Some comments on Mr Karmel's paper ‘the relations between male and female reproduction rates’1

The author discusses some of the points raised by Mr Karmel in his paper on the Relations between Male and Female Reproduction Rates (Population Studies, vol. I, no. 3, pp. 249–74). He considers some of the reasons for the discrepancies between male and female reproduction rates, and shows that this matter of discrepancies is connected with the problem of male and female nuptiality. He also considers the possibility of calculating a ‘unique’ measure of the true rate of increase, which does not involve inconsistencies of the type discussed by Mr Karmel. Finally, he criticizes the method used by Mr Karmel for calculating the net fertility of marriage and suggests a method which would eliminate the ambiguities of Mr Karmel's measures.     

Reply to the note by Frejka and Sardon on our paper ‘Patterns of low and lowest-low fertility in Europe’ and an erratum

The relation between socio-economic development and fertility is analysed for the Arab populations of Israel and the territories administered by Israel (i.e. the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). Retrospective survey statistics are used to reconstruct the fertility patterns of currently married Arab women, along with a variety of census information. Fertility responses to socio-economic changes are traced out in detail for the period of the British Mandate, the first 20 years of statehood 1948–67, and the contemporary post-1967 period. The figures show that both Christian and Moslem Arab populations experienced similar high levels of fertility up to the late 1920s. Subsequently, there has been a negative relation between socio-economic development and fertility. In terms of levels of development and fertility decline the sub-populations are ranked in the following order: Israeli urban Christians; Israeli urban Moslems; Israeli rural Christians; Israeli rural Moslems; Moslems in the Administered Territories. The analysis suggests that the timing and rate of fertility reduction are related to the character of specific demographic, economic, and political changes that generate conflicts at the family level.     

Comment on ‘Facts and Artifacts in the Study of Intra-Uterine Mortality: A Reconsideration from Pregnancy Histories’ by Henri Léridon1

Extract

I have suggested that at a given birth order the probability of having a further pregnancy is greater when the last pregnancy had been spontaneously aborted than when it resulted in a birth.² Léridon,³in the course of a valuable paper on foetal wastage, presents data which, according to him, impugn my suggestion. I would like to question his claim.