Marriage, Sex, and the First Birth Interval: The Quiet Revolution in Asia

Abstract

The authors argue that under certain conditions changes in coital frequency do influence fertility. The evidence they present is indirect based on trends in early marital fertility in Korea Malaysia and Taiwan. They offer standard sociodemographic explanations for these trends including later age at marriage improved levels of nutrition and changes in breastfeeding and contraceptive practices and find them wanting for various reasons. The biometric literature is used to show that the effect of coital frequency on the increase in early marital conceptions is plausible; ethnographic illustrations suggest that the movement from the traditionally arranged to the romantically arranged marriage is largely responsible for greater coital frequency. They conclude that a very quiet sexual revolution has been occurring in Asia perhaps more far reaching and profound than the very vocal sexual revolution that has been occurring in the West. The increases in early marital conceptions have been 3 fold or more in some instances. From a broader perspective this paper argues that coital frequency an intermediate variable that has been virtually ignored by demographers can and does have an effect on the pace and level of fertility. The biometric evidence for this effect has been known for some time but heretofore actual behavioral examples have been lacking. The paper further emphasizes the multifaceted nature of the contemporary fertility transitions occurring in the developed world. Differences in coital frequency are very likely a component of differences in levels of natural fertility that have existed and thus not all of the changes taking place lead to lower levels of fertility. The modernizing forces leading to higher rates of coital frequency are in fact leading to higher fertility levels. The aspect of marriage having primary demographic importance is sexual activity--when sexual activity starts when it ends and coital frequency during a sexual union. (summaries in FRE SPA)