Volume 37 - Article 1 | Pages 1–12  

Fertility change in the American Indian and Alaska Native population, 1980–2010

By Sarah Cannon, Christine Percheski

Abstract

Background: Since 1990, Vital Statistics reports show a dramatic decline in the total fertility rates (TFRs) of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women in the United States.

Objective: We study whether the decrease in TFRs is due to a real change in fertility for a stable population; a compositional change in who identifies as AI/AN; or a methodological issue stemming from differences in identifying race across the data systems used to calculate fertility rates.

Methods: We use data from the decennial US Census to study change in AI/AN fertility from 1980–2010.

Results: We find declining TFRs when fertility is calculated within a single data system. Additionally, although TFRs are relatively stable within the subgroups of married and unmarried AI/AN women, the proportion of AI/AN women who are married has declined across birth cohorts.

Conclusions: The decrease in TFRs for AI/AN women is a real change in fertility patterns and is not due to differences in racial identification across data systems.

Contribution: We update knowledge of AI/AN fertility to include the decline in TFRs between 1980 and 2010.

Author’s Affiliation

• Sarah Cannon - Gibson Consulting Group, United States of America EMAIL
• Christine Percheski - Northwestern University, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Age-heterogamous partnerships: Prevalence and partner differences by marital status and gender composition
Volume 50 - Article 23

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Amish fertility in the United States: Comparative evidence from the American Community Survey and Amish population registries
Volume 52 - Article 26    | Keywords: American Community Survey (ACS), Amish, fertility, natural fertility, total fertility rate (TFR)

Examining the relationships between education, coresidential unions, and the fertility gap by simulating the reproductive life courses of Dutch women
Volume 52 - Article 24    | Keywords: contraception, education, fertility, GGS, life course, LISS, microsimulation, Netherlands, physiology, unions

Tempo effects in period TFR: Inspecting the role of shape and scale variations in a cohort model
Volume 52 - Article 19    | Keywords: scale, shape, skew-normal distribution, tempo distortion, total fertility rate (TFR)

Uncovering the underlying causes for the narrowing, stalling, and widening Black–White mortality gap from 2000 to 2022 in the United States
Volume 52 - Article 18    | Keywords: cause of death, decomposition, mortality trends, racial disparities, United States of America, years of life lost (YLL)

Job creation, job destruction, and fertility in Germany
Volume 52 - Article 13    | Keywords: fertility, gender, Germany, job creation, job destruction, labor market, spatial modelling, unemployment