Gigi Santow

Economic Independence and Union Formation in Sweden

Although sociologists, demographers, and economists are generally agreed that economic independence enhances the likelihood that men will marry, there is disagreement concerning its effect on women. The view that economic independence weakens womens incentive to marry has probably been the most influential, although it has been subjected to few rigorous empirical tests with individual-level data. In the present paper we examine the predictors of forming a first cohabiting union, of progressing from this union to marriage, and of marrying without previously cohabiting by applying hazard regression to event-history data from the 1992 Swedish Family Survey, supplemented by earnings data extracted from the national taxation register. We test a battery of measures that reflect peoples past, current, and potential attachment to the labour market. We find that the correlates of union formation for women are largely indistinguishable from the correlates of union formation for men, and that far from being less l...

Social roles and physical health: The case of female disadvantage in poor countries

Womens culturally and socially determined roles greatly impair their health and that of their children through a complex web of physiological and behavioural interrelationships and synergies that pervade every aspect of their lives. Womens roles also affect their use of health services since modern health care has been absorbed so successfully into traditional structures that families tend to allocate it, like food, according to characteristics such as sex and age. Change may be occurring through the agency of female education and a redefinition of familial relationships, both of which operate to improve womens position, and hence their health. Health services could perhaps accelerate the process by revising their view of women as the natural guardians of their familys health, and by drawing other family members, and particularly husbands, into their orbit.

Coitus Interruptus in the Twentieth Century

Most demographers give scant attention to coitus interruptus as a viable method of contraception. This likely results from a combination of factors. Most demographers live in countries where withdrawal is not widely practiced. A wide variety of more efficient and more easily employed methods now exists with modern methods tending to be female-initiated. Withdrawal is also neither unintrusive easy to use nor coitus-independent. Withdrawal however played a major role in bringing about the historical declines of fertility in the West. The author therefore reviews the course of coitus interruptus throughout the 20th century in Europe North America and Australia where marital fertility declines were initiated devoid of contraceptive-related technological innovation. The methods gradual decline during the latter half of the century is charted with intercountry differences highlighted. The method has tended to persist in southern Europe. This would suggest that the nontechnologically-dependent method is practiced due to individual preference for the method and not because of a lack of alternative methods. The availability of alternatives is both a technical and cultural condition. The author finally reaches some conclusions about the nature of withdrawal predicts its future course and makes broader inferences about the nature of contraceptive acceptability.

Correlates of hysterectomy in Australia

With around one in five women undergoing hysterectomy by the age of 50, the prevalence of hysterectomy in Australia is greater than in Europe but less than in the United States. In this paper, data from a nationally representative sample survey of 2547 Australian women aged 20-59 years are employed to identify correlates of hysterectomy and tubal sterilization over the last 30 years. Physiological, socio-economic and supply-side factors all influence the propensity to undergo hysterectomy, and a comparison with the correlates of tubal sterilization reveals parallels and contrasts between the determinants of the two operations. Age and parity are important predictors of hysterectomy. In addition, use of oral contraceptives for at least five years reduces the risk of hysterectomy, as do tubal sterilization, tertiary education and birthplace in Southern Europe. Conversely, risk increases after experiencing side effects with the IUD or repeated foetal losses, or after bearing a third child before the age of 25.

Trends in Contraception and Sterilization in Australia

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The purpose of this comment is to encourage readers to give this paper the close attention it deserves ‐ the summary is too modest, and the important information in the tables may be overlooked if readers do not study them in conjunction with the text. It is noteworthy that of women aged 40–44 years in 1986, 35% had had a tubal ligation, another 11% had had a hysterectomy and a further 16% of these women had partners who had undergone vasectomy. In these data, which were collected in 1986, the condom made a miserable showing as a contraceptive, but as noted by the author ‘this is not to say that coitus‐related methods may not gain some support if the motivation for their use is not entirely contraceptive ‐ sexually transmitted diseases in general and AIDS in particular’. Enquiry of the manufacturers surprised the editor by revealing that total sales of condoms in Australia (2 per person per year or 34 million per year) have increased only about 50% in the last 10 years. This is in accord with the data in this paper and indicates that there has been little change since 1986.

Reassessing the Contraceptive Effect of Breastfeeding

Much of the recent demographic interest in the proximate determinants of fertility focuses on the link between breastfeeding and post partum amenorrhoea. Most analyses are based on a causal model, which may be assumed implicitly, and in which the duration of amenorrhoea is determined by the duration of breastfeeding. In the present paper objections to this approach are raised, because an extremely important cause of weaning is a new pregnancy, and hence the direction of causation may be from amenorrhoea to breastfeeding. Analyses performed on prospective Javanese data illustrate how the breastfeeding/amenorrhoea relation can be complicated both by this mechanism, and by factors related to the composition of the population and to sexual abstinence. As the Javanese experience is not unique there are wider implications for demographic research on the spacing of births.

Mortality of Wild and Captive Chimpanzees

Mortality of chimpanzees in the wild (Gombe National Park) and in captivity (Taronga Zoo, Sydney and Melbourne Zoo) was compared using standard cohort life table techniques. Overall mortality probabilities up to age 30 were compared using a logrank test. No significant difference in overall mortality was revealed, and the mortality curves did appear to be surprisingly similar, but there were nevertheless some differences in the distribution of mortality. Perinatal mortality was higher in the zoo, while post-perinatal and infant mortality were higher in the wild. Survivorship in the older zoo animals (over age 27) was better than the wild. These differences were attributed to the more sheltered zoo environment, including the availability of veterinary care, which could be expected to improve survival in infants and older adults. The higher perinatal mortality experienced by zoo infants could be reflecting higher levels of inbreeding among the zoo animals.

Child death and time to the next birth in Central Java

Summary Data from a two-year prospective study conducted in a rural area of Central Java are used to examine determinants of child mortality and fertility and the relation between the two. Maternal age and birth order were significant determinants of child mortality. While child mortality in turn strongly influenced the timing of the next birth, there is no evidence that the death of a child affected fertility through any but a physiological mechanism. In addition, the better educated have started to abandon traditional birth-spacing practices, and as a result were spacing their children more closely together than more traditional women.

Premature discontinuation of contraception in Australia.

Life-history data from a nationally representative survey of Australian women were used to examine discontinuation of contraceptive methods because of accidental pregnancy, side effects or dissatisfaction. The pill was the most successfully used method, with a first-year discontinuation rate of 10% for all three reasons. Side effects dominated the reasons for the premature discontinuation of both the pill and the IUD, while the reasons for discontinuing the condom stemmed equally from pregnancy and dissatisfaction with the method. Discontinuation of the diaphragm resulted largely from accidental pregnancy. Hazards models were used to identify the correlates of discontinuation of each method. Predictors of premature discontinuation reflect the availability of methods, physiological reactions to them and the social characteristics of their users. Discontinuation of the pill because of side effects or dissatisfaction was more likely among poorly educated women, non-Protestants and recent users, and less likely among teenagers. Discontinuation of the IUD was related entirely to physiological factors: Nulliparous women and users of unmedicated devices were at a greater risk than other women of accidental pregnancy, and nulliparous women were at greater risk of discontinuation associated with side effects. Nulliparous women were also more likely to discontinue the condom because of pregnancy, as were non-Protestants and the Australian-born.

Fertility desires and fertility outcomes.

Over the last 30 years Australian fertility rates have fallen more than could have been predicted from changes in the numbers of children desired by women when they first married. This paper charts changes in desired and completed fertility in Australia, matches originally desired fertility with that ultimately achieved and explores some factors which may affect the relation between fertility desires and fertility outcomes.