Happiness in Canada Since World War II

Where data exist, measures of averagehappiness in industrialized countries typicallyshow little or no upward trend over time,despite substantial growth in real per capitaincomes. This paper examines the existingCanadian data to see if they support thisgeneralization. The Canadian data have someoverall positive trend. Some simple regressionssuggest that per capita real incomes arepositively associated with happiness, whileunemployment and inflation appear to benegatively associated with happiness, a resultalso found in recent studies of Western Europeand the United States. Controlling for thesevariables, a negative time trend emerges.     

Dudley Kirk on Population Changes and Prospective Power Relations after World War II: A View from 1943

The theory of demographic transition in its best‐known modern formulation was developed in the early 1940s by a small group of researchers associated with Princeton University's Office of Population Research, under the leadership of Frank W. Notestein. A notable early adumbration of the theory in print—in fact preceding the most often cited contemporaneous articles by Notestein and by Kingsley Davis—was by Dudley Kirk, one of the Princeton demographers, in an article titled “Population changes and the postwar world,” originally presented by its author on 4 December 1943 at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Society, held in New York. It is reproduced below in full from the February 1944 issue of American Sociological Review (Vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 28–35). In the article Kirk, then 30 years old, briefly discusses essential elements of the concept of the demographic transition. He characterizes trends in birth and death rates as closely linked to developmental changes: to the transition “from a peasant, self‐sufficient society to an urban, industrial society.” He sees the countries of the world as arranged on a “single continuum of development” and, correspondingly, on a continuum of demographic configurations. These countries, he suggests, may be divided into three broad groups: the first, with high mortality and high fertility, possessing great potential population growth; the second, “caught up in the tide of industrialization and urbanization,” hence exhibiting birth and death rates that are both declining but in a pattern that generates rapid population growth; and a third, with low fertility and low mortality, pointing toward the prospect of eventual depopulation. He describes the temporal and geographic process of material progress and demographic change as one of cultural and technological diffusion emanating from the West. But Kirk's main interest in this article is the effects of the patterns generated by economic change and the ensuing demographic transition on shifts in relative power—military and economic—within the system of nations, both historically and in the then dawning postcolonial era. On the latter score, even if occasionally colored by judgments reflecting perspectives unsurprising in 1943, such as in his assessment of the economic potential of the Soviet Union, Kirk's probing of the likely consequences of evolving trends in power relationships as shaped by shifting economic and demographic weights—issues now largely neglected in population studies—is often penetrating and remarkably prescient. His views on the implication of these trends for the desirable American stance toward the economic and demographic modernization of less developed countries—friendly assistance resulting in rapid expansion of markets, and trade speeding a social evolution that also brings about slower population growth—represent what became an influential strand in postwar US foreign policy. Dudley Kirk was born 6 October 1913 in Rochester, New York, but grew up in California. After graduating from Pomona College, he received an M.A. in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University in 1935 and a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard in 1946. He was associated with Princeton's OPR between 1939 and 1947, where he published his influential monograph Europe's Population in the Interwar Years (1946) and, with Frank Notestein and others, coauthored the book The Future Population of Europe and the Soviet Union (1944). From 1947 to 1954 he was demographer in the Office of Intelligence Research of the US State Department, the first person having that title in the federal government. From 1954 to 1967 he was director of the Demographic Division of the Population Council in New York, and from 1967 until his retirement in 1979 he was professor of population studies at Stanford University. In 1959–60 he was president of the Population Association of America. Dudley Kirk died 14 March 2000 in San Jose, California.     

An analysis of the birth rate in the Soviet Union after World War II]

Changes in the birth rate in the USSR following World War II were studied in an effort to determine why such changes came about. Statistics show that immediately after the war, there was a short period with a high birth rate, after which the curve started to go down. In the 1950s, the rate was relatively stable, but it declined rapidly in the 1960s and reached a record low in the late 1960s. The rate started to go up in the 1970s and at present it is fluctuating at a low level. There are 2 major reasons for these changes. One fact is that the best childbearing ages are 20-29, and from 1960 to 1970, this age group declined due to the low birth rate during World War II. From 1970 to 1980, this age group grew because of the baby boom following the war. Another reason is the change in the childbearing rate of Russian women. This rate is declining for every age group. Reasons for this are: 1) the number of divorces has increased, with a remarriage rate of only 50%; 2) abortions have become more available; 3) there has been a drop in the number of families with several children; and 4) Russian women are becoming more edcated. As a rule, the better educated these women are, the fewer children they will bear. The birth rate in the USSR will remain low unless there is a change in the social structure.     

Abortion and contraception in the Korean fertility transition

Abstract In this paper the relationship between the use of abortion and contraception among married women in a society experiencing uronid decline in fertility is analysed using data from the Korean National Fertility Survey of 1974. The level and pattern of abortion before and after modern contraceptives became widely available are described, and the implications of the changing patterns of abortion and contraception are discussed.     

General liberalism and social change in post World War II America: A summary of trends

There has been a general shift towards liberalism during the post World War II period. A plurality of attitude trends have moved in the liberalism direction. There is, however, some evidence that this liberal shift has weakened, but not reversed during the last decade. Topical disaggregation show that the liberal movement has not been uniform across subjects. Attitudes towards abortions, civil liberties, race relations, and religion have moved most consistently in the liberal direction while crime/violence and spending/taxation items have showed more conservative trends. The main causes of the general liberalism trend were modernization and liberal idealism assisted by the New Deal Realignment and institutional leadership. The main countervailing forces to liberalism were found to be stagflation, taxation level, and crime. Despite the waning of liberalism in recent years there is no evidence to support the idea that most liberal advances over the past four decades will be reversed in the immediate future.     

A lovely war: male to female cross-dressing and Canadian military entertainment in World War II

This article explores the Canadian military entertainment units during World War II (WWII), specifically those formed by the Navy, Army and Air Force from talent found amongst their own personnel. These entertainment units toured extensively in Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe with the goal of increasing the morale of combat troops while encouraging the enlistment of Canada's domestic populations in the war effort generally and the armed forces specifically. By focusing on male to female cross-dressing in the performances of these entertainment units and their pre-WWII antecedents, it will become clear that the nature and importance of the representation of femininity within the virtually all-male milieu that existed near the battlefront changed over time in response to the demands of the audiences. Until the second half of WWII, soldier audiences were generally unwilling to form any ideological links between cross-dressing and homosexuality. Female impersonators were the key cast members in troop shows during the Great War, but eventually fell out of favor in the last years of WWII after women were recruited in large numbers into the Canadian military and thus its entertainment infrastructure. With women then on the military stage, men who persisted in female impersonation were decreasingly popular with audiences, ultimately under growing suspicion of being homosexuals and gradually removed from the productions.     

A tentative discussion on population reproduction in U.S.A. after World War II]

Immigration is an important factor in America's population growth. In the last 200 years over 50 million persons immigrated to the U.S.; 99.6% of the current total population are descendents of those immigrants. In the 1930s, American population decreased by about 7.2/1000, but during the 1950s the annual rate of natural increase rose to 18.5/1000. In the 1960s, this rate began to decrease until the 1970s when it was about 9/1000. By 1981 and 1982, the rate of natural increase declined to 7/1000. These changes are due to the relatively slow decline in the mortality rate of the last 30 years (10.6/1000 in 1945 to 9/1000 in 1981) and to the fluctuations in birth rates (from 19.5/1000 in 1945 to a high of 25.3/1000 in 1957 and back to 16/1000 in 1981). Birth rates are influenced by factors such as the number of fertile women, age structure, fecundity, marriage, family, occupation, and education. In 1950 there were 38,920,000 women aged 15-49, and by 1980 there were 57,630,000. Of these, in 1950, 31.28% were aged 20-29, the most fertile period for women, as compared with 35.04% in 1980. Thus, in postwar America, the changes in birth rate did not follow changes in the number of fertile women. Marriage patterns also underwent changes, particularly in the last 20 years. From 1930 to 1935, the marriage rate was 8.6/1000. By 1945, it rose to 16.4/1000. But during the 1960s, an increasing number of women aged 20-29 years remained unmarried. At the end of the 1970s, there was also an increase in the number of married women who did not have children. Furthermore, the number of divorces increased, an additional reason for a declining birth rate. Changes in family structure also influenced postwar American reproduction. In the last two decades, the traditional family has almost disappeared and the nuclear fammily is on the decline. By 1970 there were more people living alone, single parent families, and unrelated people sharing a domicile, than there were family units. Also, educated women who worked often married at a later age, thus placing restrictions on the birth rate.     

An intervention analysis of the effects of legalized abortion upon U.S. fertility

Models of time series data on births in the United States are used to assess the impact of the 1973 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court invalidating statutes that seriously restrict access to abortion. The decision of the Court is found to have no discernible impact on births for the nation as a whole. Models of state-level data suggest that the legalization of abortion by states prior to the decision was satisfying the demand for abortion     

二战后日本人口城市化及城市问题研究

二战后,伴随着工业化的发展,日本开始了快速的集中型人口城市化。在经济高速增长时期,大都市圈、政令指定都市、地方性核心市等城市聚集了很多人口。如此快速的人口城市化也带来了很多问题。诸如城市的“过密”与“过疏”问题、城市环境污染问题等。日本积极采取措施,并取得了一定的成效。日本的这些成功经验对我国解决人口城市化过程中产生的问题具有借鉴意义。     

War,peace, and fertility in Angola

Using data from a nationally representative survey conducted in 1996, some two years after the end of a major outbreak of war, we examine the impact of war on the timing of recent births and war-related differences in reproductive preferences in Angola. We find evidence of a wartime drop and a postwar rebound in fertility, but these trends vary greatly, depending on the type and degree of exposure to war and on women's socioeconomic characteristics. At the same time, variations by parity are nonsignificant. In fertility preferences, the relative antinatalism of Angola's most modernized urban area stands out, but outside this area, differences between areas that were more and less affected by war are also noticeable. We offer interpretations of our findings and outline their implications for Angola's demographic future and demographic trends in similar settings.     

Transition of demographic pattern in Japan since World War II and its population problems]

After World War 2 the Japanese population increased sharply at an annual rate of 3.4% from 1947 to 1949, but the rate quickly decreased and stabilized at 1.7% by 1957. It decreased again after 1973 and fell to 1.42% by 1979. In the 1950's most Japanese were forced to use birth control and abortion because of poor economic conditions. The rapid economic development in the 1960's, the increased living standard and educational level, and the population control measures taken by their government were important factors in successfully restraining population growth. The postwar baby boom and the marked population decrease afterward created an irregular population age composition, and the increasing percentage of elderly in Japan placed a heavy burden on their government. Rapid urban developments resulted in abnormal population distribution--53.5% of the population occupying 1.7% of the land, while 7.6% of the population occupied 44.1% of the land. The Japanese government recognized the serious economic consequences of the polarized population distribution and took some corrective measures. Another economic problem, their dependence on foreign imports of natural resources and grains (except rice) is difficult to change because of the shortage of farmland and natural resources in Japan. They have made an obvious improvement in environmental protection in recent years. The next step in Japan is continuing population control and emphasis on the improvement of the population quality.     

World fertility and the women's situation]

In 1981, total number of childbearing women in the world reached 9.8 hundred million. Their socioeconomic status and fertility level are very important data for the study of women's liberation and population control. Facing limited natural resources and a constant growing demand, many nations are studying how to control the population growth and achieve a "zero population growth." In nations with a high GNP, such as Switzerland, West Germany, and France, fertility is low. On the contrary, countries in central and south Asia and most parts of Africa are the poorest economically, and their fertility rate has remained very high. Another factor which is related to the fertility level is the degree of women's participation in the labor market. In Europe and North America, the percentage of women's participation in economic activities is high, and fertility is low. In Latin America and Africa, fertility is high, and the percentage of women's participation in economic labor is low. From the above, we may conclude that promotion of women's participation in the labor market and better employment conditions will reduce fertility. Another 2 factors related to fertility are marriage age and birth control rate. Late marriage and the extensive use of birth control measures are effective methods for reducing fertility. All the above mentioned factors are closely related to the woman's educational background. If women receive a better education and find better employment opportunities, delay their marriage age, and take birth control measures, fertility will be reduced and the population growth will be under control.     

Legal abortion and fertility in Maryland, 1960–1971

In the brief period between 1967 and 1971 about one-third of the state legislatures passed abortion reform bills, and in states such as Maryland the number of legal abortions soared. Maryland with its good reporting system for legal abortions, as well as its demographic representativeness, appears to offer an ideal "test situation" for assessing the impact on fertility of the new liberalization. Data on live births and reported induced abortions to residents of the state have been compiled and analyzed in an effort to interpret the recent changes in birth rates. Variables examined include maternal age, birth order, race, and legitimacy.Since 1968, Maryland, along with higher than national average abortion ratios, has experienced a rate of decline in fertility greater than that for the nation. In addition, most of the age and parity groups with high abortion ratios show fertility declines greater than those for groups not using abortion as extensively, Nevertheless, because a number of different factors simultaneously influence fertility, it is hazardous to make accurate cause-and-effect statements on the relationship of any single one of these to the observed change.     

Nuptiality, fertility, use of contraception, and family policies in Uzbekistan

With more than 22 million inhabitants, Uzbekistan is the most populous of the Central Asian republics of the former USSR. Using data from a retrospective survey conducted in 1992 among women of reproductive age, the paper examines fertility trends and determinants during the twentieth century. The analysis shows that the absence of a government-supported birth control programme and the strong pro-natalist policies of the Soviet authorities during most of the century did not affect either the onset, nor the progress of the fertility transition. The results indicate, however, that the social development programmes undertaken by the Soviet government did play a very active part in the transition as shown by the impact of education on reproductive behaviour, as well as on the very specific contraceptive mix adopted by the population after the mid-1970s.     

The causes of induced abortion

Abstract In drawing conclusions about the causes of induced abortion, Treffers (Population Studies 20, pp. 295ff) assumed that spontaneous abortion is unrelated to psychological and sociological variables. It is suggested that these assumptions may be false. Some remarks are appended on the mode of ascertainment of abortions and its relation to their estimated incidence.     

Competition between spontaneous and induced abortion

Because of their similar timing in pregnancy, spontaneous and induced abortions can be viewed as competing outcomes. Some intended abortion operations are anticipated by earlier miscarriages while some potential miscarriages are forestalled by earlier deliberate interruptions of pregnancy. Previous treatments of this competition are reviewed, and a new analysis is made on the basis of New York data. A simple rule for approximating the reduction in apparent incidence of spontaneous abortion in the presence of induced abortion is presented. The effects of nonreporting and misreporting of pregnancy outcomes upon this rule are examined by means of the Perrin-Sheps renewal process. Two expectations are tested on Taiwanese data.

     

Sex selection and fertility in a dynamic model of conception and abortion

This paper investigates the effect of prenatal sex selection on fertility through a stochastic dynamic model with uncertainty in conception as well as in gender, where a woman makes decisions on conception and abortion with or without gender detection tests (i.e. sex-selective or sex-unselective abortion). The paper shows that, when the cost of gender detection test falls, the sex ratio at birth rises due to more selective abortions, but fertility can rise or fall with rising sex ratio. Fertility may rise (fall) if there are more (less) women giving up unselective abortions for selective abortions than women giving up childbirths without test for selective abortions. Similarly the paper shows that the sex ratio can rise or fall, when fertility decreases as the cost of children increases. I test these propositions as well as their implications against micro survey data on the pregnancy history of Korean women.Responsible editor: Junsen Zhang.     

Determinants of mortality transition in developing countries before and after the Second World War: Some evidence from Cuba

Few studies provide an insight into what factors contributed to declines in the mortality rates of developing countries before the Second World War. In this paper, statistics on causes of death from Cuba, particularly Havana, are used to investigate what may have been some of the principal determinants of mortality decline in the developing world before the arrival of modern drugs and insecticides. Trends in cause-specific mortality are examined in the light of Cuba's social, economic, medical and public health history. The Cuban experience strongly suggests that in this country public health and sanitary reforms and nutritional improvements were largely responsible for initial declines in mortality throughout the first half of the twentieth century. One important finding is that the impact of these reforms and improved nutrition was greatly influenced by prevailing economic conditions. Periods of economic prosperity facilitated declines in mortality; but in times of adversity, the reverse occurred. It appears that during prosperous periods the maintenance and expansion of public health and sanitary facilities were made possible by increased public and private revenues, and that individuals had access to a more abundant diet. The severe economic crisis of the Great Depression had the opposite effect. With the appearance of sulphonamides in the late 1930s, antibiotics, and residual insecticides and other specific measures at the end of the Second World War, the relevance of economic conditions as a determinant of mortality decline diminished. Although this analysis points to the aforementioned trends, the Cuban experience also suggests that other factors enter into the process of declining mortality and that this phenomenon can only be explained as the result of the complex interplay of many forces.     

The dependent tax exemption,abortion availability,and US fertility rates

The impact of the personal income tax dependent exemption, abortion availability, and other factors on fertility rates is analyzed. US time series data for 1915–88 are used in the empirical model. The results indicate that greater abortion availability in the USA is associated with lower fertility. A higher value of the dependent exemption generally is associated with higher fertility, but the magnitude and significance of the effect is sensitive to specification choice. The results suggest that restricting abortion availability in the USA will increase the fertility rate, but a change in the tax value of the dependent exemption will have a less predictable impact on fertility.