Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:31:24.926Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Union instability and fertility in three Caribbean societies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Robert E. Wright  and
Ashok K. Madan
Robert E. Wright
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, Toronto, Canada
Ashok K. Madan
Affiliation:
Institute for Market and Social Analysis, Toronto, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

This paper examines empirically the relationship between sexual union instability and fertility in three English-speaking Caribbean societies, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad/Tobago, using data collected in the World Fertility Survey Programme. An index of cumulative fertility, the duration ratio, that controls for the biological effects of age and age at first union is used as the dependent variable in a multiple regression analysis. The statistical findings are in general agreement with previous research that has found a positive association between fertility and the number of sexual unions in these societies. However, the estimated fertility effect of belonging to different union types (i.e. married, common-law and visiting) is not uniform across the three societies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , January 1988 , pp. 37 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blake, J. (1961) Family Structure in Jamaica. Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J. (1978) A framework for analyzing the proximate determinants of fertility. Popul. Dev. Rev. 4, 105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bongaarts, J. & Kirmeyer, J. (1980) Estimating the Impact of Contraceptive Prevalence on Fertility: Aggregate and Age-Specific Versions of a Model. Working Paper No. 63, Centre for Policy Studies. Population Council, New York.Google Scholar
Boulier, B. L. & Rosenzweig, M. R. (1978) Age, biological factors, and socioeconomic determinants of fertility: a new measure of cumulative fertility for use in the empirical analysis of family size. Demography, 15, 487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burch, T. K. (1983) The impact of forms of families and sexual unions and dissolution of unions on fertility. In: Determinants of Fertility in Developing Countries, Vol. 2. Edited by Bulatao, R. A. & Lee, R. D. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Coale, A. J. & Trussell, T. J. (1974) Model fertility schedules: variations in age structure of childbearing in human populations. Popul. Ind. 40, 185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, K. & Blake, J. (1956) Social structure and fertility: an analytical framework. Econ. Dev. cult. Change, 4, 211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebanks, G. E. (1973) Fertility, union status and partners. Int. J. Social. Fam. 3, 48.Google Scholar
Ebanks, G. E., George, P. M. & Nobbe, C. E. (1974a) Fertility and the number of partnerships in Barbados. Popul. Stud 28, 149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ebanks, G. E., George, P. M. & Nobbe, C. E. (1974b) Patterns of sex-union formation in Barbados. Can. Rev. Sociol. Anthrop. 11, 230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harewood, J. (1984) Mating and Fertility: Results from Three WFS Surveys in Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. WFS Scientific Reports no. 67, International Statistical Institute, Voorburg.Google Scholar
Intriligator, M. (1977) Econometric Models, Techniques and Applications. Duxbury Press, Englewood Cliffs.Google Scholar
Lightbourne, R. E. & Singh, S. (1982) Fertility, union status and partners in the WFS Guyana and Jamaica surveys, 1975–1976. Popul. Stud. 36, 201.Google ScholarPubMed
Nobbe, C. E., Ebanks, G. E. & George, P. M. (1976) A re-exploration of the relationship between types of sexual unions and fertility: the Barbadian case. J. Comp. Fam. Stud. 2, 295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ram, B. & Ebanks, G. E. (1973) Stability of unions and fertility in Barbados. Sociol Biol. 20, 143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, G. W. (1975) Fertility and Mating in Four West Indian Populations. Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of West Indies, Kingston.Google Scholar
Stycos, J. M. & Back, K. W. (1964) The Control of Human Fertility in Jamaica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.Google Scholar