The Effects of Marital Dissolution and Re-marriage on Fertility in Urban Latin America

Abstract

The net effect of marital dissolution on societal fertility may be either positive or negative depending on the formation of a new marital union. 8064 women from Buenos Aires Bogota San Jose Mexico City and Caracas were analyzed according to data from a series of surveys by CELADE in 1964-5. Using dates of marriage and of dissolution of marriage the womens histories of time spent in and out of marriage were constructed. Time since first marriage was divided into 5-year intervals and a weight assigned to each interval based on the conceptions of live-born children occurring during that interval in that city. The literacy and economic levels were highest in Buenos Aires and San Jose. Consenuality in marriage is highest in Caracas and lowest in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is a low-fertility city with a mean completed family size of under 3 children; the average completed family sizes in the other 4 cities were 4-6. In societies where higher-order marriages are common the desire for children in each marriage may be a more important pronatalist stimulus in fertility than in cities where multiple unions are not as common e.g. Barbados or Guayaguil. Women in Buenos Aires who were married more than once have fewer children than their counterparts in other cities. Rising socioeconomic level is associated with decreased fertility importance of reproductive time lost as a deterrent to fertility and potential for individual variation.