Volume 20 - Article 9 | Pages 169–194
Is Latin America starting to retreat from early and universal childbearing?
| Date received: | 22 Oct 2008 |
| Date published: | 20 Feb 2009 |
| Word count: | 5793 |
| Keywords: | childlessness, fertility, first birth, Latin America |
| DOI: | 10.4054/DemRes.2009.20.9 |
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 - Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Teresa Castro Martín - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain
Teresa Martín García - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain
Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research
»
Mixed marriages between immigrants and natives in Spain: The gendered effect of marriage market constraints
Volume 39 - Article 1
»
Change and continuity in the fertility of unpartnered women in Latin America, 1980–2010
Volume 38 - Article 51
»
High life expectancy and reversed socioeconomic gradients of elderly people in Mexico and Costa Rica
Volume 38 - Article 3
»
Social policies, separation, and second birth spacing in Western Europe
Volume 37 - Article 37
»
Childbearing patterns among immigrant women and their daughters in Spain: Over-adaptation or structural constraints
Volume 37 - Article 19
»
Partnership formation and dissolution among immigrants in the Spanish context
Volume 35 - Article 1
»
The contributions of childbearing within marriage and within consensual union to fertility in Latin America, 1980-2010
Volume 34 - Article 29
»
The reproductive context of cohabitation in comparative perspective: Contraceptive use in the United States, Spain, and France
Volume 32 - Article 5
»
The declining effect of sibling size on children's education in Costa Rica
Volume 31 - Article 48
»
Self-Reported Versus Performance-Based Measures of Physical Function: Prognostic Value for Survival
Volume 30 - Article 7
»
Single motherhood and low birthweight in Spain: Narrowing social inequalities in health?
Volume 22 - Article 27
»
Women’s changing socioeconomic position and union formation in Spain and Portugal
Volume 19 - Article 41
»
Not truly partnerless: Non-residential partnerships and retreat from marriage in Spain
Volume 18 - Article 16
Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research
»
The contribution of assisted reproductive technology to fertility rates and parity transition: An analysis of Australian data
Volume 45 - Article 35 | Keywords: childlessness, first birth
»
Late motherhood, late fatherhood, and permanent childlessness: Trends by educational level and cohorts (1950–1970) in France
Volume 45 - Article 10 | Keywords: childlessness, fertility
»
The role of premarital cohabitation in the timing of first birth in China
Volume 45 - Article 8 | Keywords: childlessness, fertility
»
Partners’ empowerment and fertility in ten European countries
Volume 38 - Article 49 | Keywords: childlessness, fertility
»
On the pace of fertility decline in sub-Saharan Africa
Volume 37 - Article 40 | Keywords: fertility, Latin America
Articles
Citations
Cited References: 44
»View the references of this article
Download to Citation Manager
Similar Articles
PubMed
»Articles by Luis Rosero-Bixby
»Articles by Teresa Castro Martín
»Articles by Teresa Martín García
Google Scholar
»Articles by Luis Rosero-Bixby
»Articles by Teresa Castro Martín
»Articles by Teresa Martín García