Changes in fertility rates and family size in response to changes in age at marriage, the trend away from arranged marriages, and increasing urbanization

1971 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Edward Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Family Size ◽  
Fertility Rates ◽  
Arranged Marriages ◽  
Age At Marriage

The decline in fertility in England and Wales since 1964

1977 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-237
Author(s):  
G. N. Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Family Size ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Young Mothers ◽  
Fertility Rates ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Live Births ◽  
Age At Marriage ◽  
Interaction Component ◽  
Number Of Births

SummaryThe decline in the number of legitimate live births in England and Wales from the peak in 1964 has been partitioned into components due to changes in fertility rates, components due to changes in the composition of the population exposed to risk, and an interaction component. Fertility rates specific for age of mother at birth of child, duration of marriage, parity and age of mother at marriage were considered but in all cases it was found that the decline was not as great as the change in fertility rates implied. This was due to increases in the number of births due to changes in the composition of the population exposed to risk.The decline in the number of births due to changes in fertility rates specific for age of mother/duration of marriage/parity/age at marriage has been expressed as a percentage of the number of births to each specific group and it was found that generally the percentage decline became greater as age of mother/duration of marriage/parity/age at marriage increased. However this did not apply for the youngest age groups, the shortest durations of marriage, the youngest ages at marriage and the lowest parity. This result needs further investigation. Is this evidence of a deferment of births by young mothers (with short durations, low parities and young ages at marriage)? Alternatively, is this evidence of the beginning of a really significant and widespread change of attitude to family size?

scholarly journals Drastic changes in fertility level and timing in response to marriage and fertility policies: evidence from Shandong province, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cuiling Zhang ◽  
Tomáš Sobotka
Keyword(s):  
Bimodal Distribution ◽  
Shandong Province ◽  
Fertility Level ◽  
Fertility Rates ◽  
First Birth ◽  
Age At Marriage ◽  
Child Policy ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Minimum Interval ◽  
Second Births

AbstractChina’s “one-child policy” that had been in force between 1980 and 2016 evolved over time and differed widely between regions. Local policies in many regions also targeted the timing and spacing of childbearing by setting the minimum age at marriage, first birth and second birth and defining minimum interval between births. Our study uses data from the 120 Counties Population Dynamics Monitoring System to reconstruct fertility level and timing in nine counties in Shandong province, which experienced frequent changes in birth and marriage policies. We reconstruct detailed indicators of fertility by birth order in 1986–2016, when policies on marriage and fertility timing became strictly enforced since 1989 and subsequently relaxed (especially in 2002) and abandoned (in 2013). Our analysis reveals that birth timing policies have fuelled drastic changes in fertility level, timing and spacing in the province. In the early 1990s period fertility rates plummeted to extreme low levels, with the provincial average total fertility rate falling below 1 in 1992–1995. Second births rates fell especially sharply. The age schedule of childbearing shifted to later ages and births became strongly concentrated just above the minimum policy age at first and second birth, resulting in a bimodal distribution of fertility with peaks at ages 25 and 32. Conversely, the abandonment of the province-level policy on the minimum age at marriage and first birth and less strict enforcement of the policy on the minimum age at second birth contributed to a recovery of period fertility rates in the 2000s and a shift to earlier timing of first and second births. It also led to a shorter second birth interval and a re-emergence of a regular age schedule of fertility with a single peak around age 28.

Age at marriage and family size: social causation and social selection hypotheses

1972 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Busfield
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Married Women ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Social Selection ◽  
Marriage And Family ◽  
Age At Marriage ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recent Group

The familiar and well-established negative association between a woman's age at marriage and family size has received somewhat less attention in recent years. No doubt this is because, with the reduction in fertility of the past century, the observed differentials appear less striking and seem less significant. Age at marriage is a less obvious determinant of family size than in the past. Glass & Grebenik (1954), commenting on the data produced by the 1946 Family Census, emphasized the decreasing importance of the association both absolutely and relatively. Contrasting the completed fertility of the 1900–09 and the 1925 marriage cohorts in Great Britain (Table 1), they argued that, though for all, married women the relative influence of age at marriage was unchanged, the figures for fertile marriages only (those where the wife had at least one child) appeared to indicate ‘that age at marriage and fertility were not quite so tightly linked for the more recent group’. And they added ‘this is the kind of development which would be expected with the increasing spread of family planning’.

scholarly journals Spatial Divisions and Fertility in India

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Vijayan Pillai ◽  
Mashooq Salehin
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Northern Plains ◽  
Child Loss ◽  
Age At Marriage ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Physical Resources ◽  
Deccan Plateau ◽  
Organization Of Production

The Indian subcontinent can be divided into four geographical divisions. In this paper, we characterize three of the four divisions; the Northern Plains, the Deccan Plateau, and the Northern Mountains or the Himalayan as regions with dissimilar climatic and physical resources. It is argued that human adaptations to these variations would be varied by differences in social organization of production and consumption resulting in differences in fertility differences across the three divisions. We found significant differences in the median age at motherhood as well as in the total family size. The effects of the three selected fertility determinants, age at marriage, years of woman's education, and level of child loss on family size also varied significantly across the three divisions. There is considerable homogeneity with respect to fertility levels within the zones considered in this study.

Income and Family Size in Three Eighteenth-Century Lancashire Parishes: A Reconstitution Study

1969 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Loschky ◽  
Donald F. Krier
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Birth Rate ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Age At Marriage ◽  
Rate Of Growth ◽  
Mother’S Age

Since the time of Malthus and possibly earlier the prevailing theory of the birth rate has connected births to the’ mother's age at marriage, which in turn is related to current economic and social conditions. In this manner changes in the economy are tied to changes in the birth rate and thus, even more indirectly, to changes in the rate of growth of the population.

Marriage patterns in Sri Lanka and the prevalence of parental consanguinity in patients with β-thalassaemia: a cross-sectional descriptive analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-584
Author(s):  
Anuja P. Premawardhena ◽  
Shamila T. De Silva ◽  
M. D. Dilith C. Goonatilleke ◽  
Dileepa S. Ediriweera ◽  
Sachith Mettananda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Arranged Marriages ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Parental Consanguinity ◽  
Marriage Patterns ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Age At Marriage ◽  
Consanguineous Marriages ◽  
High Prevalence

AbstractConsanguineous marriages potentially play an important role in the transmission of β-thalassaemia in many communities. This study aimed to determine the rate and socio-demographic associations of consanguineous marriages and to assess the influence on the prevalence of β-thalassaemia in Sri Lanka. Three marriage registrars from each district of Sri Lanka were randomly selected to prospectively collect data on all couples who registered their marriage during a 6-month period starting 1st July 2009. Separately, the parents of patients with β-thalassaemia were interviewed to identify consanguinity. A total of 5255 marriages were recorded from 22 districts. The average age at marriage was 27.3 (±6.1) years for males and 24.1 (±5.7) years for females. A majority (71%) of marriages were ‘love’ marriages, except in the Moor community where 84% were ‘arranged’ marriages. Overall, the national consanguinity rate was 7.4%. It was significantly higher among ethnic Tamils (22.4%) compared with Sinhalese (3.8%) and Moors (3.2%) (p < 0.001). Consanguinity rates were also higher in ‘arranged’ as opposed to ‘love’ marriages (11.7% vs 5.6%, p < 0.001). In patients with β-thalassaemia, the overall consanguinity rate was 14.5%; it was highest among Tamils (44%) and lowest among Sinhalese (12%). Parental consanguinity among patients with β-thalassaemia was double the national average. Although consanguinity is not the major factor in the transmission of the disease in the country, emphasis should be given to this significant practice when conducting β-thalassaemia prevention and awareness campaigns, especially in high-prevalence communities.

Age at marriage and completed family size

1977 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry L. Bumpass ◽  
Edward K. Mburugu
Keyword(s):  
Family Size ◽  
Age At Marriage ◽  
Completed Family Size

Childlessness and Marital Instability: A Re-Examination of the Evidence

1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Marital Instability ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Age At Marriage ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
High Social Class ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Completed Family Size

SummaryEarlier studies have queried whether divorce was associated with childlessness. Evidence from surveys of broken marriages passing through the divorce courts of England and Wales indicates that infertility and divorce are not related in the way supposed. When the duration of de facto marriage is controlled, divorcing couples have a higher rate of fertility than that found within those who remain married. The former are also more likely to have a larger family size within the same period of time. Similar findings emerge from data relating to broken marriages resorting to the magistrates' courts. These results are partly a consequence of the trend whereby working-class marriages—with their earlier start of a family and larger completed family size—form an increasing proportion of all divorcing couples.Survey results showed that within a divorcing population a shorter period of cohabitation resulted in a higher level of infertility. High infertility rates were also associated with later age at marriage and high social class. Current trends suggest that an increasing proportion of divorcing couples will be childless. It is concluded that there is need for a deeper knowledge of possible relationships, and their causes, in this and other areas of married life.

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