TY  - JOUR
A1  - Chandra, Siddharth
A1  - Yu, Yan-Liang
T1  - The 1918 influenza pandemic and subsequent birth deficit in Japan
Y1  - 2015/08/06
JF  - Demographic Research
JO  - Demographic Research
SN  - 1435-9871
SP  - 313
EP  - 326
DO  - 10.4054/DemRes.2015.33.11
VL  - 33
IS  - 11
UR  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol33/11/
L1  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol33/11/33-11.pdf
L2  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol33/11/33-11.pdf
N2  - Background: Recent research has documented fertility decline after the peak of pandemic-associated mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Yet the time interval between the mortality peak and the dip in fertility and its contributing mechanisms remains a line of debate. 

Objective: This study examines the inter-temporal association between pandemic-associated mortality and subsequent birth deficit in Japan in order to shed light on the current debate about the impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic on human fertility. 

Methods: Seasonally and trend-adjusted monthly data on deaths, births, and stillbirths in Japan are used to compute cross-correlations between deaths, births, and stillbirths. 

Results: The analysis revealed a negative and statistically significant association between deaths (𝑑) at time 𝑡 and births (𝑏) at time 𝑡+9 (𝑟𝑑𝑏(9)=−.397,𝑝<.0001), indicating that excessive birth deficits occurred nine months after pandemic-associated mortality peaked. Additionally, there was a positive and high contemporaneous correlation between pandemic-associated stillbirths (𝑠) and excess mortality (𝑟𝑑𝑠(0)=.929,𝑝<.0001). 

Conclusions: In contrast to earlier research that suggests that late first-trimester embryonic loss was the primary link between pandemic-associated mortality and future births, the findings of this paper suggest that a combination of reduced conceptions and embryonic losses during the first month of pregnancy were an important mechanism linking pandemic-associated mortality with subsequent depressed fertility. 

ER  -