Economic motives for family limitation

Abstract Taiwan can boast one of the most rapid rates of economic development in the world over the past 20 years. Taiwan is also in the midst of the demographic transition. The nature of the connection between economic development and the onset and progress of the fertility decline is far from clear, however. Rather than explore the relation between income and fertility change, this paper will be concerned with some of the economic motivations which may be responsible for fertility decline during the demographic transition. Inquiries in this area have been handicapped by having to rely on aggregative or on household data which included only a very limited set of economic variables (other than income) along with demographic data. In order to re-examine the linkages between economic change and fertility change at the family level, a special survey was conducted in Taiwan in 1969. While recognizing that economic factors are not wholly, perhaps not even primarily, responsible for the lowering of the birth rate, the central interest of this paper is the complex of cost and benefit considerations which may contribute to a decline of the rate, using the new data for Taiwan.     

Herbal contraceptives: exploring indigenous methods of family planning

The study, "Herbal Contraceptives: An Alternative Strategy in Family Planning", was conducted by the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture, Xavier University, for the Population Center Foundation. The study has 2 phases: 1) phase 1 gathered information from the regional population offices on the areas where herbs are grown, and 2) phase 2 sought to obtain data on the preparation and perceived effectiveness of herbal contraceptives. Results indicate that, in most of the Philippine regions, herbal contraceptives had long been used by women in the rural areas, specifically those in the indigenous groups. The 1984 study found that many rural women in the research area preferred the Kamias drink and other herbal concoctions to the pill and other modern contraceptive methods. Among college-educated women, it was found that acceptance of contraceptives was influenced more by their religion rather than by their education. Most of the respondents said they used herbal contraceptives because they were easily obtained and were inexpensive. Generally, they considered herbal contraceptives much safer than other contraceptives methods. Some women who had been using modern family planning methods are now using herbs in delaying pregnancy; this shift is mainly due to the side effects of the modern methods. There is room for a compromise between folk practices and modern science, as in the case of herbal contraceptives.     

Abortion and family building models: Fertility limitation in Hungary

This paper demonstrates how family-building models can be used for checking the quality of abortion data. A family-building model, called FERMODA, is presented and used to check whether the available data on abortion for Hungary are consistent with Hungarian data on other aspects of family building. Model cohorts are generated, using in FERMODA the proportions of women married and the birth and abortion rates of two selected Hungarian cohorts. The estimates obtained from the simulated cohorts concerning use of contraception are compared with the information available on contraception, and, on the basis of this comparison, a judgment is made about the quality of abortion data for Hungary.     

Differential fertility and family limitation in an urban community of Uttar Pradesh

The study relates to an investigation of the fertility pattern of a sample of 1018 wives drawn from Lucknow and Kanpur, the two biggest cities of Uttar Pradesh. The sample is stratified with respect to religion and caste, and income. It reveals significant inter-community differences, Muslims and low-caste Hindus showing nearly equal fertility, and high-caste Hindus and Christians showing comparatively lower levels. The proportion of small families (three children or less) is obviously higher in groups with lower fertility, but there is a wide measure of dispersion in each group. Fertility is seen to decline with a rise in income, but not until we cross the income level of Rs 300 per month. Consistent with the differential trends in fertility, striking variations are also observed in the extent of contraceptive practice in different groups. Groups with lower fertility also show a higher frequency of birth control. Birth controllers have lower fertility than the non-controllers, and birth control appears to play a not inconsequential rôle in causing differential trends in fertility.     

A multilevel model of family planning availability and contraceptive use in rural Thailand

This paper assesses the ways in which the availability of family planning program outlets influences the likelihood of contraceptive use in rural Thailand. It focuses on a village-level measure of actual availability of sources rather than respondent perceptions of availability. Individuallevel and village-level data collected as part of the second Thailand Contraceptive Prevalence Survey are used to test three hypotheses about the effects of actual availability: that (a) availability of family planning outlets increases the likelihood of contraceptive use; (b) it enhances the effect of a desire for no more children on the likelihood of use; and (c) it weakens the positive relationship between education and the likelihood of use.     

Quantitative aspects of marriage,fertility and family limitation in nineteenth century America: Another application of the coale specifications

This paper deals with three aspects of the decline in the fertility of white women in the United States from 1800 to 1920. The first concerns the portion of the secular decline in the total fertility rate which was due to changes in marriage rates and the portion due to decreases in marital fertility rates. The second concerns the fraction of couples in the nineteenth century who acted effectively to reduce their fertility and the third deals with the importance of abortion as a family-limiting practice among white couples in the nineteenth century.     

From natural fertility to family limitation: The onset of fertility transition in a sample of German villages

Utilizing data from a sample of German village genealogies, it is possible to document the changes in reproductive patterns on the family level that started to take place in Germany during the nineteenth century and formed the basis for the secular decline in fertility which eventually encompassed the entire country. One striking finding from this study was the substantial diversity among the small sample of villages in terms of the timing of the emergence of family limitation. While couples in all villages who married during the last half of the eighteenth century appeared to be characterized predominantly by natural fertility the emergence of family limitation began as early as the turn of the nineteenth century in some places and as late as the end of the nineteenth century in others. Occupational differentials with respect to family limitation were also examined. There is little evidence that changes in birth spacing played an important part in the initial phase of the fertility trnsition. Rather, the underlying process appears to involve a change from fertility patterns that were characterized by the absence of parity-dependent control to one in which attempts to terminate childbearing in response to the number of children already born becomes widespread.     

Contraception: prospect of new contraceptives

At a metting of eminent international scientists in Cambridge, England, last September, several promising experiments were described that tested the feasibility of contraception based on pituitary-regulating hormones produced by the hypothalamus, an area at the base of the brain, that regulates the pituitary gland. There is still much basic research needed but preliminary results are promising. 2 Johns Hopkins University researchers are developing a method for male sterilization by the use of chemicals instead of surgery. The method has been successful with test animals, and has had no adverse effects on their sex lives. Clinical trials will begin this summer, if approved by the hospital research committee.     

Use of contraceptives by Chinese women

In April 1985 the State Statistical Bureau of China conducted a fertility sampling survey in the provinces of Hebei and Shaanxi, and Shanghai municipality covering a population of 93,000,000. The target group was married women under 50 whose knowledge and use of contraceptives are the main content of this survey. The IUD has been used by 62% in Hebei, 61% in Shaanxi, and 55% in Shanghai, and is most popular with women over 30 who have had at least 1 child. Married women who have used the pill make up 33% in Shanghai, 14% in Hebei, and 7% in Shaanxi. Female and male sterilization are used by women who have had more than 2 children (15.7% in Shanghai, 40% in Hebei, and 28% in Shannxi). 70-80% have used contraception of some type, reflecting the success of the family planning program.     

Family organization and fertility limitation in Nepal

This paper uses the family mode of organization framework to link together hypotheses relating social change to fertility limitation. Experiences in nonfamily activities are predicted to affect fertility behavior, with the outcome depending on the social, economic, and cultural context. To provide individual-level tests of hypotheses, the paper uses data from a Nepalese community which recently began dramatic family and fertility transitions. The findings show that experiences in nonfamily activities before marriage increase the odds of subsequently adopting fertility limitation in this setting. The evidence also demonstrates the importance of including measures of husbands' experiences in models of fertility decisions.     

Child-care availability and fertility in Norway

The child-care and fertility hypothesis has been in the literature for a long time and is straightforward: As child care becomes more available, affordable, and acceptable, the antinatalist effects of increased female educational attainment and work opportunities decrease. As an increasing number of countries express concern about low fertility, the child-care and fertility hypothesis takes on increased importance. Yet data and statistical limitations have heretofore limited empirical tests of the hypothesis. Using rich longitudinal data and appropriate statistical methodology, We show that increased availability of child care increases completed fertility. Moreover, this positive effect of child-care availability is found at every parity transition. We discuss the generalizability of these results to other settings and their broader importance for understanding variation and trends in low fertility.     

Mate availability and unmarried parent relationships

Theoretically, a shortage of males in a local marriage market may influence the formation, quality, and trajectory of unmarried parent relationships. To test these hypotheses, I combine city-level sex ratio data from the U.S. census with microdata on unmarried couples who recently had a child from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study. A shortage of men in a marriage market is associated with lower relationship quality for unmarried parents. Male shortages are associated with lower rates of marriage following a nonmarital birth, in part because of the mediating influence of relationship quality. A shortage of men is not significantly related to the economic quality of male, nonmarital childbearing partners.     

职业人力及其适用限度与利用管理探讨

我国的职业人力利用安全性差,损害性利用问题突出,应研究从业人的职业人力及其利用限度,探讨职业人力的合理利用与科学管理问题,当事人、用人单位和政府部门等社会的各个方面应分别做好自己的管理,多方面努力解决存在的问题。     

Fertility and land availability in rural Brazil

Differences between the marital fertility of the agricultural frontier and that of the more settled rural areas of southern Brazil are analyzed in this paper. Fertility rates derived from 1970 census data appear to decrease as the degree of settlement increases, suggesting an experience parallel to the decline in U.S. rural fertility in the late nineteenth century, which Easterlin and others have attributed to increased scarcity of land for starting new farm households. Multivariate analysis of the Brazilian data shows parallels between the two situations but also reveals that the importance of literacy, child survival, and access to land is relatively greater than that of the availability of land for explaining fertility differentials in Brazil.     

Sense of Community and Community Participation: A Meta-Analytic Review

Many studies indicate that participation and sense of community (SoC) are associated factors enhancing community development. However, research has almost completely ignored the magnitude of the association between the two and the stability of this relationship across contexts, populations and different forms of community participation. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the following: (a) the strength and stability of the SoC-participation relationship; (b) variations in this relationship associated with different forms of participation (i.e., civic and political); and (c) the influence of population characteristics on the SoC-participation relationship. The results showed that the SoC-participation relationship is significant, positive and moderately strong for forms of participation in the adult population and specific cultural contexts. Implications for theory and applications are discussed.     

Obesity, disease, and functional limitation in later life

Little is known about the effects of obesity late in life. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Aging and the Assets and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old Survey, this study finds an increased prevalence of obesity, over time, among those 70 and older. Obesity is related most strongly to limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) for women and to activities related to mobility. One ADL, eating, has a negative association to obesity. Obesity is associated with an increased prevalence of arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension. These results are cross-sectional and are based on self-reports of height and weight; they must be interpreted cautiously.     

The accessibility of contraceptives and service quality in drug stores in Shanghai

This news brief reports findings from a 1996 survey of contraceptive accessibility and service quality in Shanghai, China. Surveys were administered among 100 attendants from 58 drug stores in 5 districts and counties in Shanghai. Drug stores are a primary source of supply of contraception. Findings indicate that 80% of respondents in Nanshi, 85% in Putuo, 45% in Baoshan, 80% in Qingpu, and 70% in Fengxian were satisfied with drug stores as a source of supply of contraception. The mean score on knowledge of contraception among attendants was 68.4; the range was 85.5-27.6. The mean score of ever trained attendants was higher (72.4), compared to 65.8 among untrained attendants. 80% of attendants served customers with consideration and answered questions willingly. Attendants were not able to provide adequate answers to some questions about contraceptives due to deficits in their own knowledge relative to contraception.     

Child care availability and first-birth timing in Norway

Both sociological and economic theories posit that widely available, high-quality, and affordable child care should have pronatalist effects. Yet to date, the empirical evidence has not consistently supported this hypothesis. We argue that this previous empirical work has been plagued by the inability to control for endogenous placement of day care centers and the possibility that people migrate to take advantage of the availability of child care facilities. Using Norwegian register data and a statistically defensible fixed-effects model, we find strong positive effects of day care availability on the transition to motherhood.