Miguel Requena

The mid-twentieth century fertility boom from a global perspective

During the central decades of the twentieth century there is ample though often indirect evidence that a significant rise in fertility took place in much of the world. In some countries with historic demographic transitions this trend change has been called the baby boom. Elsewhere it has often been called the demographic explosion. Seldom has it been addressed from a global perspective. The main goal of this paper is to study these shifts comparatively, assessing the extent to which the timing and the mechanisms behind increasing fertility were or were not shared by different areas of the world. The paper provides a detailed description of fertility trends in 13 countries from four continents, based on a cohort approach to fertility and making use of data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, International (IPUMS-I). Our analysis shows that, with some exceptions, increasing fertility was a global demographic phenomenon, although there are important variations in terms of intensity, timing, and duration.

How level is the Playing Field? Divided Families Among Latin American Immigrants in Spain

International migratory movements tend to produce the reality of divided families that are located in at least two different places. The literature on divided or transnational families and family r ...International migratory movements tend to produce the reality of divided families that are located in at least two different places. The literature on divided or transnational families and family reunification movements has shown how the socio-demographic determinants in origin and the socio-economic and institutional factors in destination drive these processes. Assuming that migratory movements are the result to a large extent of specifically familial dynamics and strategies, in this paper we are interested in exploring whether other elements associated to the country of origin and to the relationship between country of origin and country of destination have a discernible influence on the family results of migration and, specifically, on the separation and subsequent reunification of the immigrant families. This complex set of elements builds on the playing field where migratory decisions are taken. The Spanish case, characterized by a sudden explosion of international immigration between 2000 and 2007 and significant numbers of Latin American migrants arriving during these years, is a particularly suitable scenario to investigate this phenomenon. The empirical analysis will be mainly based on the National Immigrant Survey of Spain (2007).

Secularization in Poland and Spain after the democratic transition: A cohort analysis

The objective of this article is to determine the extent to which the evolution of religiosity in Spain and Poland in their post-democratic transition periods has been affected by the process of generational replacement. For Spain data are drawn from several surveys carried out by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Studies (CIS) between 1980 and 1996. For Poland the data come from the Polish General Social Survey and ISSP covering 1992–2008. Results show two radically different patterns of religious change. The fall in religious practice in Spain observed throughout the first 16 years after the political transition was due mostly to the inter-cohort change that affects each new generation born after 1950. In the case of Poland, post-transition change is less marked and due mainly to decline in religious practice on the individual level. The study also observes that the cohorts of Poles born during and after the fall of communism are significantly less religious than older cohorts.

WAS THERE A MID-20TH CENTURY FERTILITY BOOM IN LATIN AMERICA?

The historic process of fertility decline was interrupted during the central decades of the 20 th century with an unexpected period of increasing fertility that has been called the baby boom. Normally it is considered a phenomenon exclusive to countries participating in the historic demographic transition. A recent study suggests that a similar trend change in fertility may have also taken place in a few developing nations at approximately the same time and with similar characteristics to the fertility boom in the developed world. The main goal of this paper is to examine the extent to which these trend changes took place in Latin America and whether or not their characteristics were similar to those holding in the developed world.

Elderly women living alone in Spain: the importance of having children

Our goal in this paper is to analyse the extent to which completed fertility, and in particular childlessness, is a valid predictor of living alone at advanced ages, an increasingly important residential option in advanced societies with crucial implications for social policy design and the organization of welfare services. Based on micro-data from the 2011 Spanish population census, logistic regression techniques are used to assess the impact of fertility on living alone among elderly women net the effect of age, marital status, educational attainment, and other standard population controls. Our results show a clear relationship between completed fertility and living alone. Childlessness is strongly associated with living alone, while having offspring acts as a powerful buffer against living alone, particularly in larger families. A relevant conclusion of this study is that a growing deficit of family resources available for the elderly women will take place in those societies where low fertility and high rates of childlessness have prevailed in recent decades, leading to substantial growth in the number of childless elderly women and in the incidence of living alone during later life.

Religiosity and politics in Spain and Poland: A period effect analysis

The aim of this study is to compare how the Catholic Church’s involvement in politics under authoritarian rule in Spain and Poland impacted on religiosity in those countries after the transition to democracy. The Catholic Church was a key political actor during the Franco regime in Spain and communist rule in Poland. However, the nature of its political involvement in each case was quite different: while in Spain the Catholic Church legitimized the Franco regime, in Poland it was one of the main actors opposing communist rule. The authors use data from the Polish General Social Survey covering 1991–2008 and several surveys carried out by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Studies (CIS) between 1975 and 1995. Results confirm that the political involvement of the Catholic Church had different impacts on subsequent religious practice in each country. In Spain secularization was especially intense during the political transition in the late 1970s, while in Poland after the 1990s there was only a moderate shift toward secularization.

Expected Lifetime in Different Employment Statuses: Evidence From the Economic Boom-and-Bust Cycle in Spain

This article analyses the impact of the recent economic crisis on the expected time spent in different employment statuses in Spain. Using data from the Economically Active Population Survey and life tables, we estimate the expected time in work, unemployment, retirement, and other types of economic inactivity during the economic boom-and-bust cycle. Differences in expected years of life spent in different employment statuses are decomposed into effects of mortality and employment behavior. Our results show that men’s working life expectancy is much more exposed to economic fluctuations. The impact of the ebbs and flows of the business cycle among women is mitigated by the long-term female trend of growing participation in the labor market associated with the increasing educational attainment of women. In addition, the improvement in mortality only partially contributes to gains in time spent in each status, while the main effects correspond to changes in labor market participation.

Seeding the gender revolution: Women’s education and cohort fertility among the baby boom generations

In Europe and the United States, women’s educational attainment started to increase around the middle of the twentieth century. The expected implication was fertility decline and postponement, whereas in fact the opposite occurred. We analyse trends in the quantum of cohort fertility among the baby boom generations in 15 countries and how these relate to women’s education. Over the 1901–45 cohorts, the proportion of parents with exactly two children rose steadily and homogeneity in family sizes increased. Progression to a third child and beyond declined in all the countries, continuing the ongoing trends of the fertility transition. In countries with a baby boom, and especially among women with post-primary education, this was compensated for by decreasing childlessness and increasing progression to a second child. These changes, linked to earlier stages of the fertility transition, laid the foundations for later fertility patterns associated with the gender revolution.