Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T15:14:47.918Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Changes in the timing of births in Melbourne, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Siew-Ean Khoo
Affiliation:
Development Studies Centre, Australian National University, Canberra
S. Krishnamoorthy
Affiliation:
Population Research Centre, JSS Institute of Economic Research, Karnataka, India

Summary

Two 10-year marriage cohorts from two surveys of married women in Melbourne were compared on their timing of the first and second births. The results showed that women who were married in the early 1970s were much more likely to delay their first birth until about the third or fourth year of marriage compared with women who married in the 1960s. However, there was no difference in the timing of their second birth in relation to the first birth between the two marriage cohorts. Women who delayed childbearing also preferred smaller families. Economic reasons were most frequently mentioned for delaying childbearing.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (1980) Birth Expectations of Married Women, Australia, 06 1979. Catalogue No. 3215.0, ABS. Canberra.Google Scholar
Bulatao, R.A. (1981) Values and disvalues of children in successive childbearing decisions. Demography, 18, 1.Google Scholar
Caldwell, J.C. & Ruzicka, L.T. (1978) The Australian fertility transition: an analysis. Popul. Dev. Rev. 4, 81.Google Scholar
Caldwell, J.C. & Ware, H. (1973) The evolution of family planning in Australia. Popul. Stud, 27, 7.Google Scholar
Caldwell, J.C., Young, C.M., Ware, H., Lewis, D.R. & Davis, A.T. (1973) Australia: knowledge, attitudes and practice of family planning in Melbourne, 1971. Stud. Fam. Plann. 4, 49.Google Scholar
Callan, V.J. (1980) The Value of Children to Australian, Greek and Italian Parents in Sydney. Papers of the East–West Population Institute, No. 60-C. East-West Center, Honolulu.Google Scholar
Rindfuss, R.R., Palmore, J.A. & Bumpass, L.L. (1982) Selectivity and the analysis of birth intervals with survey data. Asian and Pacific Census Forum 8, 5.Google Scholar
Ruzicka, L.T. (1976) Age at marriage and timing of the first birth. Popul. Stud. 30, 527.Google Scholar
Ruzicka, L.T. & Caldwell, J.C. (1977) The End of Demographic Transition in Australia. Australian Family Formation Project, Monograph No. 5. The Australian National University Press, Canberra.Google Scholar
Young, C.M. (1977) Spacing of children and changing patterns of childbearing. J. biosoc. Sci. 9, 201.Google Scholar
Young, C.M. & Ware, H. (1978) Contraceptive use in Australia. In: Symposium on Recent Advances in Contraception. Australian Federation of Family Planning Associations, Canberra.Google Scholar