Abstract: BACKGROUND Many studies have neglected family processes that take place in more complex households in non-Western societies, while the position in the sibling set of a given person in these societies may be an important factor for determining infant and child mortality risks. OBJECTIVE This article addresses the association of sibling composition with infant and child mortality between the ages of 0 and 5 in Taiwan in the period 1906–1945. Furthermore, the article takes into account regional differences that may affect the impact of the sibling composition on mortality risks. METHODS The Taiwan Historical Household Register Database (THHRD) is analysed by using univariate and Cox proportional hazard analyses. By doing so, the changing household composition over time is taken into account. RESULTS The presence of siblings close in age (younger or up to 5 years older) of either sex, and the presence of same-sex siblings in general, increased mortality risks for male and female infants and children. In addition, the presence of non-adopted and adopted sisters over the age of 5 decreased male infant mortality risks, while the presence of non-adopted brothers over the age of 5 decreased child mortality risks for girls. Limited regional differences in sibling effects are observed.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE The primary objectives of this study are to examine intra-urban spatial variation in the rates of under-five-years-old child mortality (5q0) in Accra in 2000 and 2010, as well as between those two dates, and to evaluate potential connections between the physical characteristics of urban neighborhoods and their levels of child mortality. METHODS Decennial census data of Ghana are used to estimate rates of 5q0 in 2000 and in 2010 and to note changes between 2000 and 2010 for the neighborhoods of Accra. Remote sensing data and methods are then used to derive urban land-cover and land-use change (LCLUC) information for the same neighborhoods and during the same time period. Population and housing demographic characteristics are derived and summarized at the neighborhood level to serve as potential covariates of the measures of urban change. Regression analyses are utilized to evaluate the relationships between child mortality and neighborhood environmental factors. RESULTS Results indicate spatial variability in rates of 5q0 in Accra for the year 2000. Such variations are minimal in 2010 due to the dramatic decline in child mortality between 2000 and 2010. Under-five child mortality was 20% in 2000 and 12% in 2010. Nontraditional toilet types and water supply sources are associated with high rates of 5q0. CONCLUSIONS Less reliance on public and informal toilets as well as improving housing drinking water quality have the potential to reduce under-five child mortality in Ghana.
Abstract: BACKGROUND Difficulties with work‒family reconciliation contribute to explaining the low participation of women in the labour market and low fertility levels in several developed countries. Understanding how much different types of childcare can help mothers to balance family and work is crucial for implementing ad hoc policies. OBJECTIVE This study examines whether working mothers’ satisfaction with work‒family balance is associated with different combinations of paid and unpaid childcare arrangements. Difficulties in using different types of childcare are also considered. METHODS We use random effects models on panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey (2003‒2013). RESULTS Results show that a balanced mix of paid and unpaid childcare is associated with mothers’ highest satisfaction. Difficulties related to the affordability and the flexibility of paid childcare negatively relate to the satisfaction with work‒family balance. Moreover, even after adjusting for experienced difficulties, the “mixed” arrangement guarantees the most satisfying combination of work and family responsibilities.
Abstract: BACKGROUND In the wake of aging societies, pro-natalist policies have been used around the world to promote childbearing in developed countries. Very little research investigates the causal effect of the Australian government’s baby bonus policy as a once-off, non-means tested incentive scheme on the observed individual fertility. OBJECTIVE We investigate the role of immigration in raising fertility beyond what could be achieved by the Australian-born population. The impact of this policy is heavily reliant on the effectiveness of monetary incentives in boosting fertility, yet it is not clear who drives this effect. METHODS We utilize triple difference-in-difference (DDD) strategy to evaluate the relationship between childbearing and introduction of the baby bonus in a quasi-experimental setting. We evaluate the quasi-experimental setting by using propensity score matching. RESULTS Our findings highlight the role of immigrant women in driving the success of the policy. Moreover, the impact is found to be highest among immigrant women with low levels of human capital, which diminishes with age. CONCLUSIONS The results imply that the role of immigrants, especially that of a young workforce, in aging societies may be greater than has been previously attributed.
Abstract: BACKGROUND Some formal demographic models describe mortality improvement in terms of averted deaths. In such models individuals who would have died in an earlier regime are instead revived and returned to the population to face the same age-specific mortality risks as the rest of the population. A closely related literature has examined inequality in terms of the number of years of potential life that are lost to deaths. OBJECTIVE The paper combines several results from formal demography to illustrate the potential gains in life lived from a sequence of revivals, in which everyone is revived 0, 1, 2,. . . times.
Abstract: BACKGROUND People’s demographic decision-making is embedded in regional cultural contexts that include regional patterns of family organization called family systems. Although previous research has shown that family systems explain regional variation in fertility, it has focused mainly on historical or developing societies. Processes of modernization have led to substantial changes in family structures and values and to an overhaul of the traditional family formation system in most developed countries. Therefore, questions arise regarding whether family systems also influence fertility in contemporary developed societies. OBJECTIVE The paper addresses the research question by examining the association between regional patterns of spatial proximity between kin and (1) the age at first birth, (2) the length of the interbirth interval between the first and second child, and (3) the length of the interbirth interval between the second and third child. In this context, the paper controls for changes in the associations occurring with age. METHODS The paper derives regional indicators of spatial proximity between kin for 54 regions in nine European countries using the first two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (N = 38,484). The paper studies the association between these regional indicators and fertility using individual-level data from the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) (N = 58,689). The analysis relies on a set of discrete-time hazard models. RESULTS The results support the idea that regional patterns of family organization help to explain fertility in contemporary developed societies. However, the results are more complex than expected because the association between spatial proximity and fertility is time-varying. For example, on average, closer proximity to kin increases the likelihood of having a second child during the first three years after the first child is born. Future research needs to replicate the results and investigate the underlying mechanisms more closely to better understand how and when patterns of family organization impact fertility.
Abstract: BACKGROUND In developing countries, improving access to schooling has been and remains a priority. At the same time, a growing body of research relates education to demographic variables. It is therefore essential to measure the educational variable accurately. In Brazil, although the high degree of inaccuracy in age reporting is known, previous research has neglected that problems of misreporting may affect other variables such as education. OBJECTIVE To fill this gap, we calculate mortality levels by education as implied by intercensal survivorship ratios to investigate the quality of self-reported education among adults in Brazil between the 1991 and 2000 censuses. RESULTS Our findings show evidence of inaccurate educational data in the censuses. Analysis by single year of schooling weakly reflects the known educational gradient in mortality. After categorization of age and years of schooling into groups, a positive relationship between education and survival does appear, although some implausible patterns remain.
Abstract: BACKGROUND The consequences of immigration for gender equality is of high public concern. A key issue is to what extent the children of immigrants adopt the more gender-egalitarian work–family attitudes and practices prevalent in the societies where they have grown up. OBJECTIVE This study examines the support for gender-equal work–family practices among second-generation immigrants in Norway, a country with high gender-equality ambitions. We analyze attitudes toward the role of both genders in the family and the labor market among descendants of Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Turkish, and Pakistani origin, and make comparisons with the majority population and same-age immigrants. METHODS Cross-sectional data (N = 1,049/586 for descendants/immigrants) comes from the Survey on living conditions among persons with an immigrant background 2016 in Norway. RESULTS Second-generation immigrants embrace the ideas of the working mother, shared breadwinning, and shared care to the same extent as the majority population, but express somewhat more support for the homemaker role. There are few consistent dividing lines among descendants, although women express more gender-egalitarian attitudes than men, and men of Pakistani origin are less supportive than other male descendants. Religiosity and the composition of the friendship network matter for some groups. Descendants express slightly more gender-egalitarian work–family attitudes than same-age immigrants.
Abstract: BACKGROUND A great deal of research has focused on employment and educational reasons for migration. Recent research has also begun to explore social motives. However, we still know very little about the role of nonresident family for moving, especially over long distances. OBJECTIVE We examine (1) the prevalence of nonresident family as a primary motive versus a secondary and location-based motive for migration, (2) moving away from family versus moving toward family, (3) how individuals’ reported family motives correspond to their actual migration toward family members, and (4) the sociodemographic characteristics of individuals who report family as a motive for migration. METHODS The data were derived from the Swedish Motives for Moving survey, which is based on an analytic sample of 4,601 Swedish respondents who migrated at least 20 km in 2007. We present descriptive statistics and quotes to illustrate respondents’ reports of their migration motives. As a tool for sophisticated description, we also provide the results of logistic and ordered logistic regression models of mentioning nonresident family as a motive for moving.
Abstract: BACKGROUND The percentage of older adults in the United States reporting being in good health has increased since the 1980s. OBJECTIVE This study tries to explain long-term trends in self-rated health in the United States. METHODS We used 47 years of repeated cross-sectional data from the National Health Interview Survey to estimate regression models that predict trends in self-rated health. RESULTS Our results show that the improvement in self-rated health of men as well as women aged 50–84 is largely explained by gains in educational attainment. Self-rated health has slightly improved among those with post-secondary education, while it did not improve among those without post-secondary education.
Abstract: BACKGROUND Recent studies of US adult mortality demonstrate a growing disadvantage among southern states. Few studies have examined long-term trends and geographic patterns in US early life (ages 1 to 24) mortality, ages at which key risk factors and causes of death are quite different than among adults. OBJECTIVE This article examines trends and variations in early life mortality rates across US states and census divisions. We assess whether those variations have changed over a 50-year time period and which causes of death contribute to contemporary geographic disparities. METHODS We calculate all-cause and cause-specific death rates using death certificate data from the Multiple Cause of Death files, combining public-use files from 1965‒2004 and restricted data with state geographic identifiers from 2005‒2014. State population (denominator) data come from US decennial censuses or intercensal estimates. RESULTS Results demonstrate a persistent mortality disadvantage for young people (ages 1 to 24) living in southern states over the last 50 years, particularly those located in the East South Central and West South Central divisions. Motor vehicle accidents and homicide by firearm account for most of the contemporary southern disadvantage in US early life mortality.
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