Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T05:31:36.089Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CHANGES IN THE PROXIMATE DETERMINANTS OF FERTILITY DECLINE IN POST-SOCIALIST MONGOLIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2009

THOMAS SPOORENBERG
THOMAS SPOORENBERG*
Affiliation:
Population Estimates and Projections Section, United Nations Population Division, New York
*
The views expressd in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. Its contents have not been formally edited or cleared by the United Nations.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Mongolian fertility decline has received only limited analysis in the demographic literature. Using the 2003 Reproductive Health Survey of Mongolia the classical proximate determinants of fertility framework proposed by Bongaarts is applied here in order to analyse which factors shape period fertility. The results indicate that the fertility-inhibiting effect of contraception contributed to reduce period fertility by 54.2% from its theoretical maximum, while induced abortion accounted for only 6.1% of the reduction in fertility. Compared with previous studies made in the early 1990s, these results show that important changes in the control of reproduction took place in Mongolia during the fertility transition. In order to assess the changes implied by the transition to democracy and market economy, the proximate determinants of fertility are estimated for the year 1994. The results show that the importance of induced abortion in the determination of fertility level has reduced and that the use of modern contraception has increased progressively and contributed most in determining fertility level in 2003.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 41 , Issue 5 , September 2009 , pp. 607 - 624
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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

Aassve, A. & Gereltuya, A. (2002) Changing pattern of Mongolian fertility at a time of social and economic transition. Studies in Family Planning 33, 165–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avdeev, A. (1994) Contraception and abortion: Trends and prospects for the 1990s. In Lutz, W., Scherbov, S. & Volkov, A. (eds) Demographic Trends and Patterns in the Soviet Union before 1991. Routledge/IIASA, London/Laxenburg, pp. 131–146.Google Scholar
Bogue, D. J. (1993) Empirical interrelationships among standard fertility measures. In Bogue, D. J., Arriaga, E. E., Anderton, D. L. & Rumsey, G. W. (eds) Readings in Population Research Methodology. Volume 3. Fertility Research. Social Development Center, Chicago, Illinois, 11.51, 11.53.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J. (1978) A framework for analyzing the proximate determinants of fertility. Population and Development Review 4, 105–132.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J. (1982) The fertility-inhibiting effects of the intermediate fertility variables. Studies in Family Planning 6, 179–189.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J. & Potter, R. G. (1983) Fertility, Biology, and Behavior: An Analysis of the Proximate Determinants. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J., Frank, O. & Lestheaghe, R. (1984) The proximate determinants of fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Population and Development Review 10, 511–537.Google Scholar
Davis, K. & Blake, J. (1956) Social structure and fertility: An analytic framework. Economic Development and Cultural Change 4, 211–235.Google Scholar
Erfani, A. & McQuillan, K. (2008) Rapid fertility decline in Iran: Analysis of intermediate variables. Journal of Biosocial Science 40, 459–478.Google Scholar
Gereltuya, A. (2008) Dramatic fertility transition in Mongolia and its determinants: The demise of the pronatalist State. Asia-Pacific Population Journal 23, 81–99.Google Scholar
Gereltuya, A., Falkingham, J. & Brown, J. (2007) Determinants of current contraceptive use and method choice in Mongolia. Journal of Biosocial Science 39, 801–817.Google Scholar
National Centre for Health Development of Mongolia & UNFPA (2001) Unwanted Pregnancies and Abortions in Mongolia. National Statistical Office Press, Ulaanbaatar. Statistical Office Press, Ulaanbaatar.Google Scholar
National Statistical Office of Mongolia (2006) 2005 Statistical Yearbook. National Statistical Office Press, Ulaanbaatar.Google Scholar
National Statistical Office of Mongolia & UNFPA (1999) Mongolia. Reproductive Health Survey 1998. National Report. National Statistical Office Press, Ulaanbaatar.Google Scholar
National Statistical Office of Mongolia & UNFPA (2004) Mongolia. Reproductive Health Survey 2003. National Report. National Statistical Office Press, Ulaanbaatar.Google Scholar
Neupert, R. F. (1993) Pronatalist policies and fertility decline: The case of Mongolia. In Proceedings of the 22nd International Population Conference, Montreal. IUSSP, Liège, Ordina, pp. 443–462.Google Scholar
Neupert, R. F. (1994) Fertility decline in Mongolia: Trends, policies and explanations. International Family Planning Perspectives 20, 18–22.Google Scholar
Neupert, R. F. (1996) Population Policies, Socioeconomic Development and Population Dynamics in Mongolia. Australian National University, Research School of Social Sciences, Canberra.Google Scholar
Pandey, R. N. (1997) Knowledge, attitude and practice of family planning in Mongolia. Demography India 26, 79–92.Google Scholar
Pandey, R. N. (2002) The use of induced abortion as a contraceptive: The case of Mongolia. Journal of Biosocial Science 34, 91–108.Google Scholar
Popov, A. A. (1991) Family planning and induced abortion in the USSR: Basic health and demographic characteristics. Studies in Family Planning 22, 368–377.Google Scholar
Popov, A. (1996) Family planning and induced abortion in post-Soviet Russia of the early 1990s: Unmet needs in information supply. In DaVanzo, J. & Farnsworth, G. (eds) Russia's Demographic ‘Crisis’. RAND Center for Russia and Eurasia, Santa Monica, pp. 84–112.Google Scholar
Popov, A. A., Visser, A. Ph. & Ketting, E. (1993) Contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practices in Russia during the 1980s. Studies in Family Planning 24, 227–235.Google Scholar
PTRC (Population Teaching and Research Center) (1996) Mongolia. Demographic Survey 1994. Main Report. PTRC, Ulaanbaatar.Google Scholar
Rak, K. & Janes, C. (2004) Reproductive health in post-transition Mongolia: Global discourses and local realities. Perspectives on Global Development and Technology 3, 171–196.Google Scholar
Ranjan, A. (2005) Marital fertility in the development blocks of Madhya Pradesh. Journal of Family Welfare 51, 11–23.Google Scholar
Reinis, K. I. (1992) The impact of the proximate determinants of fertility: Evaluating Bongaarts' and Hobcraft's and Little's methods of estimation. Population Studies 46, 309–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spoorenberg, T.The impact of the political and economic transition on fertility and family formation in Mongolia: A synthetic parity progression ratios analysis. Asian Population Studies (in press).Google Scholar
Stover, J. (1998) Revising the proximate determinants of fertility framework: What have we learnt in the past 29 years?. Studies in Family Planning 29, 255–267.Google Scholar
Wood, J. W. (1994) Dynamics of Human Reproduction: Biology, Biometry, Demography. Aldine de Gruyter, New York.Google Scholar