: The results show that the use of Bromocriptine in the treatment of infertility in women is not associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion, multiple pregnancy or the occurrence of congenital malformation in their progeny.
Abstract: Since Bromocriptine is used to restore fertility in hyperprolactinemic women, its safety in pregnancy and the offspring was investigated in a stepwise approach: (i) the first survey in pregnancy was based on spontaneous reporting, (ii) the second investigation was conducted at 33 clinics as an intensive monitoring project and, (iii) the third study consisted in a full examination of children up to the age of 9 years who had been exposed to Bromocriptine in utero. The data collated in this program includes information on 2587 pregnancies in 2437 women treated with Bromocriptine during some stage of gestation, and follow-up examinations for 988 infants. The results show that the use of Bromocriptine in the treatment of infertility in women is not associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion, multiple pregnancy or the occurrence of congenital malformation in their progeny. Moreover, exposure to this drug in utero has no adverse influence on the postnatal development.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address three questions: Why is Kenya's fertility so high? What went wrong in the design or execution of the past efforts to lower fertility levels that rendered their effect thus far negligible? And what policy directions, starting from the present population and development situation, might be more effective?
Abstract: After almost two decades of government-sponsored efforts to reduce population growth, Kenya's fertility level and rate of natural increase are both at peaks rarely attained in the recorded experience of national populations. Total fertility is close to eight births per woman; natural increase is about 4 percent per year. While the achievement of a sufficient pace of economic growth to permit improvement in per capita income despite this demographic expansion is noteworthy-many countries in the region did less well-the outcome from the standpoint of population policy has been a highly conspicuous failure. This article addresses three questions: Why is Kenya's fertility so high? What went wrong in the design or execution of the government's past efforts to lower fertility levels that rendered their effect thus far negligible? And what policy directions, starting from the present population and development situation, might be more effective? While these questions are simple, their answers are not. A response to the first question entails an appreciation of the economics of children and childraising in the Kenyan setting, of the social arrangements within which fertility-related decisions are made, and of the cultural configurations that can sustain patterns of fertility behavior in the face of what might appear strong objective reasons for change. The second question is not answered by a straightforward account of policy development and of difficulties encountered in implementation, although that is a necessary input. Rather, it calls also for assessment of the "roads not taken," and judgment as to what opportunities there in fact were to modify fertility under realistic assumptions of administrative capacity and political feasibility. If indeed Kenyan realities would have defeated any plausible efforts to slow population growth over the last 20 years, no specific blame should accrue to the policies and programs actually adopted. And conversely.
Posted Content•
TL;DR: Corcoran et al. as mentioned in this paper investigated the relationship between fertility, child spacing, family resources, and market work by mothers, and the subsequent cognitive skills of grade schoolers as reported by their teachers.
Abstract: This research offers an interpretation of the relationship between fertility, child spacing, family resources, and market work by mothers, and the subsequent cognitive skills of grade schoolers as reported by their teachers First, an approach to fertility as the outcome of a deliberate choice process is developed, and then empirical evidence from a small panel of US households first interviewed in 1975-76 when they had preschool children is presented In a 1981-82 reinterview, a supplementary project was that of obtaining teacher ratings of school performance of individual children Large family size, as measured by the number of siblings of given age and sex in the household during preschool years (in 1975-76), has an important, negative impact on the child's subsequent grade-school performance Boy siblings in nearby age ranges have the most negative impact on performance while teenage siblings of either sex have no systematic adverse effect Parental resources, as measured by income, education, child-care time, and a mother's reduced market time are associated with greater cognitive skills, and can offset the apparent disadvantage of having siblings in nearby age intervals There appears to be a significant tradeoff between a market career and a home career for women Women who have more children spaced over wider age intervals and who devote more time to child care and less to market work presumably get more benefits from their home career in the form of enhanced child development On the other hand, full-time market work (ie, hours in the labor market for pay) is important for earnings growth of the mother (Mary Corcoran, Greg Duncan, and Michael Ponza, 1983), and family income has a favorable effect on school performance, so the apparent choices facing women are more equivocal
TL;DR: The relationships between socioeconomic development family planning and fertility among the 28 subregions of China circa 1982 were examined and the findings essentially are consistent with other analyzes.
Abstract: The relationships between socioeconomic development family planning and fertility among the 28 subregions of China circa 1982 were examined. The dependent variable was the total fertility rate in 1981. The 17 development variables include many of the social economic and demographic factors shown in earlier studies to be influential in accounting for fertility among the Chinese subregions. Table 1 presents means and standard deviations for the total fertility rate (TFR) the 17 development variables and the 11 family planning variables. The total fertility rate in 1981 had an average value among the 28 areas of 2.69 varying from lows of 1.32 in Shanghai 1.59 in Beijing and 1.65 in Tianjin to highs of 4.36 in Guizhou 4.12 in Ningxia and 4.10 in Guangxi. The relative effects of the varibles on fertility varied considerably. 4 of the family planning variables had the highest correlations: the first-birth rate (-0.92) the contraceptive use rate (-0.86) the birth planning rate (-0.83) and the 1-child certificate holder rate (-0.82). 8 socioeconomic development variables had correlations with fertility of -0.60 or higher and an additional 5 had correlations between -0.50 and -0.60. 3 separate tests of the theoretical model indicated consistently strong negative direct effects of family planning behavior and weak direct effects of family planning costs. Structural development had strong negative direct effects on fertility when it was introduced in an equation with rural quality of life; it had reduced effects when used in an equation with a development index gauging female status. The direct negative effects of quality of life on fertility were about the same as those of structural development but the 2 development indexes were not used in the same equation due to high collinearity. In regard to indirect effects of development on fertility only the female status index had high negative indirect effects through family planning behavior. All 4 development indexes had trivial indirect effects via the combined path through family planning costs and family planning behavior. The findings essentially are consistent with other analyzes.
TL;DR: In this article, exposure to pregnancy is associated with slightly less pelvic involvement, although this effect is inconstant when age groups are studied individually, and endometriosis does not involve more pelvic areas in older age groups.
TL;DR: Changes in the age/order/interval distributions of births do not necessarily improve the chances for survival of infants as a society moves through a fertility transition.
Abstract: Recent reviews of relevant evidence have confirmed that an increase in the practice of family planning can theoretically reduce infant and child mortality rates. Although it is widely accepted that family planning can theoretically reduce infant and child mortality it is not clear whether the changes in family-formation patterns that typically accompany the adoption of contraception do in fact have a significant favorable effect on infant mortality rates. This note compares the proportions of high-risk pregnancies in groups of developing countries at different stages of the family planning transition. Countries with relatively high levels of contraceptive use have fewer teenage births as well as fewer births of orders over 6 when compared with countries in which family planning is minimal. These differentials would by themselves result in lower infant mortality rates in the later phases of the fertility transition. This effect is offset however by the fact that countries with higher levels of contraceptive prevalence also tend to have higher proportions of births of order 1 and higher proportions of births after short birth intervals both of which are associated with higher than average mortality risks. The net effect of these 2 compensating sets of factors on infant mortality rates is very small. Thus changes in the age/order/interval distributions of births do not necessarily improve the chances for survival of infants as a society moves through a fertility transition.
TL;DR: The degree of effectiveness of pregnancy planning could be underestimated by the studys elimination of unwanted and aborted pregnancies and by inaccuracies caused by maternal denial of pregnancy wantedness.
Abstract: This analysis tests the proposition that women wanting their pregnancies and subsequent births behave differently during their pregnancies than other women. The data are drawn from the National Natality Survey conducted by the US National Center for Health Statistics a follow-back survey based on a probability sample of 9941 live births that occurred in the US in 1980. A sample of 7825 remained after exclusion of out-of-wedlock births. Pregnancy "wantedness" was measured with a series of questions directed towards the period previous to the pregnancy. Almost 29% had wanted to become pregnant but at a later time. 6.3% did not want to become pregnant at the time they did or ever. 31.35 of the women overall had smoked before their pregnancy and only 16% of these quit after pregnancy confirmation although the mean number of cigarettes smoked decreased. Variables indicating planning status and the tendency to seek prenatal care affected independently (although slightly) the probability that a prepregnant smoker would quit. The impact of pregnancy wantedness was smaller than anticipated with regard to the maternal behaviors examined. The degree of effectiveness of pregnancy planning could be underestimated by the studys elimination of unwanted and aborted pregnancies and by inaccuracies caused by maternal denial of pregnancy wantedness.
TL;DR: From 1975 to 1980 a prospective study a nearly 2,500 married, fertile women was conducted in Matlab, Bangladesh at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, finding that mother's education, parity, month of birth, supplementation practices and nutritional sta...
Abstract: From 1975 to 1980 a prospective study a nearly 2,500 married, fertile women was conducted in Matlab, Bangladesh at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research. Women were interviewed at monthly intervals to collect information on nutritional and reproductive status, in order to study the factors associated with natural fertility. The median duration of amenorrhoea for women with no child deaths was 15.5 months, with older women and those of higher parities recording longer durations than younger women or those of lower parities. Median duration of amenorrhoea for women with six or more years of education was 8.4 months compared to 16.4 months among women with no education. When classified by weight at pregnancy termination, average duration of amenorrhoea of women weighing less than 38 kg was 17.6 months compared to 13.6 months among women weighing more than 44 kg. Proportional hazards analyses show that mother's education, parity, month of birth, supplementation practices and nutritional sta...
TL;DR: The results suggest that in rural Germany, attempts to terminate childbearing prior to the end of the reproductive span were far more important in initiating the onset of fertility transition than efforts to deliberately prolong intervals between births or changes in the timing of the start of childbearing.
Abstract: Examination of the reproductive histories of a sample of German married couples during the 18th and 19th centuries provides insights into behavioral changes involved in the shift from natural fertility to deliberate marital fertility control. A simple accounting scheme is used to assess the relative contributions of starting, spacing, and stopping to changes in family size during the initial phases of the fertility transition. The results suggest that in rural Germany, attempts to terminate childbearing prior to the end of the reproductive span were far more important in initiating the onset of fertility transition than efforts to deliberately prolong intervals between births or changes in the timing of the start of childbearing.
TL;DR: Preliminary data indicated that the effective antifertility dose in men is only 1/3 of the recommended dose for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis or skin diseases.
TL;DR: In this article, a pioneering study describes the psychological development and gender role expectations in the various life stages of an individual in Bangladeshi culture and relates these stages to sexual and reproductive behavior.
Abstract: This pioneering study describes the psychological development and gender role expectations in the various life stages of an individual in Bangladeshi culture and relates these stages to sexual and reproductive behavior. The authors both anthropologists examined the topical life histories of 65 male and female respondents from 5 contiguous villages in Matlab Thana. These personal histories form the basis for chapters on stages of life childhood and psychosexual development adolescence and gender roles adulthood and gender roles sexual relations outside marriage range of sexual behavior and reciprocal relationships within the life cycle. Then fertility is examined from an anthropological perspective in the final chapters on cultural factors and fertility fertility control and the stages of life traditional communication and knowledge of sex and family life education. At least hal of the life history respondents expressed support for family planning and modern methods. Maximum fertility is prevented in the 2nd half of womens reproductive years by traditional mechanisms such as self-restraint absence of spouse occasional abstention and rhythm. The use of modern contraception is supported on the grounds of avoiding economic hardship maintaining mental peace and leading a happy life. The most useful approach for family planning field workers seems to be to get to know the men of the village in public places then the older women and finally the young women establishing at each stage the confidence and fictive kinship relationship appropriate. In this way communication is possible without challenging deeply rooted distinctions of gender roles and life stages.