Socioeconomic differentials in fertility and family formation

The aim of this paper is to shed more light on the association between fertility and the relocation of the household. We address the question of how fertility intentions affect the probability of couples to move over short or long distances. We add to the literature on two grounds. Theoretically, following a life-course approach we discuss a model underpinning the assumption that behavioral intentions in one life domain (fertility) impact manifest behavior in another dimension of the life course (spatial mobility). Empirically we offer novel evidence on how residential mobility is used as a tool to accomplish fertility goals supporting an understanding of residential mobility as a byproduct of fertility decisions.
We use data from the German Family Panel (pairfam) with rich longitudinal information on fertility intentions and realization as well as spatial mobility and spatial aspects of living arrangements of couples. Preliminary results confirm that fertility intentions have effects on the probability of short or long distance moves depending on whether the couple intent to have a first or an additional child.

Shifts in the nature of educational opportunities, co-residence with parents, career development, the timing of parenthood, and the nature of living arrangements have increased the flexibility in transitions to adulthood in the United States. The average age at first marriage has increased to 26 for women and 28 for men, providing more lifecourse space for many more premarital family experiences. Using data from the 2008 and 2010 rounds of the NLSY79 Young Adult Survey, we examine both attitudes towards and actual behaviors pertaining to the family formation of adolescents and young adults including parenthood, cohabitation, and marriage. Prior studies demonstrate that these pathways to adulthood differ markedly according to socioeconomic circumstances. As close to half of young adults ages 18-24 live with their parents, we pay particular attention to linkages between family formation transitions and parental coresidence. Our goal is to provide an update of the contemporary experiences of young adults in the United States today, and to showcase the potentially complex portrait of their family and living circumstances -- a portrait that differs by socioeconomic background, family characteristics and adolescent expectations, experiences and behaviors.

Since 1976, when Nepal recorded 6.33 TFR, fertility started declining slowly until 2000. After the new millennium, fertility decline was much faster than ever. During the period of last 35 years Nepal observed a decline of 3.73 births of which more than 2 births reduction was in last 15 years. This study argues besides the conventional factors of fertility decline - socioeconomic development and organized family planning- women's autonomy in decision making has important role to sustain the fertility decline in Nepal.
Using data from NDHS 2001, 2006 and 2011, the study concludes that women's autonomy is significantly influenced by the socio-economic characteristics, particularly women's education and employment while husband's employment and education have negative impact. It also concludes that women exercising autonomy in decision making of household and individual affairs tend to prefer smaller number of children, one of the reasons of secular fertility decline. The study raises some methodological questions on the indicators used by DHS and on theoretical construct of women's autonomy. The indicators used by DHS are insufficient to capture women's autonomy dynamics. Likewise, as the women's socio-economic status improves they tend to make joint decision which questions on the theoretical construct of autonomy.

Abstract
This study contributes to research regarding the recent main changes in the number of women´s children ever born related to economic- social and demographic factors. This sample consists of 406 participants: 15-49 year- old women who are married, living with their husband and living in Shiraz city, the method of gathering of data is self- reporting questionnaire. These findings suggest the increase in age of marriage, social class, education levels, decrease attitude toward childbearing. Also some factors like women´s age, the duration of marriage increase the number of children ever born. Occupation, the place birth, avoiding of single child, the girl preference and tendency to gender combination of children affect on women´s childbearing. Moreover, women tend to have more children in order to keep the solidarity, closeness of their family up. Finally the stepwise regression shows that among the whole of regarded variables, the duration of marriage, women´s education, girl preference and the place birth totally are able to explain 60 percent of the women´s child bearing.

Entry into marriage and motherhood are subsequent important and natural trajectories of women’s life cycle. Early marriage for female and early childbirth is very widespread in Bangladesh but total fertility shows a decreasing pattern. Changes of age at first marriage (delayed) and age at first birth (at later ages) may be considered as important component of development process. Bangladesh has made slight progress in improving maternal and child health and also in lowering TFR but trends of age at marriage and age at first birth are not well documented. Understanding the trends of those ages and their variations would be helpful for explaining fertility and women’s status. Using data from BDHS-2007, this study uses univariate and bivariate analysis for four cohorts. Mean age at first marriage shows an increasing pattern. Age at first birth increased for women in cohort 1960 compare to women in cohort 1950 but it has been started to decrease for women in consecutive cohorts. For boosting overall age at marriage for female and age at birth in Bangladesh, it should be necessary to promote policies emphasizing women in rural areas and women with lower household wealth status and to support continuation of female’s education.

The Government of India launched several programmes to improve rate of institutional delivery in the country, but the performance of empowered action group (EAG) states on institutional delivery remains a major concern dominated by social customs and vulnerabilities that create barriers to access health care by different social groups. Despite such profound distributional concerns, studies on maternal health in India have exclusively focused on inter-personal inequalities whereas estimates regarding the magnitude of inter-group inequalities are unavailable. An explicit concern for horizontal inequalities not only substantiates the intrinsic concern for equity but also offers vital policy insights that are evidently lost while engaging with a thorough going individualistic approach. The paper calls for explicit targeting of backward castes across the country and improved inter-sectoral collaboration to ensure equitable access to education, healthcare, water and sanitation, particularly across underdeveloped regions. For analytical purposes, the study utilizes the District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3), conducted during 2007–08. Preliminary analysis reveals that distribution of institutional delivery varies starkly among social groups of which Schedule caste are the most deprived compared to Upper caste Hindus.

Fertility has declined dramatically over the last 50 years in Brazil, from 5.7 children per woman in 1970 to 1.9 children per woman in 2010. Historically Brazilian fertility has always shown a young profile. Census data has shown a concentration of fertility at younger ages along the 1991-2000 decade. A reversal of this trend has become evident as the new century began, however. Both reduction of adolescent fertility and a relative increase of fertility at higher ages were responsible for changing Brazilian fertility pattern. The current debate revolves around the determinants of these changes and the possible differences between social groups. One of the hypotheses to be explored in the present scenario is whether motherhood tends to turn into an experience limited to women who share certain characteristics. The objective of this paper is to evaluate changes in the quantum of fertility as well as parity differences among women thirty years old and over. Factors such as per capita household income, participation in the labor market (working and not working in a paid job), and education level (lowest and highest levels) will be taken into account. Data from Brazilian censuses of 1970, 1991 and 2010 will be used.

Using data from National Family Health Survey, NFHS-1(1992-93) and NFHS-3(2005-06), this paper examines linkages of socio-economic development and fertility change in Uttar Pradesh. The change in proximate determinants are measured among social and economic groups while fertility change is measured with respect to total fertility rate(TFR). Results indicate that level of fertility has declined among all social and economic groups, however decline is more among women from urban areas, belonging to rich household and those with high education. Among proximate determinants, reductions in fertility are less reflected with increase in age at marriage and Post-partum Amenorrhea but more by increase in contraception. It highlight that women belonging to low socio-economic groups are increasingly adopting contraception and contributing to fertility transition despite their social and economic backwardness. It was established that there were wide variations in the degree of influence of the socio-economic factors that operate through proximate determinants in influencing fertility. The most influencing variables are education, religion and residence. It is recommended that promotion of contraceptive use, female education and general reproductive and child health care utilization are important if fertility in Uttar Pradesh is to decrease.

South Korea has experienced rapid fertility decline and an equally striking expansion in women's education in the late twentieth century. This study aims to understand how educational differentials in fertility have evolved through the fertility transition and whether an improvement in women’s education was the main driver for fertility decline in South Korea. Using census sample data for the period 1970 - 2010, I analyze completed cohort fertility for 1926-1970 birth cohorts. This study finds that educational differences in fertility have almost disappeared over the last 40 years of birth cohorts. Despite its remarkable change, expansion in women’s educational attainment accounts for just a fifth of fertility decline during the transition. The extraordinary fertility decline in South Korea was mainly due to falling fertility in all social groups, until the cohorts reached the replacement level of fertility. This study discusses possible explanations for variation in the evolution of educational differentials during the transition.

This paper analyses fertility patterns among various subgroups of Ghana’s population since 1998 using data from the last three Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS) of 1998, 2003 and 2008. The impacts of sexual activity, contraceptive use, abortion, postpartum infecundability and sterility on fertility in each population subgroup are quantified using the model of the proximate determinants of fertility reformulated by John Stover. The Northern regions had the highest percentage reduction due to the index of postpartum infecundability (Ci). The Greater Accra and Ashanti regions had the highest percentage reduction in fertility due to abortion. The inhibition effect of abortion is relatively high in the Greater Accra and the Ashanti regions; it is probably due to their higher rates of urbanization and associated abandonment of cultural practices that are frown upon in the rural areas. Different policy approaches are needed to manage fertility decline among the different subgroups of the population