Migration,urbanization, and fertility in the Philippines

3 groups of women are compared in this study of the effect of migration on fertility in a less developed country: 1) rural sedentary; 2) rural to rural migrants; and 3) rural to urban migrants. The data are from a 1970 household interview study conducted by the Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado in Magsayay and Matanao, Davao Province, Mindanao, the Philippines. Social, economic, and mortality data were gathered from the household head and/or spouse for each household member and each child living elsewhere. Reproductive histories were obtained only from women for all women 15 years of age and older living in the 2 rural communities and living elsewhere. Age specific fertility rates and child woman ratios showed a declining gradient of fertility with social distance from the rural home communities. Age at marriage and education were positively associated with distance from the home communities and negatively associated with fertility. The data provide support for the hypothesis that recent migration is innovative, engaged in by more modernized persons who are motivated by aspiration to new goals, thus migration has a negative effect on fertility. Urbanization had its major impact after peak fertility years, 20-29, influencing urban migrants to bring their fertility under voluntary control. No such curtailment appeared in the late reproductive behavior of rural sedentary or migrant women. Urbanization seems to have a negative effect on fertility independent of migration. Young migrant women, in their teens, particularly those migrating to urban areas, did not fit the social mobility model; they tended to complete fewer years of school and married at an earlier age. These young urban migrants also had higher fertility than both rural sedentary and rural migrant females while in their teen years.     

Unsanctioned births in China

This study hypothesizes that "unsanctioned" births (beyond the limit authorized by the government) in China are more likely among couples who have strong traditional fertility norms and less likely among couples who adopt new family planning norms. The theoretical framework is based on cultural conflict theory as developed by Sellin. Data are obtained from 6654 ever married women aged under 49 years from the 1987 In-Depth Fertility Survey for Guangdong province. Over 30% of the sample were married before 20 years of age. 20% had 1 child, 26.7% had 2 children, about 23% had 3 children, 13.9% had 4 children, and under 10% had 5 or more children. The average number of living children was 2.5. Findings reveal that socioeconomic status was significantly related to unsanctioned births; they were more common in less developed areas and among women of lower socioeconomic status (SES). Persons living in areas with a high monetary contribution per person in family planning efforts at the county level were less likely to have unsanctioned births. Women who lived in urban areas, worked in state enterprises, and had parents with high educational status were less likely to have unsanctioned births. They were more likely among women who married at an early age, lived with parents after the marriage, had female living children, and had failed pregnancies. They were also more likely among women who had arranged marriages, a traditional desire for large family sizes, an early marriage ideal, and a preference for sons. Knowledge of family planning and greater use of abortion were related to a lower incidence of unsanctioned births. Women who talked with their husbands about their family size desires were less likely to have unsanctioned births. Parental educational attainment only had an influence among rural women. Variables impacted on fertility differently in urban and rural areas.     

Labor force participation and fertility: a study of married women in Bangladesh

Most researchers support the notion that a direct negative relationship exists between married women's labor force participation and fertility behavior, yet female employment shows no consistent, general relationship with declining fertility at individual and societal levels. Specific conditions under which employment lowers fertility are therefore explored for the case of Bangladesh. The economic, sociological, and world-system theoretical approaches to the relationship and empirical studies in developing countries including Bangladesh are reviewed. 1975-76 Bangladesh Fertility Survey data on births, deaths, nuptiality, and family planning knowledge and practice for 5772 currently married women of 6513 ever married women under 50 sampled are subjected to multivariate analysis for the study. Analysis revealed that women's modern and traditional occupation as well as higher and secondary education significantly lower their fertility, and that higher age, Islamic religion, use of modern contraceptives, and husband's occupation in transitional and modern sectors have significant positive effects on fertility. The correlation between higher fertility and contraceptive use may be due to women's delay in practicing family planning until reaching desired parity and/or high infant mortality driving women to cease practice in order to replace lost offspring. Future research should be conducted with larger samples and also consider occupations of both husbands and wives. Societal attitudes about women's education should be reformed in support of opening rural schools for women. With 90% of women residing in rural areas and women with traditional occupations having lower fertility, more traditional sector opportunities for women in cottage industry and agriculture production are also recommended, and would help balance skewed urban growth and hypertrophication of the tertiary sector. Finally, motivational efforts should be focused upon encouraging younger instead of older married couples to limit fertility.     

The relationship between migration and fertility in an historical context: the case of Morocco in the 1960s

The relationship between migration and fertility was explored on the basis of data collected in a 1966 survey conducted in the 9 largest cities of Morocco. Existing contradictory findings suggest the need to specify and analyze the conditions under which fertility differentials by migration status are observed. The 2 theoretically most interesting conditions were considered: the historical context of migration; and the type of migration. A stratified area probability sample was selected with different sampling fractions within each city and city-strata. In each sampled household, 1 married woman under age 50 and 1 50 years and over, as well as single women ranging in age from 15-24, were selected at random and interviewed by female interviewers. The present analysis was limited to data for ever married women under age 50. The following variables were used as controls in the analysis of the relationship between migration status and fertility: the intermediate variable of age at marriage; measures of socioeconomic status; labor force participation of women; and measures of exposure to the modernizing influence of the city. If the 2 conditions of historical context and migration typology had been ignored in the analysis of data for Morocco's cities in 1966, meaningful fertility differentials would not have been evident. It was only after migration typology and historical context were considered that a more noticeable pattern of differential fertility emerged. Migrants of rural or urban origin who moved to the largest cities of Morocco after independence in 1956 had the lowest fertility of any group. The highest fertility was observed for women who moved to these cities before 1956. The fertility of urban natives and of urban migrants who moved before 1956 was between the 2 extreme levels. Controlling for the effects of age at marriage and various socioeconomic factors reduced the fertility differentials but failed to change their pattern. It was hypothesized that the lower fertility of recent migrants may be explained by social mobility.     

Stress,Social Resources,and Depression among Never‐Married and Divorced Rural Mothers*

Abstract While the impact of single parenting on women and children has long been a concern, very little research has focused on single parents living in rural areas. Based on a probability sample of 508 single mothers aged 18–39 living in rural Northern New England, the present study: (1) examines the impact of several domains of stress on mothers' depression, (2) considers potential buffering effects of social resources, and (3) identifies variations in conditions and outcomes for divorced and never‐married mothers. Findings highlight the importance of multiple forms of stress exposure, showing independent significant effects of lifetime adversity, recent life events, and chronic stressors on current depressive symptoms. Although emotional support reduces depression, neither support nor living arrangements moderate the impact of recent and current stressors. Divorced women experience more stress exposure, greater vulnerability to stress, and do not benefit from family support to the same extent as never‐married mothers. Possible differences in the meanings that divorced and never‐married mothers attach to current life circumstances are discussed.     

Demographic and socioeconomic determinants of female rural to urban migration in Sub-Saharan Africa

Data from the 1986-90 Demographic and Health Surveys of Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, and Uganda were used to examine the impact of fertility, child mortality, and socioeconomic and demographic factors on female rural-urban migration of six months or more duration. Several principles appear to direct the migration of high fertility women. High parity women are free from the male demands for more children. Rural areas lack basic amenities such as schools, health services, and modern housing. Additional children may strain family resources and require additional income from other sources. Husband and kin may have already moved. All data are nationally representative, with the exception of Uganda with an 80% sample. Women living in rural areas two years prior to the survey were included in the sample. Fertility and mortality data pertain to children aged under five years in the period two to seven years before the survey year. Multinomial logit analysis was based on an analytical model developed by Goldstein and Goldstein. High fertility was found to deter female migration to either urban or rural areas. Women, who had one surviving child aged under five years, were significantly less likely to move to urban areas only in Nigeria and Senegal and to other villages in Burundi compared to women without a recent birth. Women with two or more surviving children were significantly less likely (by 43-75%) to move to urban areas in five out of seven countries. Moves to rural areas were less likely by 36-61% in six out of eight countries. The evidence does not suggest that the reason for moves is to advance the children's material or physical well-being. The number of births, particularly in Kenya where fertility is very high in rural areas, acts as a deterrent to migration. Child mortality only constrains moves to urban areas. Unmarried women, single women, better educated women, and adults in their 20s are more likely to move to urban areas.     

Factors influencing infant/child mortality in Bangladesh: implication for family planning programs and policies

"This study examined a host of socio-economic and demographic factors (including their interactions) that determine infant/child mortality of married women at the different parity levels in Bangladesh [using data from] a multivariate analysis of the 1975-76 Bangladesh Fertility Survey.... The major hypothesis of this research is that the higher the level of fertility of a married woman, the higher will be her experience of infant/child mortality. However, a woman's family planning practice may interact with fertility and affect the total infant/child deaths...."     

Female labour force participation and fertility

The levels of labor force participation by women in selected Asian countries were recorded in a series of censuses taken over a period of years. These levels were less influenced than male employment levels by economic conditions and more influenced by cultural traits of the country. Postwar trends seem to have fallen in Korea, risen in Singapore and the Philippines, and remained steady in Japan, Malaya, and Thailand. The limitations of these data are mentioned. In Thailand and West Malaysia greater percentages of women worked in agricultural than non-agricultural employment; in the Philippines, where women did not work so much in agricultural pursuits, their jobs were still in traditional rather than in development industries. In the cities of Bangkok, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur, fertility was lower for working than for non-working women. In rural agricultural areas, the fertility of working women was minimally higher, probably due to economic need of lar ger families. It is concluded that urban life separates the employment and the family roles of working women, leading to lowered fertility; this does not occur in rural areas. The creation of new roles for women alternative or supplementary to marriage and motherhood would result in lowered fertility. In high fertility Asian countries, policies directed toward greater participation of women in non-agricultural work and great er exposure to an urban lifestyle might achieve fertility reductions.     

Sex Ratio and Family Structure in the Nonmetropolitan United States

The sex ratio hypothesis maintains that the ratio of marriageable men to marriageable women can have major implications for family formation and structure. Despite extensive research attention, the sex ratio hypothesis has yet to be tested on general nonmetropolitan populations. This study of nonmetropolitan counties in the United States found strong support for the sex ratio hypothesis. Counties with low sex ratios (shortage of men) had lower proportions of married couple households and a corresponding higher proportion of female-headed households. These low sex ratio counties also had fewer adults married, and a lower proportion of their children living in married couple households with a higher proportion of children living in female-headed households.     

RURAL POVERTY, URBAN POVERTY, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Data from the National Survey of Families and Households are used to compare the psychological well-being of the rural and urban poor. Overall, the urban poor are higher in perceived health than the rural poor, although no differences are apparent in happiness or depression. Significant interactions are present between rural/urban poverty and sex, race, and family status. The psychological well-being of poor African Americans is higher in rural than urban areas, whereas the well-being of poor whites is higher in urban than rural areas. This trend is especially pronounced for depression among males. In addition, single men without children have especially high depression scores in rural areas, whereas married women without children have especially low depression scores in urban areas. The results are interpreted in terms of the environmental quality of inner-city neighborhoods and attitudes toward poverty in urban and rural communities.     

Migration and fertility in Malaysia: a tale of two hypotheses

2 hypotheses that are prevalent in the migration and fertility literature, are tested using data from the 1966-67 West Malaysian Family Survey. Particular attention is paid to conceptual and methodological frameworks of research and study of sociodemographic trends in Malaysia. Noting that confusion exists in previous studies of migration and fertility, especially in regards to comparing migrants and nonmigrants with residence background and migration experience, the 2 hypotheses are discussed: 1) the assimilation hypothesis in which a) place of childrearing (origin) is an important influence on fertility behavior (e.g. geographical differentials of fertility norms, family size preference), b) residence during childbearing period (destination) is a residential status that may be related to fertility (e.g. values, expectation, economic opportunities, contraceptive availability), and c) the assimilitation process can be expressed as a weighted combination of specific influences of either place of childrearing or childbearing; 2) the migration hypothesis in which a) there is something intrinsic to geographical shifts that cannot be accounted for by mere knowledge of the place of origin or destination, b) individuals are selected by age, education, ethnicity, and motivation, and c) the impact of migration is selected on specific fertility-related characteristics, e.g. the postponment of childbearing. The data in the study are drawn from a KAP-style national survey which utilized a stratified (size of place) probability sampling frame of 5457 married Malaysian women between 15 and 45 years of age. In view of the hypothesis, the identification of area of early socialization and adult experience measures the area of greatest influence on individual fertility behavior. Measures of migration are advantageous to approximating the true timing of migration and fertility in a causal ordering. To conclude, Bach suggests that fertility levels of migrants can be accounted for through the assimilation model, while migration is considered to have only a unique and small effect. The acceptance of the assimilation model also suggests that migration is related to fertility through exposing individuals to two divergent environments. Rural to urban and urban to small town migrants, however, require use of both the assimilation and migration models.     

The participation of women in the labour force of Latin America: fertility and other factors

The level of labor force participation among Latin American women, when compared with participation rates for other countries, is the lowest in the world. Only 20% or less of women 10 years of age and older are economically active. This level did not change much between 1950 and 1970. Few women work in agriculture. The following factors are considered for their effect on labor force participation of urban women: marital status, education, income, and the structure and stage of development of the society. Married women have a low participation rate. More highly educated women are more likely to work, but there must be demand for their work services. As the economy of various countries has progressed, female participation in domestic services has decreased, in industry has remained constant between 1960 and 1970, and in social services has expanded. It is concluded that work participation for married women will only increase with the following changes: 1) improved educational opportunities for women; 2) structural change and modernization in the economy; and 3) reduced family fertility. Changes in the first 2 factors are more important than reduced fertility. Since 1960, only Chile and Costa Rica have had a 25% decline in fertility rates.     

Why Do Women Want Children? The Case of Hong Kong,China: A Lowest-Low Fertility Context

ABSTRACT

Governments in low fertility countries tend to tackle low birth rates by addressing macro-level factors rather than the meaning that having a child holds for men and women. Yet whether or not an individual decides to have a child depends in part on what they think having a child will mean for their lives. This study examines the meanings that constitute reasons for wanting a child among a sample of middle-class, married, Hong Kong Chinese women who wanted children. These women were living in Hong Kong when it had one of the lowest total fertility rates in the world and the lowest in its history. Using semi-structured, in-depth interviews, it finds that for these women, to have a child makes one’s family complete; is the next stage of life; provides happiness, fun, and enjoyment; brings care and company in old age; and children are “lovely” and “cute.” Governments concerned about low birth rates can use research on what having a child means for women to improve policy so as to make having a child more attractive, and to create messages that hold greater appeal to women.     

Gender,Power, and Reproduction: Rural‐Urban Differences in the Relationship Between Fertility Goals and Contraceptive Use in Kenya*

Abstract Rural‐urban variances in fertility‐related phenomena traditionally are explained by differences in access to contraception and by spatial variations in reproductive goals. As a corollary, changes in existing supply‐ and demand‐side inequities should enable rural women to attain their reproductive goals to the same extent as their urban counterparts. We find, however, that reproductive decisions in rural areas reflect entrenched male dominance, such that the gender inequality in decision making must be redressed if rural women are to realize their fertility goals as fully as urban women.     

Socio-economic and cultural differentials in contraceptive usage among Ghanaian women

Data from the Ghana Fertility Survey of 2001 married women in 1979-1980 were subjected to logistic regression to determine the factors influencing contraceptive use. In this Ghanaian sample only 22 women and no men were sterilized, 11% used an efficient contraceptive method and 8% were using an inefficient method. The most prevalent methods were abstinence by 6% and pill by 5%. The variables analyzed were birth cohort, age at 1st marriage, education, occupation, religion, ethnicity, rural/urban residence, northern/southern residence and number of children desired number of living children. All these factors were dichotomized, e.g., cohort: born before or after 1950. Factors positively significant for contraceptive use were younger women (20% more likely), married at age 20 or older (82% more), education (150% for any method, 67% for an efficient method), professional occupations, protestants, urban residence, southern residence, desire fewer children. Factors negatively associated with contraception were agricultural work (50% as likely), non-Christian religion, both traditional and Moslems (75%), desiring more children and living in the north. Unexpectedly, living in the northern undeveloped region was strongly linked with use of an efficient contraceptive. A factor without significant effect was ethnicity, Akan or non-Akan. These results were discussed with a general review of the literature on determinants of contraceptive use.     

Race and Childlessness in America, 1988–2002

This paper bridges the literature on childlessness, which often focuses on married White couples, to the literature on race and fertility, which often focuses on why total fertility rates and nonmarital births are higher for Blacks than Whites. Despite similarity in levels of childlessness among Black women and White women, Black trends have been largely ignored. Recent research has not adequately explored the extent to which factors driving childlessness may vary among Black and White women. We attempted to fill this gap using the National Survey of Family Growth (N = 3,628) and found many similarities in the predictors of childlessness for both races. Exceptions were the role of marital status and educational attainment.     

Commentary on Joseph Scott's “Black Polygamous Family Formation”

The essay critiques the polygyny model of Joseph Scott in terms of the pressures felt by young, poor, Black women with children who often enter into extramarital unions with married men as they attempt to find economic and emotional security.     

Social‐psychological principles in criminal justice processing

Based on 1979–1981 and 1989–1991 vital registration and 1980 and 1990 census data, we construct increment‐decrement life tables for rural and urban males and females. The analysis is centered on 1980 and 1990 and describes urban‐rural differences in patterns of mortality and nuptiality by age and sex. Our research updates an earlier study that described urban‐rural mortality and marital transition patterns for Tennessee, 1970. The 1980 and 1990 findings parallel the 1970 results. Rural women and men have shorter life expectancies; higher infant mortality rates; younger median ages of entry into first marriage, divorce, and widowhood; a greater proportion of their cohorts ever marrying; lower probabilities of divorce; and higher probabilities of widowhood than urban women and men. However, there was a decline in urban‐rural differences from 1970–1990. These changes suggest that urbanization, technological advances in communication and transportation, and the diffusion of urban lifestyles and values may have blurred the urban‐rural distinction.     

Childhood Living Arrangements and the Formation of Coresidential Unions

The relationship between multiple dimensions of childhood living arrangements and the formation of subsequent unions is investigated. Using the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, both statuses and transitions associated with childhood living arrangements at three different stages of childhood are considered. It was found that both statuses and transitions, but not the ages at which they occur, are related to the risk of union formation. Women who experienced more transitions in childhood living arrangements and who lived with other than married, biological parents form premarital cohabiting unions faster than other women. Rates of first marriage are higher among women who lived with a stepparent, and they are lower among women who lived with a parent and that parent's cohabiting partner.