Income inequality and increasing dispersion of the transition to First Birthin the Global South
Castro-Torres, Andrés F. (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)
Batyra, Ewa (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)
Myrskylä, Mikko (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	The relationship between levels of social and economic inequality and demographic changes remains poorly documented, particularly for fertility. Covering a period from 1986 to 2018, this paper documents a positive country-level association between in-come inequality and the dispersion of first birth schedules among women from 88countries of the Global South. This association is driven by a dual dynamic of the de-creasing mean age at first birth among a shrinking group of women who transition to motherhood early, and the increasing mean age at first birth and rising heterogeneity in the timing of childbearing among a group of first birth delayers. We show that this association is strongest in countries where the total fertility rate is below 2. 5 children per woman. We argue that differential opportunities for accessing quality education, formal labor markets, and migration are potential drivers of the rising heterogeneity in the ages at which women transition to childbearing. These results highlight the importance of examining societal and demographic processes jointly and clearly indicate that more and better-quality data on social and economic inequality are needed.
Note:	Altres ajuts: National Science Foundation (1729185) ; Strategic Research Council (SRC) ; FLUX consortium (345130 i 345131)
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Population and development review, Vol. 48 Núm. 1 (2022) , p. 189-215, ISSN 1728-4457

DOI: 10.1111/padr.12451

28 p, 2.6 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles