Luis Rosero-Bixby
Teresa Castro-Martin
Teresa Martín-García

http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol20/9/

doi:10.4054/DemRes.2009.20.9

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Abstract
The 2000 censuses show that the proportion of women below age 30 who are mothers has dropped substantially in most Latin America countries, suggesting that the social imperative of early motherhood, which has long prevailed in the region, is weakening. Surveys conducted in 14 Latin American countries in 2006 also show a strong link between childlessness and higher education across several cohorts. We discuss whether the recent increase in childlessness among young women reflects a shift towards later childbearing, a novel trend in the Latin American context, and also whether it may signal an emerging retreat from universal childbearing in the region.

Author's affiliation
Luis Rosero-Bixby
Central American Population Center (CCP) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), Costa Rica
Teresa Castro-Martin
CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas), Spain
Teresa Martín-García
Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Spain

Keywords
childlessness, fertility, first birth, Latin America

Word count (Main text)
5793

Other articles by the same author/authors (in Demographic Research)

	[19-41] Women’s changing socioeconomic position and union formation in Spain and Portugal
	[18-16] Not truly partnerless: Non-residential partnerships and retreat from marriage in Spain

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