Patterns of Asexuality in the United States

In this paper we use data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to ascertain and analyze patterns of asexuality in the United States. We endeavor to extend the earlier work of Bogaert (2004) on this topic, which focused on patterns of asexuality in Great Britain. Using a social constructionist perspective to study asexuality, we conceptualize and measure the phenomenon in several ways, according to behavior, desire, and self-identification. We use the NSFG respondent sampling weights to produce several sets of unbiased estimates of the percentages of persons in the U.S. population, aged 15-44, who are asexual; each set is based on one or more of the various definitions of asexuality. Finally, we describe some of the characteristics of the asexual population using multinomial logistic regression.self-identification, sexual behavior

Deaths Exceed Births in Most of Europe, But Not in the United States

In this brief, authors Kenneth Johnson, Layton Fields, and Dudley Poston, Jr. present important new findings about the diminishing number of births compared to deaths in Europe and the United States from their recent article in Population and Development Review. Their research focuses on the prevalence and dynamics of natural decrease in subareas of Europe and the United States in the first decade of the twenty-first century using counties (United States) or county-equivalents (Europe). The authors report that 58 percent of the 1,391 counties of Europe had more deaths than births during that period compared to just 28 percent of the 3,137 U.S. counties. Natural decrease is more widespread in Europe because its population is older, fertility rates are lower, and there are fewer women of child-bearing age. Natural decrease is a major policy concern because it drains the demographic resilience from a region, diminishing its economic viability and competitiveness. The implications of the recent European immigrant surge for natural decrease are uncertain, but the authors’ analysis suggests that natural decrease is likely to remain widespread in Europe for the foreseeable future

The Multinomial Regression Modeling of the Cause-of-Death Mortality of the Oldest Old in the U.S.

The statistical modeling of the causes of death of the oldest old (persons aged 80 and over) in the U.S. in 2001 was conducted in this article. Data were analyzed using a multinomial logistic regression model (MNLM) because multiple causes of death are coded on death certificates and the codes are nominal. The percentage distribution of the 10 major causes of death among the oldest old was first examined; we next estimated a multinomial logistic regression equation to predict the likelihood of elders dying of one of the causes of death compared to dying of an “other cause.” The independent variables used in the equation were age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, education, and metropolitan/non-metropolitan residence. Our analysis provides insights into the cause of death structure and dynamics of the oldest old in the U.S., demonstrates that MNLM is an appropriate statistical model when the dependent variable has nominal outcomes, and shows the statistical interpretation for complex results provided by MNLM

Using Zero-inflated Count Regression Models To Estimate The Fertility Of U. S. Women

In the modeling of count variables there is sometimes a preponderance of zero counts. This article concerns the estimation of Poisson regression models (PRM) and negative binomial regression models (NBRM) to predict the average number of children ever born (CEB) to women in the U.S. The PRM and NBRM will often under-predict zeros because they do not consider zero counts of women who are not trying to have children. The fertility of U.S. white and Mexican-origin women show that zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) models perform better in many respects than the Poisson and negative binomial models. Zero-inflated Poisson and negative binomial regression models are statistically appropriate for the modeling of fertility in low fertility populations, especially when there is a preponderance of women in the society with no children

Changchun Children Data Set

The Changchun Children Data-set consists of data on 1,461 children in Changchun schools. The survey was conducted in the urban and rural areas of Changchun, a city in Jilin Province in northeastern China in June and July of 1987. Dudley Poston (Texas A&M University) and Toni Falbo (University of Texas) conducted the survey in collaboration with Liu Yunde, Gu Zhongqing, Wang Shengjin, and Yin Hao, all of them (at the time) demographers at the Population research Institute of Jilin University. The survey contained four parts, with the children's teachers and parents (usually the mothers) each completing two parts. The data-set contains 33 variables for each of the children in the survey. For a detailed statement about the survey see D. Poston and T. Falbo, "Academic performance and personality traits of Chinese Children: 'Onlies' versus Others," American Journal of Sociology 96 (September, 1990), esp. pp. 437-441. The data-set is formatted in Stata, Version 8, accompanied by a codebook

Missing Data and the Statistical Modeling of Adolescent Pregnancy

Missing data is a pervasive problem in social science research. Many techniques have been developed to handle the problem. Different ways of handling missing data were shown to lead to different results in statistical models. A demonstration was given based on statistical modeling of the likelihood of a woman reporting having had an adolescent pregnancy by handling missing data with several different approaches. Results indicate that many of the independent variables in the model vary in whether they are, or are not, statistically significant in predicting the log odds of a woman having a teen pregnancy, and in the ranking of the magnitude of their relative effects on the outcome

Cultural Inheritance and Fertility Outcomes: An Analysis from Evolutionary and Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Taking evolutionary and interdisciplinary perspectives, this study views the reproductive result as an evolutionary outcome that may be affected by parental characteristics through cultural inheritance. We hypothesize that inheriting more cultural traits from parents leads to a greater resemblance between fertility outcomes of the offspring and their parents. In societies that experience a demographic transition, a greater resemblance can be indicated by a higher level of fertility of the offspring and a sooner transition from union formation to childbearing. We operationalize inheriting cultural traits from parents as reporting a religious affiliation the same as those of their parents. Through analyzing data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) Cycle 6, our results show that inheriting the same religious traits from parents does have an effect on one’s fertility. In particular, women who reported the same religious affiliations as those of their parents reported a greater number of children. They tend to have births inside, rather than outside, of marriage. Inside marriage, they are also more likely to give births sooner, rather than later. These findings support our hypotheses and help to build a theoretical framework that explains the changes in fertility outcomes from an interdisciplinary perspective

Voluntary, involuntary and temporary childlessness in the United States

Résumé Cet article étudie la prévalence, les profils ainsi que les modèles d’infécondité aux Etats-Unis. Après une revue de littérature, nous analysons les taux d’infécondité parmi les populations de femmes blanches, noires et hispaniques. Nous en examinons les tendances sur un siècle, de 1910 à 2010. Par la suite, nous utilisons les données du National Survey for Family Growth de 2006-2010 pour déterminer la part d’infécondité volontaire, involontaire et temporaire parmi ces trois groupes de femmes. Une fois cette catégorisation effectuée, nous estimons un modèle de régression logistique multinomial afin de prédire, pour chaque femme, la probabilité d’appartenir à un groupe infécond plutôt qu’à un autre ou encore au groupe des femmes fécondes. Pour conclure, nous discutons certaines implications de nos analyses et prédisons les niveaux et tendances futurs de l’infécondité. Abstract This article focuses on the prevalence, patterns and models of childlessness in the United States. We first review the childlessness literature. We then analyze childlessness rates among White, Black and Hispanic women. We examine childlessness trends for the 100-year period from 1910 to 2010 for the above three groups. Next we use data from the 2006-10 National Survey of Family Growth to examine the degree of voluntary, involuntary, and temporary childlessness among these groups of women. Having categorized the childless women according to their type of childlessness, we then estimate multinomial logistic regression equations predicting the likelihood of a woman being in each of the childlessness groups, versus being in the group of women having children. We conclude by drawing out some of the implications of our analyses and suggest the future prevalence and trends in childlessness

Changchun Children Data Set

The Changchun Children Data-set consists of data on 1,461 children in Changchun schools. The survey was conducted in the urban and rural areas of Changchun, a city in Jilin Province in northeastern China in June and July of 1987. Dudley Poston (Texas A&M University) and Toni Falbo (University of Texas) conducted the survey in collaboration with Liu Yunde, Gu Zhongqing, Wang Shengjin, and Yin Hao, all of them (at the time) demographers at the Population research Institute of Jilin University. The survey contained four parts, with the children's teachers and parents (usually the mothers) each completing two parts. The data-set contains 33 variables for each of the children in the survey. For a detailed statement about the survey see D. Poston and T. Falbo, "Academic performance and personality traits of Chinese Children: 'Onlies' versus Others," American Journal of Sociology 96 (September, 1990), esp. pp. 437-441. The data-set is formatted in Stata, Version 8, accompanied by a codebook