Fertility transition in Brazil in the twentieth century: A comparative study of three areas.

The thesis discusses the main issues of demographic transition theory and uses this in a comparative analysis of fertility movements in three socio-economically different Brazilian regions over the twentieth century. The regions are the Northeast and the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The analysis points to a clear movement towards smaller family sizes in all regions. The movement started early in the twentieth century (or before) among white women living in Rio de Janeiro. These women were probably the better off. This behaviour was followed by white Sao Paulo women after about two decades and by the 1980s had reached most women independently of socio-economic status. The diffusion of the value of a small family and the legitimatization of contraception as well as some adjustment to mortality decline seem to have played an important role in this process. Although fertility declined in all regions, a single pattern of fertility change, as delineated by the classical view of demographic transition theory, was not found. Fertility rates were always in movement, declining and increasing. The strategy used for the decline was, mostly, an earlier stopping of reproduction. However, later onset and longer spacing also became important, especially at a more advanced stage of the fertility decline. A clear and single association between socio-economic variables and family size was not observed. Each variable played a somewhat different role in the reproductive behaviour of the three societies. Mass communication contributed to the diffusion of the small family size value. The process of diffusion resulted in a separation of socioeconomic and intermediate variables. This points to the existence of a component of social pressure in the fertility decline. Indications of a continuation of fertility decline in the near future are present. However, hints of a convergence in fertility rates and their stabilization at replacement level were not found. Fertility rates may reach levels below replacement in Rio and Sao Paulo. Regional fertility differences are likely to continue. This suggests the presence of regional and individual preferences in the reproduction process or conscious choice along with some degree of institutional pressure

Cape verdean women's fertility - West Africa

Os níveis de fecundidade de um país fazem parte de um elenco de indicadores que orientam na formulação de políticas públicas, face à redução do volume da população e do seu envelhecimento. O aumento da fecundidade pode indicar falta de acesso da população a informações e serviços de saúde reprodutiva. Assim, o objetivo é analisar a fecundidade das mulheres cabo-verdianas e a contribuição de determinantes próximos da fecundidade. Realizou-se a análise e a mensuração do comportamento da fecundidade das mulheres a partir de métodos indiretos de estimação da fecundidade com base nos dados dos censos. A análise dos determinantes próximos da fecundidade é baseado no DHS (Pesquisa sobre Saúde e Demografia - 1998). Os dados mostraram uma redução de 1,7, 1,5 e 1,6 filhos por mulher no final do período reprodutivo, de acordo com os três métodos (Brass, Arriaga e Gompertz) entre 1990 e 2000. As taxas foram mais altas para as mulheres das áreas rurais. A fecundidade vem diminuindo no país e com ocorrência mais precoce. O uso de contraceptivos foi o determinante de maior relevância no processo de declínio de fecundidade das mulheres de Cabo Verde, África.A country's fertility levels are part of a list of indicators that guide the formulation of public policies, in view of population reduction and population aging. An increase in fertility may indicate the population's lack of access to reproductive health information and services. Therefore, our aim is to analyze Cape Verdean women's fertility and the contribution of proximal determinants of fertility. The analysis and measurement of the behavior of the women's fertility were performed through indirect methods of fertility estimation based on census data. The analysis of the parameters near fertility was based on DHS (1998). The data showed a reduction of 1.7, 1.5 and 1.6 children per woman at the end of the reproductive period according to the three methods (Brass, Arriaga and Gompertz) between 1990 and 2000. Rates were higher for women who lived in rural areas. Fertility has been decreasing in the country and the use of contraceptives was the most relevant parameter regarding the fertility decline process of women from Cape Verde, Africa

Caminhos para a vida adulta: as multiplas trajetorias dos jovens brasileiro

El trabajo discute la definición de joven, enfocando las juventudes en Brasil en relación con las formas de transición a la vida adulta, analizando las dimensiones de la escuela, el trabajo y la familia. El análisis se basó en los datos de las Encuestas Nacionales por Muestra de Domicilios (pnad) del Instituto Brasileño de Geografía y Estadísticas (ibge), de 1982 y 2002. Se procuró explorar las variadas formas de transición a la vida adulta entre los jóvenes que se independizaron, saliendo de la casa de los padres en la condición de jefes de hogar y cónyuges, y entre los que permanecen en la condición de hijos y otros parientes. Los resultados enfatizan una multiplicidad de situaciones en que la transición puede ocurrir. Se sugiere que los procesos son marcados por trayectorias no lineales de las fases de vida, pudiendo, por ejemplo, los hijos abandonar el hogar paterno antes de casarse, o casarse antes de la inserción en el mercado de trabajo, y así por delante. En la misma dirección, se considera que esa transición puede ocurrir en nuevos arreglos familiares que no pasen necesariamente por la salida de la casa paterna. No fue posible concluir en el trabajo, en función de la insuficiencia de los datos, si los procesos son o no reversibles en el tiempo, pero se consideró que las etapas del proceso de transición llevan posibilidades de reversión

Envelhecimento populacional, gratuidades no transporte público e seus efeitos sobre as tarifas na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo

ResumoNo Brasil, estudantes, crianças de até quatro anos de idade e idosos com 65 anos ou mais têm direito a descontos parciais ou totais em viagens urbanas nos sistemas de transporte público. Esses descontos não são cobertos por fundos públicos, mas sim por subsídio cruzado cobrado dos demais usuários que pagam a tarifa cheia. Neste estudo, são estimados os efeitos do envelhecimento populacional sobre o preço das passagens do transporte público nas próximas quatro décadas na Região Metropolitana de São de Paulo (RMSP), a maior região metropolitana do país. As análises são baseadas nos dados da Pesquisa Origem-Destino, realizada em 2007 na RMSP, e nas projeções demográficas elaboradas pelo IBGE e pela Fundação Seade para 2020, 2030 e 2050. Considerando os diferentes períodos de projeção populacional, adaptou-se a técnica de padronização direta para simular as mudanças esperadas na composição das viagens do sistema de transporte, em termos de passageiros pagantes e não pagantes. Os resultados indicam que, no curto prazo (2020), o envelhecimento populacional estimado para ocorrer na RMSP teria efeito modesto sobre o número total e a composição etária das viagens realizadas no transporte público da região. No médio e longo prazos, contudo, o crescimento previsto na proporção de passageiros com gratuidades poderia ocasionar aumento no sobrepreço da tarifa, com elevação de seu valor em cerca de 10% e de 20%, caso seja mantido o mecanismo de subsídios cruzados

Intergenerational Coresidence in Developing Countries

Newly available census microdata from IPUMS-International are used to assess trends in intergenerational coresidence in 15 developing countries. Contrary to expectations, we find no general decline in intergenerational coresidence over the past several decades. There have been, however, significant changes in the "configuration" of intergenerational coresidence. Families in which a member of the older generation is household head-a configuration consistent with traditional patriarchal forms in which the older generation retains authority-are becoming more common in most of the countries. Intergenerational families headed by a member of the younger generation-the configuration one would expect if intergenerational coresidence were motivated by a need for old-age support-are on the decline in most of the countries. Multivariate analysis reveals that intergenerational families headed by the older generation are positively associated with measures of economic development. These findings are at variance with widely accepted social theory. We hypothesize that housing shortages, economic stress in the younger generation, and old-age pensions may contribute to the change. More broadly, in some developing countries rising incomes may have allowed more people to achieve their preferred family structure of intergenerational coresidence following traditional family forms. Copyright (c) 2008 The Population Council, Inc..