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“Tsimane mortality has dropped over the past several decades, but fertility has not,” Gurven says. “This contrasts with the pattern observed at the national level. Bolivian mortality and fertility have dropped considerably over the same time period.”
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“Tsimane mortality has dropped over the past several decades, but fertility has not,” Gurven says. “This contrasts with the pattern observed at the national level. Bolivian mortality and fertility have dropped considerably over the same time period.”
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(From the original press release…)
http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=2838
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The authors are quick to note that although education may not always be associated with economic gains, it does teach useful skills, and it can help introduce new ideas and lead to more "empowerment" for women. However, their findings show that women's autonomy and husbands' greater desire for large families do not account for the excess fertility of Tsimane women.
"An interesting finding is that while women say they want fewer children, if you ask them who they consider to be the most influential women, the answer will be those who have the most children," McAllister said. She and Gurven suggest that this relates to social status among Tsimane being rooted more in having large families and kin networks, than in attempts to lead a more modern lifestyle. The researchers also find the greatest discrepancy between how many children women want and how many they actually have occurs among women living close to the nearest major town.
…[/font][/font]
The authors are quick to note that although education may not always be associated with economic gains, it does teach useful skills, and it can help introduce new ideas and lead to more "empowerment" for women. However, their findings show that women's autonomy and husbands' greater desire for large families do not account for the excess fertility of Tsimane women.
"An interesting finding is that while women say they want fewer children, if you ask them who they consider to be the most influential women, the answer will be those who have the most children," McAllister said. She and Gurven suggest that this relates to social status among Tsimane being rooted more in having large families and kin networks, than in attempts to lead a more modern lifestyle. The researchers also find the greatest discrepancy between how many children women want and how many they actually have occurs among women living close to the nearest major town.
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http://www.prb.org/Educators/TeachersGuides/HumanPopulation/Women.aspx
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[font size=5]Factors Affecting Family Size[/font]
Biological, cultural, and socioeconomic conditions together determine the number of children that a woman will have. These conditions influence her exposure to intercourse and her ability to conceive a child, as well as the number of children she may wish to have. Some factors include age at marriage, use of family planning methods, and breastfeeding. Many socioeconomic factors are also important influences on fertility. These factors are sometimes indirectly related. Education, urbanization, labor force participation, and infant mortality have a strong correlation with levels of fertility. But it is difficult to determine direct causation and one must be careful not to confuse causation with correlation. Some factors may be merely related to fertility rates, and other unknown factors may be the real cause of different levels of fertility among different women and different societies.
Generally, the age at which a woman first marries is directly related to the number of children she will bear because it affects the length of time she will be at risk of becoming pregnant. Of course, unmarried women may also have children, but the vast majority of childbearing takes place within marriage throughout most of the world, which makes the age at marriage a valuable indicator of a woman's lifetime fertility. The total fertility rate—or average births per woman—for women in the United States, who marry around age 25, is 2.1. Conversely, women in Niger, who marry earlier, average 7.1 children (see chart, "Women's Age at First Marriage and Family Size"
. Within countries, rural women tend to marry earlier than urban women and tend to have larger families. Access to contraception is an important contributor to the differences in the fertility rates among countries, but culture and socioeconomics weigh heavily as well.
Women's access to education, health care, family planning, and employment all affect family size. Studies show that women who have completed primary school have fewer children than those with no education. Education is key because educated women are more likely to know what social, community, and health services, including family planning, are available and to have the confidence to use them. In addition, women with more education have more opportunities outside the home and can see the benefits of education for their children. Women who achieve a relatively high level of education are also more likely to enter the labor force before they marry or begin childbearing, and ultimately to have smaller families than women who marry in their teens. This trend is evident in almost every country where data are available. As the figure "Women's Education and Family Size" shows, women with a secondary school education have substantially smaller families than women with less education.
…[/font][/font]
[font size=5]Factors Affecting Family Size[/font]
Biological, cultural, and socioeconomic conditions together determine the number of children that a woman will have. These conditions influence her exposure to intercourse and her ability to conceive a child, as well as the number of children she may wish to have. Some factors include age at marriage, use of family planning methods, and breastfeeding. Many socioeconomic factors are also important influences on fertility. These factors are sometimes indirectly related. Education, urbanization, labor force participation, and infant mortality have a strong correlation with levels of fertility. But it is difficult to determine direct causation and one must be careful not to confuse causation with correlation. Some factors may be merely related to fertility rates, and other unknown factors may be the real cause of different levels of fertility among different women and different societies.
[font size=4]Women's Age at First Marriage and Family Size in Selected Countries, 2000s[/font]
[font size=1]Source: Demographic and Health Surveys, 2001-2006; Indicators of Marriage and Fertility in the United States from the American Community Survey: 2000 to 2003, US Census Bureau; Carl Haub, 2007 World Population Data Sheet (Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau, 2007).[/font]
Generally, the age at which a woman first marries is directly related to the number of children she will bear because it affects the length of time she will be at risk of becoming pregnant. Of course, unmarried women may also have children, but the vast majority of childbearing takes place within marriage throughout most of the world, which makes the age at marriage a valuable indicator of a woman's lifetime fertility. The total fertility rate—or average births per woman—for women in the United States, who marry around age 25, is 2.1. Conversely, women in Niger, who marry earlier, average 7.1 children (see chart, "Women's Age at First Marriage and Family Size"
. Within countries, rural women tend to marry earlier than urban women and tend to have larger families. Access to contraception is an important contributor to the differences in the fertility rates among countries, but culture and socioeconomics weigh heavily as well.
Women's access to education, health care, family planning, and employment all affect family size. Studies show that women who have completed primary school have fewer children than those with no education. Education is key because educated women are more likely to know what social, community, and health services, including family planning, are available and to have the confidence to use them. In addition, women with more education have more opportunities outside the home and can see the benefits of education for their children. Women who achieve a relatively high level of education are also more likely to enter the labor force before they marry or begin childbearing, and ultimately to have smaller families than women who marry in their teens. This trend is evident in almost every country where data are available. As the figure "Women's Education and Family Size" shows, women with a secondary school education have substantially smaller families than women with less education.
[font size=4]Women's Education and Family Size in Selected Countries, 2000s[/font]
[font size=1]Source: Demographic and Health Surveys, 2003–2006.[/font]
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