second week
Chapter 6
The Fertility Transition
Chapter Outline
- What Is Fertility?
- Measuring Fertility
- The Preconditions For A Decline In Fertility
- How Can Fertility Be Controlled?
- Proximate Determinants Of Fertility
Chapter Outline
- Explanations For High Fertility
- Motivations For Lower Fertility Levels
- How Is The Fertility Transition Accomplished?
- Case Studies In The Fertility Transition
Fertility Transition
- Shift from high fertility, with minimal individual control, to low fertility, which is entirely under a woman’s control.
- Involves a delay in childbearing and an earlier end to childbearing.
- Frees women and men from unwanted parenthood and allows them to space their children.
Number of Births Possible
Average woman could bear a child every 2.2 years - potential of 16 children per woman
- A woman can bear a child between the ages of 15 and 49.
- Each pregnancy lasts a little less than nine months.
- There’s an average of 18 months between the end of one pregnancy and the beginning of the next.
Number of Births Possible
- Why 16 children per woman is not likely:
- Pregnancy is dangerous - many women would die before delivering their 16th child.
- Pregnancy requires good nutrition and health care.
Hutterite Fertility
Period Measures of Fertility
- Commonly used in population studies, includes:
- Crude birth rate
- General fertility rate
- Child-woman ratio
- Age-specific fertility rate
- Total fertility rate
- Gross reproduction rate
- Net reproduction rate
Preconditions for a Substantial Fertility Decline
Acceptance of calculated choice as a valid element in marital fertility.
Perception of advantages from reduced fertility.
Knowledge and mastery of effective techniques of control.
Dealing with Unwanted Children
Infanticide, or general neglect or inattention that leads to early death.
Fosterage of child by another family that needs or can afford it.
Orphanage - involves abandoning a child so she or he is likely to be found and cared for by strangers.
Intermediate Variables - Social Factors Influence on Fertility
- Exposure to intercourse.
- Formation and dissolution of unions.
Age of entry into sexual unions.
Permanent celibacy.
Amount of reproductive period spent after or between unions.
Unions broken by divorce, separation, or desertion.
Unions broken by death.
Intermediate Variables - Social Factors Influence on Fertility
- Exposure to intercourse within unions.
- Voluntary abstinence.
- Involuntary abstinence (from impotence, illness, unavoidable but temporary separations).
- Coital frequency (excluding periods of abstinence).
Intermediate Variables - Social Factors Influence on Fertility
- Exposure to conception.
- Fecundity or infecundity, as affected by involuntary causes, including breast-feeding.
- Use or nonuse of contraception.
By mechanical and chemical means.
By other means.
- Fecundity or infecundity as affected by voluntary causes (sterilization, medical treatment).
Intermediate Variables - Social Factors Influence on Fertility
- Factors affecting gestation and successful parturition.
- Fetal mortality from involuntary causes (miscarriage).
- Fetal mortality from voluntary causes (induced abortion).
Contraceptive Methods
| Primary User | ||
| Female | Male | Couple |
| Barrier | Diaphragm Cervical cap Female condom Spermicides IUD Diaphragm | Condom |
Contraceptive Methods
| Primary User | ||
| Female | Male | Couple |
| Chemical | ||
| Precoital | Pill Mini-pill Implants Injectables | |
| Postcoital | Emergency contraceptive pills |
Contraceptive Methods
| Primary User | |||
| Female | Male | Couple | |
| Natural | Breast-feeding | Withdrawal | Abstinence Fertility awareness Oral/anal sex |
| Surgical | Tubal ligation | Vasectomy |
Fertility Control:
Women in the U.S.
| 15-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | |
| Not using contraception | 70.2 | 36.6 | 30.7 | 27.3 | 27.1 | 28.5 |
| Female sterilize | 0.3 | 3.9 | 17.0 | 29.4 | 40.9 | 49.8 |
| Male sterilized | 0.0 | 1.1 | 4.5 | 10.5 | 18.7 | 20.3 |
| Pill | 43.6 | 52.2 | 39.0 | 28.5 | 11.1 | 5.9 |
Fertility Control:
Women in the U.S.
| 15-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | |
| Implant | 2.7 | 3.8 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Injectable | 9.7 | 6.2 | 4.2 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| IUD | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.3 |
| Diaphragm | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 2.7 |
| Condom | 36.6 | 26.3 | 24.2 | 18.4 | 16.9 | 12.3 |
Fertility Control:
Women in the U.S.
| 15-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | |
| Female condom | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Periodic abstinence | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| NFP | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Withdrawal | 0.4 | .3 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 2.0 |
Contraceptive Effectiveness
| Method | Theoretical Effectiveness | % of Couples Pregnant During First Year of Use |
| None | Chance | 85.0 |
| Implants (Norplant) | Virtually no failures | 0.09 |
| Injectables (Depo-Provera) | Virtually no failures | 0.3 |
| IUD | Virtually no failures | 2.0 |
Contraceptive Effectiveness
| Method | Theoretical Effectiveness | % of Couples Pregnant During First Year of Use |
| Pill | Virtually no failures | 3.0 |
| Male condom | Very few failures | 12.0 |
| Diaphragm/cap | Some failures | 18.0 |
| Withdrawal | Some failures | 19.0 |
Contraceptive Effectiveness
| Method | Theoretical Effectiveness | % of Couples Pregnant During First Year of Use |
| Fertility awareness | Some failures | 20.0 |
| Female condom | Some failures | 21.0 |
| Spermicides | Some failures | 21.0 |
| Vaginal sponge | Some failures | 24.0 |
Abortion Rates Throughout the World
| Country | Abortion Rate | Abortion Ratio |
| Russia | 68 | 63 |
| Belarus | 68 | 62 |
| Cuba | 78 | 59 |
| Ukraine | 57 | 58 |
| Vietnam | 83 | 44 |
| Kazakhstan | 44 | 41 |
| Chile | 50 | 35 |
Abortion Rates Throughout the World
| Country | Abortion Rate | Abortion Ratio |
| Brazil | 41 | 30 |
| China | 26 | 27 |
| United States | 23 | 26 |
| Sweden | 19 | 25 |
| Korea (South) | 20 | 25 |
| Canada | 16 | 22 |
| Japan | 13 | 22 |
| Italy | 11 | 21 |
Abortion Rates Throughout the World
| Country | Abortion Rate | Abortion Ratio |
| England and Wales | 16 | 20 |
| New Zealand | 16 | 19 |
| France | 12 | 18 |
| Mexico | 25 | 17 |
| Egypt | 23 | 16 |
| Philippines | 25 | 16 |
| Germany | 8 | 14 |
Abortion Rates Throughout the World
| Country | Abortion Rate | Abortion Ratio |
| Israel | 14 | 13 |
| Spain | 6 | 13 |
| Nigeria | 25 | 12 |
| Belgium | 7 | 11 |
| Netherlands | 6 | 11 |
| Ireland | 6 | 9 |
| Tunisia | 9 | 8 |
| India | 3 | 2 |
Contraceptive Use and Fertility
Education of Women and the Fertility Transition
Changes in ASFRs in Context of the Fertility Transition
Fertility Transition in England
Fertility Transition in China
Baby Boom, Baby Bust, and Baby Boomlet, U.S.
Fertility by Ethnic Group, U.S.