Fertility Behavior Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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At the root of population growth, decline, and change lies the behavior of real women and men, making personal life decisions that reflect their socioeconomic circumstances, culture and religion. These choices, which regulate reproduction and childbearing, are together known as fertility behavior.

The concept of fertility behavior is among the oldest in social sciences, and its study, which began in the 18th century, explores it in relation to sociology, demographics, and population sustainability. Among the relevant factors are biology, behavior, society, economics, environment, religion, age, marital status, contraceptives, and family planning approaches. An example of how these elements are studied is the report made by Neeru Gupta and Iuri da Costa Leite, who found that residence and community were an important influence on fertility behavior.

Since many couples choose to have only two children, the idea of a possible third birth has become an issue in various contexts. Depending on cultural and religious traditions, couples may assign a special importance to the third birth, such as hoping for a particular gender. In some cultures, couple desire one child of each sex, whereas in other cultures, such as India or Egypt, couples prefer sons. In rural regions of China, couples who have a daughter first will be more likely to give her up for adoption, in the hope of having a male as for a second birth.

A fairly new phenomenon since the 1970s in Europe is women having their first child at age 35 or older. In France, which has the second highest birth rate in Europe (after Ireland), the number of French women having their first child beyond 40 years has doubled between 1962 and 2004, from 8 percent to 16 percent.

Related to the study of fertility behavior are the issues of infertility and celibacy. American sociologists Peter Bearman and Hannah Bruckner have studied the phenomena of virginity pledges in the United States, which is often tied into teenager’s identity decisions. The issue of infertility is so heartbreaking that it has been portrayed as far back as the silent era of moviemaking (G. W. Pabst’s Secrets of a Soul in 1926), and continues into modern filmmaking (Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986).

Bibliography:

William Axinn and Scott T. Yabiku, “Social Change, the Social Organization of Families, and Fertility Limitation,” American Journal of Sociology (v. 106/5, 2001);
Peter Bearman and Hannah Bruckner, “Promising the Future: Virginity Pledges and First Intercourse,” American Journal of Sociology (v. 106/4, 2001);
Ann Berrington, “Perpetual Postponers? Women’s, Men’s and Couple’s Fertility Intentions and Subsequent Fertility Behavior,” Population Trends (v.117, 2004);
Dirgha Ghimire and Paul Mohai, Environmentalism and Contraceptive Use: How People in Less Developed Settings Approach Environmental Issues, Population and Environment (v. 27/1, 2005);
Hari Mohan Mathur, “Social and Cultural Influences on Fertility Behavior,” in The Family Welfare Programme in India (Vikas Publishing, 1995);
Simon Szreter, Fertility, Class and Gender in Britain 1860-1940 (Cambridge University Press, 2002);
Daniele Vignoli, “Fertility Change in Egypt from Second to Third Birth,” Demographic Research (v.15, 2006).