Proportion Of Childless Women Research Articles

The relationships between childlessness and educational attainment among women born between 1920 and 1979 in Hungary

Using comprehensive, individual-level census and micro census data from 1970 to 2016, our analysis seeks to answer the question of how the level of childlessness has changed in Hungary among women born between 1920 and 1979. Are there any differences by educational attainment and how the extent of childlessness would have changed if there had been no expansion in education? Our results indicate that the proportion of childless women has changed over time, both overall and within each educational group. The level of childlessness among women with different educational attainment has become increasingly similar to that of women with secondary education. Convergence was strongest between those with primary and vocational education. The level of childlessness among women with secondary and tertiary education has also become similar, although it remained consistently higher for college and university graduates. We also set up two hypothetical childlessness scenarios. In the fixed education scenario, the educational composition of women born in 1945–1949 was held constant and was projected to all birth cohorts. In the fixed childlessness by education scenario, we held the childlessness rate constant within all educational categories of women born in 1955–1959 and projected it onto the other birth cohorts. For both scenarios we calculated the overall childlessness for each cohort. Our calculations indicate that the change in the composition of women by educational attainment had a smaller effect on overall childlessness rates than the change in the level of childlessness among women with different levels of schooling.

Childlessness among women of reproductive age in Serbia from a demographic perspective

The social, economic, and cultural changes that have taken place in Europe in the past few decades in the field of fertility have been accompanied by an increase in permanent childlessness. The childlessness level among women born in 1968 is 12% in Serbia, slightly below the European average (14%). The aim of this paper is to explore in more detail the level of childlessness in Serbia and the characteristics of women aged 15-49 without live births. Changes in childlessness over a 60-year period (1961-2020) by five-year age groups were analysed. The basic characteristics of childless women of reproductive age by education, marital status, and age were observed from 1991 to 2011. The paper is based on census and vital statistics data. The authors introduce two new indicators of childlessness: the general childlessness rate (GChR) as the share of women without live births in the total female population aged 15-49, and the age-specific childlessness rate (ASChR) as the percentage of childless women by age. Changes in cumulative fertility rates by age were less influenced by the reproductive behaviour of mothers and much more by an increase in the proportion of childless women. The general childlessness rate until 1991 was relatively stable in Serbia. Since then, it has increased intensely (from 30.1% in 1991 to 41.6% in 2011, and 43.4% in 2020). The increase in childlessness is largely a consequence of the postponement of first births, but also of the increase in permanent childlessness among women aged 45-49. The postponement of first births has occured in all age groups and the ASChR has increased across the board. In Serbia, in 2020, the ASChR reached record values for all five-year age groups (36.5% for women aged 30-34, 21.4% for ages 35-39), as did the level of permanent childlessness (13.8% for ages 45-49). The paper also analyses childlessness by education and marital status. According to census data (1991, 2002, and 2011), the general childlessness rate is lowest among women without any formal education and those who haven?t completed primary school, and highest among women with a primary education. Childlessness rates are particularly high among women in their thirties and forties. The influence of marital status on the level of childlessness was also confirmed. The GChR of single women was at least 10 times higher than the value for ever married women. The GChR ranged from 96% to 89% for single women and invariably slightly above 8% for ever married women. The results of direct standardization showed the greater importance of the changes that occurred between 1991 and 2011 by education and marital status of women aged 15-49 on the childlessness level, as well as their completely opposite effects compared to those caused by the change in the age structure. The large impact of changes in marital structure also indicates the possibility of a certain influence on reducing childlessness in Serbia. As the decreasein marriage is not accompanied by a higherprevalence of stable extramarital unions, it?s possible that the creation of more favourable circumstances for an independent life for young people and for forming a union could contribute to reducing the postponement of childbearing, and thus reducing childlessness during and at the end of the reproductive age. This is especially important considering that family and children are highly valued in Serbia. It should be noted that the high and growing shares of women without children in the 30-34 and 35-39 age groups limit the possibilities of reducing permanent childlessness, particularly in the near future.

The relationships between childlessness and aducational attainment among women born between 1920 and 1979 in Hungary

Using comprehensive, individual-level census and micro census data from 1970 to 2016, our analysis seeks to answer the question of how the level of childlessness has changed in Hungary among women born between 1920 and 1979. Are there any differences by educational attainment and how the extent of childlessness would have changed if there had been no expansion in education? Our results indicate that the proportion of childless women has changed over time, both overall and within each educational group. The level of childlessness among women with different educational attainment has become increasingly similar to that of women with secondary education. Convergence was strongest between those with primary and vocational education. The level of childlessness among women with secondary and tertiary education has also become similar, although it remained consistently higher for college and university graduates. We also set up two hypothetical childlessness scenarios. In the fixed education scenario, the educational composition of women born in 1945–1949 was held constant and was projected to all birth cohorts. In the fixed childlessness by education scenario, we held the childlessness rate constant within all educational categories of women born in 1955–1959 and projected it onto the other birth cohorts. For both scenarios we calculated the overall childlessness for each cohort. Our calculations indicate that the change in the composition of women by educational attainment had a smaller effect on overall childlessness rates than the change in the level of childlessness among women with different levels of schooling.

O caminho da saúde sexual e reprodutiva na América Latina: uma análise temporal de indicadores para cinco países da Região

Apresenta-se a evolução do padrão reprodutivo de diferentes países da América Latina com níveis de fecundidade distintos, procurando entender se a Região está tornando-se mais homogênea em termos de comportamento reprodutivo. Utilizam-se como indicadores desse padrão: proporção de mulheres sem filhos, idade mediana à primeira união e ao ter o primeiro filho e presença de filho ao usar contracepção pela primeira vez. Os dados provêm de pesquisas sobre saúde reprodutiva de Brasil, Colômbia, El Salvador, Peru, e República Dominicana em três pontos no tempo: décadas de 80 e 90 e início dos anos 2000 segundo idade e escolaridade. Os resultados mostram que as diferenças estão diminuindo entre os países com a proximidade dos níveis de fecundidade, mas ainda permanecem brechas por escolaridade que sugerem ampliar-se dentro dos países. Os resultados oferecem importantes insumos para entender os trajetos delineados por diferentes gerações nos países da Região no que se refere ao padrão reprodutivo.

Baixa fecundidade e adiamento do primeiro filho no Brasil

O Brasil vem passando por um processo de adiamento dos nascimentos, o que tem contribuído para que a fecundidade observada seja reduzida pela ação do efeito tempo. Nesse contexto, o primeiro nascimento assume importância, na medida em que o momento da sua ocorrência está relacionado ao dos nascimentos subsequentes e ao potencial de recuperação dos nascimentos adiados. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o comportamento dos nascimentos de primeira ordem no Brasil, levando-se em conta a heterogeneidade regional. Buscam-se elementos que possam enriquecer o debate acerca do futuro da fecundidade no país. São utilizados os dados dos Censos Demográficos e as histórias de nascimentos reconstruídas a partir destes, para o período de 1980 a 2010. Os resultados mostram a persistência dos diferenciais regionais e indicam um cenário de adiamento do primeiro filho no Brasil e de aumento da proporção de mulheresque terminam o período reprodutivo sem filhos. Caso os diferenciais regionais se reduzam, a tendência é de acirramento do adiamento e queda adicional dos níveis de fecundidade.

Running out of time? Understanding the consequences of the biological clock for the dynamics of fertility intentions and union formation

BACKGROUND A considerable proportion of childless women in their late thirties or early forties would still like to have children. The number of men and women whose fertility intentions are potentially influenced by the so-called biological clock for childbearing and who remain involuntarily childless is increasing. OBJECTIVE We analyze the short-term dynamics of fertility intentions and partner search among childless, non-partnered men and women aged 35-37. By comparing people in this age group to younger men and women, we investigate whether and how their awareness of the biological clock for childbearing affects their childbearing intentions. METHODS The data stems from the first two waves of the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam) survey. We selected male and female respondents aged 25-27 (n = 1,073) and 35-37 (n = 369) in Wave 1. RESULTS Our analyses reveal that fertility intentions are more polarized among men and women aged 35-37 than among their 25-27-year-old counterparts, and are more polarized among women than among men. Finding a partner is shown to positively affect fertility intentions. Our results suggest that people who intensify their fertility intentions are not necessarily successful in finding a partner, which can be seen as a major prerequisite for family formation. CONTRIBUTION This is one of the first studies to investigate the fertility intentions of childless men and women whose biological clock is running out. It provides an instructive example for a longitudinal study of the dynamics of life-course-related intentions.

Fertility rates and the postponement of first births: a descriptive study with Finnish population data

ObjectivesWe described the trend of fertility rates, age-specific fertility rates and associated factors in Finland over a 30-year period.DesignA descriptive population-based register study.SettingFertility data, including age at first birth, childlessness...

Fécondité et niveau d’instruction des femmes pendant le socialisme d’État en Europe centrale et orientale

Cet article analyse l’évolution de la descendance finale des femmes nées entre 1916 et 1960 dans sept pays d’Europe centrale et orientale (Croatie, République tchèque, Hongrie, Pologne, Roumanie, Slovaquie et Slovénie). L’effet de l’élévation du niveau d’instruction sur la fécondité des cohortes est analysé en tenant compte de l’infécondité et des naissances de rang élevé à l’aide des méthodes de décomposition et de standardisation appliquées aux données issues des recensements entre 1980 et 2000. Le recul de la fécondité des cohortes résulte de l’augmentation du niveau d’instruction d’une part et de la réduction du nombre de naissances de rang élevé d’autre part. Ces deux effets négatifs sont partiellement contrebalancés par la diminution de la proportion de femmes sans enfant. L’analyse montre que les évolutions de la fécondité des cohortes ont été largement partagées dans les différents pays, malgré des différences d’intensité. Il ne semble pas exister de tendance de fécondité spécifique aux pays socialistes, excepté la proportion de femmes sans enfant qui continue de diminuer (alors qu’elle augmente dans les pays occidentaux pour les femmes nées après 1940). En Roumanie, Pologne et Hongrie, la politique fortement pronataliste a pu ralentir la baisse des parités de rang élevé.

Parity in patients with chronic inflammatory arthritides childless at time of diagnosis

Objective: To assess parity in women with chronic inflammatory arthritides (CIA) childless at time of diagnosis.Methods: Patients were selected from the Norwegian Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug (NOR-DMARD) registry. Each patient was matched by year of birth with 100 reference women from the Norwegian Population Registry. Data linkage for patients and references with the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN) identified all offspring until time of linkage (October 2007). Patients and corresponding references childless at the time of diagnosis were included in the analyses. Kaplan–Meier curves visualized the proportion of childless women and were compared by a log rank test.Results: In all, 156 rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 107 other chronic arthritides (OCA), and 75 juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients were childless at time of diagnosis. At the time of data linkage, the proportions (%) of childless RA/OCA/JIA patients versus references were 61.5/62.6/57.3 versus 46.9/42.9/41.0, respectively, all differences statistically significant. The log rank test showed lower parity in all diagnostic groups compared with references (p < 0.001 for RA and OCA and p = 0.002 for JIA). No difference in parity was observed between RA and OCA patients, but both diagnostic groups had lower parity than JIA patients (p = 0.001). Disease characteristics were similar between childless and fertile patients.Conclusions: Reduced parity was observed in all diagnostic groups compared with references. RA and OCA patients had lower parity than JIA patients, indicating that having the disease as a young adult may influence parity more than having the disease in childhood.

Increasing Childlessness in Germany and Japan: Toward a Childless Society?

Abstract: This paper focuses on childlessness in Germany and Japan and its sociological meanings in family formation in postmodern societies. First, it shows the trends of fertility decline and increasing childlessness, and clarifies the similarities and differences in both countries, by comparing parity composition, educational attainment, and other socioeconomic correlates of childlessness. Second, using the data of attitudinal surveys, such as the 2003 Population Policy Acceptance Study (PPAS) in Germany and the 13th National Fertility Survey (JNFS; 2005) in Japan, the reasons for having no children are observed. Third, referring to the discussions of German scholars, it tries to explain the sociological meanings of childlessness and to describe the development toward a childless society (even if it's demographically not sustainable) as one of the possible consequences of the Second Demographic Transition. Important findings are as follows: (1) In Germany the fertility decline began early in the mid‐1960s but in Japan later from mid‐1970s so that the increase of childlessness has been a little delayed. The proportion of childless women in Western Germany increased to 28% for the 1967 cohort. In Japan, it has increased to 12.7% for the 1960 cohort, but is expected to reach 30% for the 1970 cohort. (2) The educational gap in childlessness is clearly observed in Germany; however, this is not so simple in Japan. Corresponding with the increase of childlessness, the desired number of children in average is declining. The emergence of a child‐free culture is observed in Germany by PPAS, but not yet in Japan by JNFS. (3) Polarization may proceed further in both countries, between childless people and people with many children.

Senza figli: intenzioni e comportamenti italiani nel quadro europeo

Childlessness arises from a heterogeneous universe, at one end of which there are childfree people, individuals who have taken a conscious and deli-berate decision against having children, and at the opposite end there are the involuntarily childless, those who would have liked children of their own but, for different reasons, were not able to realize their wish. The latter group prevails in Italy where the proportion of childless women among those born in the 1960s will very likely reach 15%, a percentage which is not however a new low, but rather similar to that of women born in the 1920s and 1930s. Compared to the North European countries, Italian cou-ples do not easily give up having children even if oftentimes they have only one child.

Familles nombreuses et couples sans enfant

espanolIndependientemente del sexo y de la edad, la esperanza de vida no ha dejado casi de aumentar en Francia desde principios de los anos 50. Al nacer las mujeres ya han ganado 14,6 anos de esperanza de vida entre 1950 y 2005 y los hombres 13,3 anos. A lo largo de las dos ultimas decadas, la diferencia entre la esperanza de vida de los dos sexos se ha estabilizado e incluso ha empezado a reducirse y dicha reduccion se debe fundamentalmente a una aceleracion de los progresos masculinos y a una relajacion de los progresos femeninos antes de los 60 anos, faciles de percibir en ambos casos. En las edades mas avanzadas, en cambio, los progresos se han mantenido a un ritmo mas rapido para las mujeres que para los hombres. A pesar de que la mortalidad tumoral esta disminuyendo tanto para las mujeres como para los hombres, los canceres siguen siendo la principal causa de los decesos, por delante de las enfermedades cardiovasculares, para las que la mortalidad ha disminuido considerablemente. En las edades avanzadas, la sobremortalidad excepcional debido a las altas temperaturas de 2003 no hizo mas que interrumpir brevemente una evolucion muy favorable, fundamentalmente vinculada al retroceso de la mortalidad cardiovascular. Los progresos venideros dependeran de los exitos de la lucha contra el cancer y del control de las enfermedades neurodegenerativas. francaisQuels que soient le sexe et l’âge, l’esperance de vie n’a quasiment pas cesse d’augmenter en France depuis le debut des annees 1950. A la naissance, les femmes ont ainsi gagne 14,6 ans d’esperance de vie entre 1950 et 2005 et les hommes 13,3 ans. Au cours des deux dernieres decennies, l’ecart d’esperance de vie entre les sexes s’est stabilise et a meme commence a se reduire. Cette reduction tient pour l’essentiel a une acceleration des progres masculins, mais un essoufflement des progres feminins avant 60 ans est egalement perceptible. Aux âges les plus eleves, en revanche, les progres se sont poursuivis a un rythme plus rapide pour les femmes que pour les hommes. Bien que la mortalite tumorale soit en baisse aussi bien pour les femmes que pour les hommes, les cancers arrivent desormais au premier rang des causes de deces, devant les maladies cardio-vasculaires pour lesquelles la mortalite a considerablement diminue. Aux grands âges, la surmortalite exceptionnelle due a la canicule de 2003 n’a interrompu que brievement une evolution tres favorable, essentiellement liee au recul de la mortalite cardio-vasculaire. Les progres a venir dependront des succes remportes dans la lutte anti-cancereuse et dans le controle des maladies neuro-degeneratives.

Czech and Slovak Families in the European Context

During the past two decades most of the developed countries of Europe have witnessed changes in such family-related demographic phenomena as nuptiality, divorce, and fertility. For the time being, the Czech and Slovak Republics continue to exhibit patterns established earlier in history. Marriage is universal and is contracted at young ages. Children are born to young parents and at short childbirth intervals. The proportion of childless women is below ten percent, which is comparatively low. The eight percent of children born out of wedlock is comparatively low by European standards. Longitudinal indicators are characterized by great stability. As a result of recent profound political, social, and economic changes, it is reasonable to expect changes in demographic behavior as well. The first of these may be a marked decline in fertility along the lines already experienced by southern European countries.

Statistical modeling of selected aspects of the childbearing process with application to World Fertility Survey countries.

"A mathematical model for estimation of certain aspects of the childbearing process, which requires only data on age-specific fertility rates, is developed. Synthetic maternal childbearing indices, namely, mean ages at first and last birth, length of reproductive life span, inter-birth spacing, and proportion of childless women, in addition to the well-known mean age at childbearing, for the WFS [World Fertility Surveys conducted in developing] countries are obtained using the proposed model. The indices are free from age truncation effects, and, under certain assumptions, provide information about a cohort's completed fertility before the women stop reproducing. The effects of women's residence and education on fertility are also examined." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Declining childlessness and age at marriage: a test of a hypothesis.

Using U.S. census data, 2 researchers in 1965 offered the following 3 conclusions regarding childlessness: 1) there are substantial differences in childlessness between urban and rural married women; 2) the proportion of childless women among postmenopausal women increased until about 1950; and 3) childlessness is presently declining. Investigators using 1961 Canadian census materials found the 3 conclusions to be true for Canada, as well. The incidence of childressness broken down by province and by age at 1st marriage is tabulated. It is hypothesized that childlessness is currently declining in both the U.S. and Canada because the age at 1st marriage is also declining. However, Canadian data show that the rates of childlessness tend to vary, even when age at 1st marriage is held constant. Therefore, it is concluded that both declining childlessness and declining average age at marriage are attributable to some other variable, perhaps social change.

Estimation of the Birth Rate for the Congo Through Nonconventional Techniques

This paper attempts to produce a set of alternative estimates of birth rates for the Congo and for its main regions through nonconventional techniques. The main body of data used for this purpose is supplied by the demographic survey undertaken during 1955-57. Two types of information on fertility are produced by this survey: (1) births to women by age during the 12 months preceding the survey and (2) children-ever-born to women by age. The available data, while reliable in certain respects, are deficient in others. Thus, the reports on children born during the year preceding the survey are acceptably accurate for the children who have survived but are insufficient for the children who have died.The task was to make the best possible use of various reliable pieces of information directly or indirectly related to fertility, in order to produce some reasonably acceptable estimate of birth rate. One procedure consisted of correcting the reported birth rate for the omission of infant deaths; another procedure involved the adjustment of the reported birth rate with reference to the mean parity of women. In addition to these, an estimate of birth rate was derived by means of stable population technique from the proportion of children under 5 years of age.Three sets of estimates of birth rate, then, have been produced. They yielded a high agreement for the country as a whole, as well as for the provincial and district levels. These estimates were then compared with the proportion of childless women and the proportion of children-the latter having been derived from the records of "continuous registration of inhabitants," a source of information which is completely independent of the demographic survey of 1955-57. Again, a reasonable agreement has been found among all these estimates.Statistical evidence examined in this paper supports a birth rate of about 45 per 1,000 for the Congo. The analysis reveals a high regional variation in birth rate: from 20 per 1,000 (Bas Uele) to 60 per 1,000 (Kivu). This variation is consistent with the variation in sterility level as evidenced by the proportion of women never having had a live birth. The proportion of childlessness varies from 5 percent (Kivu) to about 40 percent (Bas Uele) for women past child-bearing age.