Demographic determinants of labour market in Poland in 1990-2000

The author examines factors affecting Poland's transition to a market economy, including changes in the age, sex, and spatial distribution of the labor force. Educational status is also considered. The analysis concerns the period 1975-2000, with emphasis on the years from 1988 to 1990.     

Mortality transition in the Ovamboland region of Namibia, 1930-1990

Few long-term statistical series exist that can document the mortality transition in Africa. This paper uses data from the parish registers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia to study morality in Ovamboland between 1930 and 1990. The paper identifies significant discontinuities and reversals in the trend in mortality. Much of the mortality transition occurred in a rapid breakthrough concentrated between the early 1950s and early 1960s. Adult mortality fell more than existing model life tables would predict and the pattern of relatively high early-age mortality typical of modern Africa emerged only at this time. While a range of developments in Ovamboland contributed to the overall decline in mortality, the most important factor was the establishment, by the Finnish Mission, of a Western system of health care. In Ovamboland, the drive to 'good health at low cost' was articulated not through political institutions but through the church.     

Estimating the regional migration patterns of the foreign-born population in the United States: 1950-1990

"In this paper, we apply model schedules to graduate data on the internal and external regional [U.S.] migration patterns of the foreign-born population for the 1950-1990 period.... To find estimates of the unrecorded migration flows in-between for four census-defined periods in our study (that is, for 1950-1955, 1960-1965, 1970-1975, and 1980-1985) we interpolate between the data of adjacent census time periods. Finally, we combine the estimated migration data with the corresponding mortality data to calculate and analyze the multiregional life tables and projections associated with each five-year time interval." (EXCERPT)     

20世纪90年代中国人口死亡水平

在人口普查中,人口死亡容易发生漏报。文章分析了中国人口死亡漏报的社会原因,利用两次普查的人口数据证明了人口死亡漏报确实存在。为了估计出实际的人口死亡水平,对两次普查的人口数据质量进行了推敲,根据登记的人口和死亡率数据的不同情况,提出了相应的修正方法。研究结果表明,20世纪90年代男性的预期寿命为67.97岁,女性的预期寿命为71.34岁,均比人口普查登记资料算出的结果小1.5岁左右。     

Mortality and life expectancy in Poland 10 years before the end of the century

"In the article we discuss the mortality rates in Poland by [voivodship] at the end of the 80's. In the comparative analysis, we employed general standardized rates of deaths for men and women, and coefficients presenting the levels of mortality resulting from...circulatory system diseases and malignant neoplasms.... In the second part of the paper, we examine the differences in...life expectancy by sex and administrative provinces."     

Period‐Based Mortality Change: Turning Points in Trends since 1950

We investigate a major turning point in mortality trends at adult ages that occurred for many low‐mortality countries in the late 1960s or early 1970s. We analyze patterns of total and cause‐specific mortality over the past 60 years using data from the Human Mortality Database and the World Health Organization. We focus on four broad categories of causes of death: heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, smoking‐related cancers, and all other cancers. We use a two‐slope regression model to assess the timing and magnitude of turning points in mortality trends over this era, making separate analyses by sex, age, and cause of death. The age pattern of temporal changes is given particular attention. Our results demonstrate convincingly that period‐based factors were very significant in the onset of the “cardiovascular revolution” in the years around 1970. In general, although cohort processes cannot be ruled out as a driver of mortality change in recent decades (especially for mortality due to smoking‐related cancers), the evidence reviewed here suggests that period factors have been the dominant force behind the mortality trends of high‐income countries during this era.     

Mortality and economic development over the course of modernization: an analysis of short-run fluctuations in Spain, 1850-1990

Distributed lag models are used to explore the issue of the importance of economic factors for demographic performance over the course of the demographic and economic modernization of Spain. Mortality indicators are generated by age, sex, and cause and are assessed in terms of shifts in Gross Domestic Product. During the pre-transitional period, links between mortality and economic performance were simultaneous and rather weak but in the expected direction, declining to near 0 by the beginning of the twentieth century. Afterwards the importance of economic shifts for mortality fluctuations increased dramatically and delayed effects began to predominate, only disappearing after 1950. The paper explains the increase in the importance of economic factors and the change in the lag structure in terms of the greater economic volatility of the 1915-1950 period, the progressive implantation of more efficient public health systems and their sensitivity to economic fluctuations, and improving levels of nutrition and general health.     

Mortality in China 1964-2000

This paper uses data from censuses and surveys to re-estimate mortality levels and trends in China from the 1960s to 2000. We use the General Growth Balance method to evaluate the completeness of death reporting above the youngest ages in three censuses of the People's Republic of China from 1982 to 2000, concluding that reporting quality is quite high, and revisit the completeness of death recording in the 1973-75 Cancer Epidemiology Survey. Estimates of child mortality from a variety of direct and indirect sources are reviewed, and best estimates arrived at. Our estimates show a spectacular improvement in life expectancy in China: from about 60 years in the period 1964-82 to nearly 70 years in the period 1990-2000, with a further improvement to over 71 years by 2000. We discuss why survival rates continue improving in China despite reduced government involvement in and increasing privatization of health services, with little insurance coverage.     

Tobacco-related cancers in Poland in 1963-1989

"In this paper we are presenting an epidemiological analysis of tobacco-related cancer risk in Poland in 1963-1989 and, in addition, etiological characteristics of the cancers." Data are from official sources. The results indicate that "standardized mortality rates had significantly increased for all tobacco-related cancer sites in 1963-1989."     

Family policy in 1990-1994

The nature and goals of family policy in Poland are discussed in the larger context of social policy and economic change, which reflects the transition to a market economy. The aim of family policy is to bring about a proper system of relationships between state and family, which allows for the performance of basic functions related to child rearing and satisfaction of basic needs. The roles of both governmental and nongovernmental organizations are considered important, although not actualized, in the implementation of family policy. Family policy involves laws regulating the conditions of welfare benefits in terms of prerequisites, amount of financial grants, services, and allowances such as food, clothing, or fuel. Financial resources may be received directly or indirectly by families. During 1990-94 major changes in family policy came about due to the transition to a market economy and were applied to social security benefits, work benefits, disability pensions, and health insurance. Changes were made in education, health care, and housing. A comprehensive model was never developed, in which negative effects of changes could be improved upon. Changes put greater emphasis on state and territorial governments to provide social welfare benefits, including social security benefits. Social welfare benefits were set at the lowest level of social security benefits. Economic changes have led to greater unemployment, housing difficulties, inflation, lower quality services, and a decline in the standard of living and security. The Central Statistical Office determined that over 56% of families in 1993 were affected by poverty conditions, which reduced expenditures on food and other needs. The proportion of the population recognized as poor increased during 1990-93 from 16.6% to 22.5% among workers, from 9.7% to 17.3% among farm tenants, from 23.9% to 36.6% among the self-employed, and from 30.4% to 40.6% among the aged and disabled. World Bank estimates showed that 15% of the total population were identified as poor. During this period, however, old-age pensions and the lowest salaries increased. The author concludes that policies must use general concepts that are comprehensive and that current economic trends should increase family income.     

Fertility transition in Communist Albania, 1950-90

In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, Albania had the highest fertility in Europe with an average of more than six live births per woman. However when Albania emerged from behind the 'olive curtain' in 1990, fertility had fallen to three children per woman, despite a pro-natalist environment and in the virtual absence of contraception and abortion. Nevertheless, after five decades, Albania's position at the top of the European fertility league remains unchanged. This paper documents the fertility transition in Albania during the period 1950-90 and places the demographic results in the context of recent socioeconomic and cultural change.     

Factors affecting adoption in China, 1950-87

Though adoption in China is known to have increased as more girls were abandoned and became available for adoption following the introduction of the country's one-child policy in the 1980s, little is known about Chinese adoption practices. This paper investigates the factors affecting adoption in China in the period 1950-87 using data from the National Two-Per-Thousand Sample Survey on Fertility and Contraception of 1988. The results show that the national adoption rate was 2.3 per cent. Childless women were more likely than women with children to adopt and did not show a sex preference. Women with children by birth used adoption to secure a child of the 'missing' sex. Women who had experienced the death of a child were more likely to adopt than those who had not. Women with children may have used adoption as a strategy to circumvent the strict family planning policies.     

An econometric and neoclassical analysis of the timing and spacing of births in Canada from 1950 to 1990

This paper estimates a reduced form neoclassical model of Canadian fertility dynamics using an econometric technique that integrates several features not usually found in the demographic and economic literature. We find considerable support for the neoclassical model. We also find that correlated unobservables and parity stopping effects play an important role in Canadian fertility dynamics as well as other socio-demographic features of Canadian women. However, we fail to totally characterize the important drops in the fertility rate that took place for this era. Received: 2 May 1996 / Accepted: 27 March 1997     

运用Hill-Upchurch标准分析中国九十年代婴幼儿死亡率的性别差异

本研究采用Hill-Upchurch标准分析我国 2 0世纪 90年代年代婴幼儿死亡率的性别差异 ,研究发现 ,90年代我国婴幼儿死亡概率的女 -男性别比均高于Hill-Upchurch标准值 ,其中婴儿死亡概率性别比超出该标准的幅度较显著 ;农村地区的婴幼儿死亡率性别比超出该标准的幅度较城镇大。结论 :90年代中国存在着异常的婴幼儿死亡性别模式 ,主要表现为女婴的死亡率偏高 ;女性婴幼儿的生存劣势主要存在于农村地区 ,尤其是在三类农村     

1958～1962年四川省人口死亡研究

文章运用人口普查资料及新修地方志所载数据,对1958-1962年间四川省各地人口的非正常死亡进行估计。结果表明,在这几年中,四川全省非正常死亡人口多达940万,占灾前全省人口总数的13％。     

On the scale of global demographic convergence, 1950-2000

The second half of the twentieth century saw global demographic change of unprecedented magnitude, with pronounced falls in both mortality and fertility in many developing countries. This article assesses the extent to which these changes have led to the convergence of demographic patterns around the world. It considers not just the levels of fertility and mortality in each country at different points in time, but also the size of each population. It also disaggregates China and India into their constituent provinces and states in order to provide estimates for units more typical of the size of the populations of other countries. The note presents proportions of the world's population according to the levels of life expectancy and total fertility they experienced in the early 1950s, the late 1970s, and around 2000. The graphs and tables thus produced give a convenient and novel way to view the scale and nature of demographic convergence over the last 50 years.     

Poland on the dole: The effect of reducing the unemployment benefit entitlement period during transition

We analyse the unemployment benefit regime change that occurred in Poland in December 1991 using data from the Polish Labour Force Survey. Before December 1991, the entitlement period to unemployment benefits was unlimited. Thereafter, it was reduced to 12 months (with a few exceptions). Using the difference-in-differences approach within a hazard rate framework, we find that the regime change did not have a significant effect on the duration of unemployment. The results thus give credence to the view that the unlimited entitlement period of the old unemployment benefit regime was not the main culprit for the long durations of unemployment in Poland, although the generous eligibility criteria may have contributed to the increase in the incidence of registered unemployment at the beginning of the transition process. Received: 21 May 1997/Accepted: 15 March 1999     

Predicted changes,in the years 1990-2010, in the state and structure of productive age population in Poland and in selected European countries and their consequences for external migrations

Trends in the number and structure of working-age populations in Europe and Poland are projected for the period 1990-2010. Among their predictions, the authors anticipate that "in Western Europe...the working age population will be reduced by...2%. In both Southern and Northern Europe the working age population will grow...by 1.3% and 3.6% [respectively]. On the other hand, in Eastern Europe the population concerned will grow substantially in those years: this growth is estimated [at]...9.1%." A 14.7 percent increase is predicted for Poland.     

Differentials in Adult Mortality and Activity Limitation by Years of Education in the United States at the End of the 1990s

This study examines mortality differentials and health disparities between educational groups within the 1998 adult population (ages 25 and older) in the United States. Mortality differentials are measured using average life expectancy and health disparities by expected years without activity limitation. The results indicate that for both sexes, higher education is associated with higher life expectancy. Those with higher levels of education also have higher life expectancy without activity limitation. Adults with higher education can also expect to enjoy a greater percentage of their expected lives free of any form of activity limitation. At each level of education, adult females have a higher level of activity limitation compared to adult males. At the same level of education, adult females expect to enjoy smaller percentages of their remaining lives free of activity limitation compared to adult males of the same age.     

Stepfamily childbearing in Sweden: quantum and tempo effects, 1950-99

Several studies have demonstrated that stepfamily couples have a higher risk of childbearing than couples in a stable union with the same total number of children. Analysing retrospective data from a nationally representative sample of Swedish adults, we find that the risk of a second or third birth is higher when it is the first or second child in a new union. We also find a faster pace of childbearing after stepfamily formation than after a shared birth. The risk of a second birth (in total) is only a little higher in the first two years after stepfamily formation than in the first two years after a shared birth, and thereafter the risk is lower for stepfamilies. The risk of a third birth (in total) is particularly high early in the stepfamily union and remains higher than that of couples with two shared children for at least five years. The stepfamily difference was lower after than before 1980, when the Swedish government introduced parental leave incentives for short birth intervals.