Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T13:59:17.414Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Differential fertility in the United States, 1980: continuity or change?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Howard Wineberg  and
James McCarthy
Howard Wineberg
Affiliation:
Department of Population Dynamics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
James McCarthy
Affiliation:
Department of Population Dynamics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

This paper considers how changes in women's socio-cultural characteristics have influenced recent patterns of differential fertility in the United States and whether the convergence of fertility differentials observed up to 1970 has continued. Analysis of data from the June 1980 United States Current Population Survey, suggests that there has been no change in differential fertility in recent years. Age at first birth, length of first birth interval, income and education were all negatively associated with fertility, among both older and younger women. When fertility expectations were examined, however, the association of the independent variables with expected completed fertility was weaker among younger women, indicating that there has been some convergence in expected completed fertility. Further narrowing of differentials in actual fertility depends on how successful the younger women are in preventing future unplanned births.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , July 1986 , pp. 311 - 324
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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

Anderson, J.E. (1981) Planning status of marital births, 1975–1976. Fam. Plann. Perspect. 13, 62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bachrach, C.A. (1984) Contraceptive practice among American women, 1973–1982. Fam. Plann. Perspect. 16, 253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lauriat, P. (1969) The effect of marital dissolution on fertility. J. Marr. & Fam. 31, 484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Center for Health Statistics (1981) Interval Between Births: United States, 1970–77. By Spratley, E. & Taffel, S., Vital and Health Statistics, Series 21, No. 39. Public Health Service, Hyattsville, Md.Google ScholarPubMed
National Center for Health Statistics (1982) Advance Report of Final Natality Statistics, 1980. Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 31, No. 8, Supplement. Public Health Services, Hyattsville, Md.Google Scholar
Pebley, A.R. (1981) Changing attitudes toward the timing of first births. Fam. Plann. Perspect. 13, 171.Google Scholar
Thornton, A. (1978) Marital dissolution, remarriage, and childbearing. Demography, 15, 361.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trussell, J. & Menken, J. (1978) Early childbearing and subsequent fertility. Fam. Plann. Perspect 10, 209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
US Bureau of the Census (1978) The Current Population Survey: Design and Methodology. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
US Bureau of the Census (1981a) Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1980. Current Population Reports, Population Characteristics, Series P-20, No. 365. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
US Bureau of the Census (1981b) Current Population Survey, June 1980: Tape Technical Documentation. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
US Bureau of the Census (1983) Lifetime Earnings Estimates for Men and Women in the United States: 1979. Current Population Reports, Consumer Income, Series P-60, No. 139. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
US Bureau of the Census (1984) 1980 Census of Population, Vol. 1, Characteristics of the Population. US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Westoff, C.F. & Ryder, N.B. (1977) The Contraceptive Revolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.Google Scholar