Determinants Of Fertility Behavior Research Articles

Hisakazu Kato, “Macro-econometric Analysis on Determinants of Fertility Behavior” Springer, Springer Briefs in Population Studies, 2021, 76p

Hisakazu Kato, “Macro-econometric Analysis on Determinants of Fertility Behavior” Springer, Springer Briefs in Population Studies, 2021, 76p

Social network indices in the Generations and Gender Survey

Background: In this contribution we critically appraise the social network indices in the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS). Objective: After discussing the rationale for including social network indices in the GGS, we provide descriptive information on social network characteristics and an overview of substantive questions that have been addressed using GGS social network data: antecedents and consequences of demographic behaviour, care, and differences in well-being. We identify topics that have received relatively little attention in GGS research so far, despite the availability of novel and appropriate social network data. We end with a discussion of what is unique about the social network indices in the GGS. Methods: The descriptive information on social network characteristics is based on empirical analyses of GGS data, and an experimental pilot study. The overview of GGS research using social network indices is based on a library search. The identification of what is unique about the social network indices in the GGS is based on a comparison with the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE), and the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). Results: Results show a high representation of family members in the social networks, and confirm the adequacy of using a cap of five names for network-generating questions. GGS research using the social network indices has largely focused on determinants of fertility behaviour, intergenerational linkages in families, and downward care transfers. Conclusions: Topics that have received relatively little attention are demographic behaviours other than those related to parenthood, upward transfers of practical support, ties with siblings, and stepfamily ties. Social network indices in the GGS show a high degree of overlap with those in other international surveys. The unique features are the inventory of family ties ever born and still living, and the assessment of network members’ normative expectations. The GGS holds a wealth of social network data that warrants a myriad of future investigations.

Gender role and fertility behaviour among Calabar and Oban communities in Cross River State, Nigeria

Discussions on fertility behaviour and population control policies have focused exclusively on the behaviour of females, and often target women for change while disregarding the role of the males. The inability of the national population policies to address this while at the same time encouraging patriarchal family system for the stability of the home seems to support this neglect. This study thus, examined male role and other determinants of fertility behaviour in Calabar and Oban areas of Cross River State, Nigeria. It focused on type of marriage preferred, educational attainment, decision on children marriage and socioeconomic determinants as they influence marital values. A simple random technique was used to select a sample of 500 respondents from the two areas (Calabar and Oban) a well structured questionnaire was used as instrument for collecting data while descriptive statistics and percentage analysis were used to analyse the data. Findings reveal that a higher percentage of male favoured polygamy, that low educational attainment, socioeconomic and parental decision on children marriage justifies male role on fertility and marital values. It was recommended among others that adequate attention be paid to male role, if fertility control policies are to be realized; that adequate education and enlightenment be located to both the educated and non-educated populace, that child early marriage be controlled, the consents of the children to be so involved in the marriage should be taken into consideration since they are to be directly involved in this marriage adventure.

Second and Third Births in Armenia and Moldova: An Economic Perspective of Recent Behaviour and Current Preferences

Little is known about fertility in Armenia and Moldova, the two countries that have both, according to national statistics, experienced very low levels of fertility during the dramatic economic, social and political restructuring in the last two decades. This article fills this gap and explores recent fertility behaviour and current fertility preferences using 2005 Demographic and Health Survey data. Educational differences in fertility decline and the association between socioeconomic indicators and fertility preferences are considered from an economic perspective. Special emphasis is given to determining whether and how diverging economic conditions in the two countries as well as crisis conditions may have influenced fertility. Second parity progression ratios (PPR) reveal a positive relationship between the degree of decline from 1990 to 2005 and education, whereas third PPR declines appear the greatest for women with both the lowest and highest education. In both countries, logistic regression results suggest that working women are more likely to want a second child, as well as want the child sooner university than later in Armenia, and the wealthiest women in Armenia have a higher odds of wanting a third child. Dual-jobless couples are less likely to want a second child in Moldova and more likely to postpone the next child in Armenia. These findings offer some insight into the shifts in fertility behaviour in these two post-Soviet countries and suggest that despite diverging economic trajectories and a lessening commitment to the two-child norm in Moldova, determinants of fertility behaviour and preferences have remained similar in both countries.

Child-Bearing Attitudes in Croatia: A Country Passing through the Modernization Process

For the last several decades, the number of newborn children has been steadily decreasing in many societies, but the drop has been especially pronounced in Central and Eastern European countries. The phenomenon had created a lot of concern among social policy makers but has not stimulated much scientific study. Most of the theories and research on population change are coming from W estern Europe and the United States of American (USA) and the question is how adequately do they explain population changes in the countries experiencing modernization. Sociological literature on Croatian families points to childbearing attitudes as an important predictor of fertility behavior. If childbearing attitudes are determinants of fertility behavior, it is important to research the sources of these attitudes. Therefore, in this study two types of attitudes toward childbearing were defined as dependent variables: (1) attitudes towards children as an obligation to society and (2) attitudes toward children as a life’s joy. Five hundred and five couples participated, selected by a combination of quota and random sampling of the married couples living in the Zagreb metropolitan area. Five groups of predictors were analyzed and five models were obtained to which hierarchical regression analysis was applied. The analysis yielded four distinct groups of participants having different childbearing attitudes: 1. non-commited mothers, 2. mothers commited to dual role, 3. traditional non-commited fathers, and 4. family commited fathers. Relationships between attitudes and fertility behavior are discussed.

Changes in Family Income around the Time of Birth of Children in Germany between 1985 and 2004

While the course and the determinants of fertility behaviour have been investigated intensively, the monetary consequences of birth have hardly been considered empirically to date. Therefore, this paper focuses on the short-term (equivalent) household income changes around the time of births in a longitudinal perspective and examines them for their causes. For the analyses of the longitudinal data (GSOEP-Data 1984-2005), fixed effects panel regression models were computed. The results show that the short-term socioeconomic consequences of birth have clearly increased in the last two decades and first births in particular are associated with disproportionately severe socioeconomic consequences, while further births are rarely accompanied by negative changes in the households’ socioeconomic situations. Furthermore, household income losses attributable to births only arise in double income households and increase gradually in line with a rising level of household income before birth. Hence, the analyses suggest the need for more adequate state assistance with respect to family support. Beside the provision of adequate infrastructural conditions which allow mothers to be employed, also the payments to compensate for child-related costs (“Kindergeld”) should be – in contrast to the present practice in Germany – increased and re-adjusted with respect to the child’s position in the birth sequence.

Fertility after Induced Abortion: a Register-Based Study in Finland in 2000-2008

The article explores the determinants of fertility behaviour after an induced abortion in Finland. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there are socio-demographic factors associated with the risk of having repeat abortions. The data were collected from the Registry of Induced Abortions and from the Medical Birth Registry in 2000-2008. The study population consists of the 63,763 women who had their first induced abortion during that time. Our results indicate that there are significant differences in fertility patterns of women with different socio-demographic backgrounds. The likelihood of repeat abortion was high for teenagers, parous, low socio-economic status (SES), urban and unmarried women. Delivery was the most likely for 20-34-year-olds, rural and childless women, and for women, who were living with their partner and were no longer students. New pregnancy was unlikely for at least 30-year-olds, parous and high SES groups. The results show that these socio-demographic patterns should be taken into account when developing post-abortion counselling.

Adolescent Fertility Behavior: Trends and Determinants in Northeastern Brazil

Demographic and health surveys identified the trends and determinants of fertility behavior among northeastern Brazilian adolescents in 1986 1991 and 1996. Discrete-time hazard models estimated the probability of a woman having a first birth during adolescence and evaluated individual and environmental factors influencing personal fertility choices. Data showed that the factor most strongly and consistently associated with the probability of giving birth during adolescence was the young womans level of educational attainment. Adolescents who had not attended school beyond the primary level had a higher average incidence of having a first birth by comparison with those who had attained a secondary education. Multivariate analysis revealed that religious affiliation and mass media exposure did not consistently influence adolescent fertility over time. This study suggests that the promotion of education may be the most effective strategy for delaying childbearing among adolescents in northeastern Brazil. In addition the impact of health and family planning programs on teenage fertility needs to be researched further.

A multilevel analysis of fertility behavior in Korea.

This analysis of the socioeconomic determinants of fertility behavior in Korea develops a model that simultaneously considers both individual and community-level differences. The model includes 3 fertility process components: onset early fertility and later fertility which are defined by reference to maternal age. The analysis traced the effects of respondents education and childhood residence through their intermediate consequences for work experience before and after marriage husbands education and occupation current residence childhood mortality and sex composition of offspring. The data were derived from the 1974 Korean National Fertility Survey. The results of this analysis indicate that socioeconomic development results in increased age at 1st birth and reduced number of children. Socioeconomic development is accompanied by desires for smaller family size creating the conditions for fertility decline even in the absence of a national family planning program. The results for early fertility supported the hypothesis that there would be no effect of employment in the modern sector before marriage on fertility before age 30 years in traditional contexts but a positive effect in transitional contexts. Aside from age at 1st birth none of the micro coefficients were statistically significant in explaining the early fertility model. For later fertility the relationships between micro and social context variables were negative as hypothesized but dampening effects of development due to family planning were not detected. Childhood residence played a small role in explaining fertility measures but womens education did not work either additively or interactively.

Theoretical and methodological implications of the influence of sex preferences on the fertility attitude-behavior relationship

Data was collected from a sample of 72 volunteers from the University of Colorado introductory psychology subject pool in order to explore the theoretical possibility that measures of preferred family size generate good aggregate but poor individual fertility predictions because they ignore the influence of family sex composition preferences. The average preferred (1st choice) family size of 2.80 for this sample closely matches the average expected value of 2.86 children. Longitudinal studies of fertility intentions sometimes report the proportions of respondents who have exactly the number of children they said they desired at the time of the 1st interview. The expected proportions for this sample again assuming strict adherence to the stopping rules are as follows: 66% of the respondents would have exactly the number of children they desire; 26% would miss their ideal by 1; and 8% would miss their ideal by 2 or more. The maximum correlation between most preferred family size and actual outcomes would be .78. Study results demonstrate that poor attitude-behavior correlations in fertility studies must be partially attributed to the measures of attitude used and to the probabilistic nature of the determinants of fertility behavior as well as to true attitude-behavior inconsistency. The strategy suggested for improving attitude measures is to develop measures which capture the inherent dependence of fertility decisions on probabilistic events.