Decreasing Family Size Research Articles

The Evolution of Welfare Participation among Canadian Lone Mothers, 1973-1991

Canadian lone mothers under age thirty-five exhibited an increasing reliance on welfare income along with stagnant wages and declining levels of market work and earnings between 1973 and 1991. In contrast, lone mothers age thirty-five and over exhibited a decreasing reliance on welfare income along with rising levels of market work, wages, and earnings. A key factor accounting for rising welfare use among younger lone mothers was a decline in wages relative to welfare benefits accompanied by a mixed pattern of demographic change (falling family size offset by growing proportions of lone mothers who are never married.) Much of the declining welfare use among older lone mothers can be explained by decreasing family size and increasing education accompanied by market wages that grew at the same rate as welfare benefits

Changing contraceptive mores in Morocco: population data, trends, gossip and rumours

Contrary to many expectations, Morocco has succeeded in lowering its population growth to 2.2 per cent in 1994, and under 2 per cent by the late 1990s. Data compiled in 1993 show that 41.5 per cent of women (54.4 per cent in urban areas) use some type of contraception to prevent birth. To determine the impact of increased contraceptive use I utilise the latest demographic findings, interviews with Moroccan health officials, scholars, opinion‐makers, and press reports. I analyse the importance of the increased use of contraceptives in relation to other socio‐economic indicators such as increasing urbanization, higher education levels and increased employment opportunities for women which generally correlate with increased contraceptive use and lower fertility rates. Finally, I weigh rumours as to their plausibility and suggest possible purposes for circulating rumours. Experts conclude that better attention to maternal and child health, decreased infant mortality figures, and better availability of contraceptives have contributed to lower fertility rates. Current trends in contraceptive use point to decreased family size and differing methods of contraception employed (including tubal ligation and using abortion as a means of birth control). However, the growing acceptance of contraception also gives rise to rumours about sexual behaviour which is made possible by easy access to contraception. Thus increased sexual activity of unmarried women and greater visibility of prostitution are linked to changes in women's roles and their ability to avoid pregnancies. Rumours are particularly useful in that they point out public suspicions and fears, but also indicate behaviour for which we have no statistical evidence as of yet. The paper concludes that contraceptive use in Morocco is changing rapidly. Interest in contraceptive use has grown and is expected to continue to grow. Use of contraception has become a sticking point with conservative political and religious forces in the country as it symbolises transformations in family relations, in male and female roles and in functions of the family unit which are deeply unsettling. Furthermore, many suspicions voiced two decades ago as to the effects contraception will have on social morals are being realised.

Reasons for Rising Condom Use in Vietnam

This study examines the extent of and reasons for condom use in Vietnam. Data were obtained from the 1988 Vietnam Demographic and Health Survey and the 1994 Vietnam Living Standards Survey. Findings indicate that condom knowledge rose from 45% to 76% during 1988-94. Condom use rose from 1% to 4% and represented the largest increase compared to any other modern method. Most Vietnamese rely on the IUD. IUD use increased from 33% to 66% of all current users. Vietnam has the highest proportions of IUD use and abortion in the region. Increased condom use is attributed to the shift to a free market system in the mid-1980s aggressive family planning promotion free distribution through the public health sector and sales in private pharmacies and roadside stalls. Drawbacks to free supplies include the requirement of registering ones name and travel distance. A private source of supply among users increased from 17% to 51% during 1988-94. Social marketing and the growth of new distribution channels led to increased numbers of brands of condoms. Condoms may be more popular due to greater compatibility with traditional methods which were used by 21% of married women aged 15-45 years in 1994. 31% of condom switchers shifted to rhythm or withdrawal compared to 24% of pill switchers. 9-11% of traditional method switchers shifted to the condom but only 2% shifted to the pill. The rise in condom use may indicate a preference based on traditional Chinese medical beliefs and a balance of body rhythms. Condoms were preferred by more urban users and users with higher educational and occupational status. Condoms provide protection from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Explanatory factors include decreased family size desires free market reforms compatibility with religious beliefs and Confucian culture a rising wealthy and educated class and increased adolescent and extramarital sexual activity.

Nutritional and non-nutritional factors for 'healthy' longevity.

The far-reaching effects of the ageing of populations is being increasingly appreciated. Lengthening longevity, associated with decreasing family size, evokes rising charges, socioeconomically, and on health services. Information on these and other parameters is presented for developed and developing populations. Examples are given, with lessons to be learned, of long-living segments of populations, past and present. The roles of diet, physical activity, and smoking and alcohol consumption also of attitudes, are discussed. It is concluded that if the middle-aged and elderly could be persuaded to follow long-term practices associated with good public health, then morbidity could be compressed, and disability-free years extended. However, this goal could only be achieved with a high level of motivation.

Maximum likelihood mapping of quantitative trait loci using full-sib families.

A maximum likelihood method is presented for the detection of quantitative trait loci (QTL) using flanking markers in full-sib families. This method incorporates a random component for common family effects due to additional QTL or the environment. Simulated data have been used to investigate this method. With a fixed total number of full sibs power of detection decreased substantially with decreasing family size. Increasing the number of alleles at the marker loci (i.e., polymorphism information content) and decreasing the interval size about the QTL increased power. Flanking markers were more powerful than single markers. In testing for a linked QTL the test must be made against a model which allows for between family variation (i.e., including an unlinked QTL or a between family variance component) or the test statistic may be grossly inflated. Mean parameter estimates were close to the simulated values in all situations when fitting the full model (including a linked QTL and common family effect). If the common family component was omitted the QTL effect was overestimated in data in which additional genetic variance was simulated and when compared with an unlinked QTL model there was reduced power. The test statistic curves, reflecting the likelihood of the QTL at each position along the chromosome, have discontinuities at the markers caused by adjacent pairs of markers providing different amounts of information. This must be accounted for when using flanking markers to search for a QTL in an outbred population.

Baseline sero-epidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection in children and teenagers in Italy. A survey before mass hepatitis B vaccination

During the period May 1987 to November 1989, the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers was determined by ELISA in serum samples of 7405 (55% male, 45% female) apparently healthy persons 3-19 years of age in Italy. Earlier studies of adults there had shown an intermediate degree of HBV endemicity (hepatitis B surface antigen carrier rate greater than 2%). Persons were selected by systematic cluster sampling in five different geographical areas of Italy. The overall prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was 0.6%. The overall prevalence of at least one marker of HBV was 2.8%; it increased from 1.7% among children 3-5 years of age to 4.5% in teenagers 17-19 years of age (P less than 0.001). The prevalence of any HBV marker was higher in southern then in northern areas (3.5% vs. 1.8%, P less than 0.001). A significant association was found with sociodemographic features. Persons whose fathers had less than 6 years of schooling had a 2.3-fold risk (C.I. 95% = 1.5-3.4) while those belonging to a household of six or more under one roof had a 1.7-fold risk (C.I. 95% = 1.2-2.4) of previous exposure to HBV infection. These findings indicate that, today in Italy, exposure to HBV infection at a young age is very low and suggest a shift towards a low degree of endemicity following improvements in socio-economic conditions, decreased family size and increasing use of disposable syringes during recent years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age-specific prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among children in an endemic area in Southern Italy

In 1989 the prevalence of hepatitis B virus markers was studied by radioimmunoassay in a sample of 1,426 healthy children, 3 to 11 years old, attending kindergarten and the primary schools in a large urban area of the Apulia Region in Southern Italy, where the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence among pregnant women is 5.6%. The overall prevalence of any hepatitis B virus marker was 3.4%, increasing from 1.7% in 3- to 5-year-old children to 5% in 10- to 11-year-old children (P less than 0.002). Prevalence was not associated with the father's years of schooling (odds ratio, 1.98; confidence interval, 95% (0.9 to 4.6] or with the family size (odds ratio, 2.96; confidence interval, (0.7 to 11.8]. The overall HBsAg prevalence was 0.8, a rate that was lower than the 5.6% found in pregnant women. The finding of only 12 HBsAg-positive children of the 1,426 tested, despite 80 of them being born to HBsAg-positive carrier mothers (on the basis of the 5.6% HBsAg prevalence among pregnant women), is probably attributable to the low proportion (5%) of hepatitis B e antigen positivity among the HBsAg-positive carrier mothers in the study area. The observed low HBV infection rate in younger age groups, which confirms recent studies in other areas of Italy, appears to be the result of several factors: improved socioeconomic conditions; decreased family size; and increased use of disposable syringes in the last few years.

Decline in the exposure to hepatitis A and B infections in children in Naples, Italy

In May 1988, the hepatitis A antibody (anti-HAV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers were studied by radioimmunoassay in 484 apparently healthy children between the ages of 7 and 12, attending a primary school in Naples, Italy. The overall anti-HAV prevalence was 11.2%, increasing from 5.2 in 7-year-old children to 28.2% in children between the ages of 11 and 12 years old. The overall prevalence of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and of other HBV markers were 0.8 and 6.8 respectively. Compared with a similar previous study conducted in Naples in 1980, the results show a significant reduction in the prevalence of anti-HAV in each of the two age-groups (P less than 0.01), in the prevalence of any HBV marker in the 11 to 12-year-old group, as well as in the total population (P less than 0.05). The findings of the present study indicate that today, children in Naples are less exposed to the hepatitis A virus than in the past, most likely because of improvements in both the socioeconomic conditions and in health education during recent years. These same reasons, as well as decreased family size and a lower prevalence of HBeAg among HBsAg carriers could explain the decline, although to a lesser degree, of exposure to HBV infection.

The proband method in psychiatric epidemiology: a bias associated with differences in family size.

Psychiatric epidemiology has traditionally employed both census and proband-based methods to determine the population prevalence of psychiatric disorders. In this article we outline a potential bias in the proband method. With this method, the probability of ascertainment for an individual depends on the number of available relatives. If the average size of families containing one or more affected individuals (RA) differs from the average size of families with no affected individuals (RU), then the ratio of the prevalence estimated by the proband method to the true prevalence is approximately [(RA - 1)/(RU - 1)]. For certain psychiatric disorders associated with decreased family size (e.g. schizophrenia), the underestimation of prevalence by the proband method may be non-trivial.

A Modernized Family Life Cycle

Recent changes in family composition and life style, including rising divorce rates and decreasing family size, suggest that a reexamination of the traditional family life cycle is necessary. A revised family life cycle, with implications for family sociologists and consumer and marketing researchers, is proposed.

Marital dissolution, remarriage, and childbearing

Earlier models of fertility hypothesize that marital dissolution and remarriage influence subsequent childbearing. This issue is examined by comparing the fertility of those in disrupted marriages with that of those in stable marriages. The results indicate that, by transferring women into a nonmarried status, marital dissolution decreases childbearing. The data also suggest that discord reduces fertility even before separation occurs--separated women had reduced fertility during the two years just before separation. It was found that marital dissolution without remarriage operates to truncate childbearing, thus decreasing family size. Dissolution followed by remarriage, however, lengthens the childbearing span of whites and has no inflences on average family size; remarrying white women are able to make up for the childbearing lost between marriages. For nonwhites, we found that dissolution and remarriage increase the average time to childbirth, but, even more importantly, these events greatly decrease the number of children born.

Pattern and problem of poultry consumption by the rural and urban families of Fulbaria Upazila

The pattern and problem of poultry consumption by the rural and urban families of Fulbaria upazilla were studied. Data were collected through interview schedule from 100 respondents (50 from rural area and 50 from urban area). Problem confrontation index (PCI) in urban area 27 to 143 against the possible range of 0 to 150 and in rural area 33 to 138 against the possible 0 to 150. Overall area PCI was 60 to 281 against the possible range of 0 to 300. Nonavailability of day old chicks, lack of optimum amount of feed, unbalanced diets and fluctuating prices of eggs and meat were the acute problems hampered the consumption of poultry. The average farm size in urban and rural areas was 167.84 and 233.94 decimal. Livestock population consisted of 80% poultry and 20% large animal. Poultry contributed 4% of the total income in the rural area and 3% in the urban area. Rural people have less knowledge on health and nutrition than that of urban people. Poultry consumption in both rural and urban area is certainly very low. A positive correlation of age with poultry consumption implies that per capita poultry consumption is higher for older people. Reverse case is expected to build a healthy society. From correlations it can be concluded that in urban area increased farm size, increased livestock population, increased income, better knowledge on health and nutrition and decreased family size should increase per capita poultry consumption. Correlations also indicate that decreased family size and better knowledge on health and nutrition could minimize problems of poultry consumption. In rural area correlations computed impress that increased literacy, increased farm size, increased livestock population, increased income and better knowledge on health and nutrition should increase per capita poultry consumption. Whereas, increased income could remove problems of poultry consumption. Keywords: Poultry; Consumption; Problem confrontation index; Pattern and problem DOI: 10.3329/jbau.v6i2.4827 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 6(2): 307-313, 2008