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The impact of female education and other selected variables on fertility in Jamaica
- Author(s):
- Whittaker, L V
- Title(s):
- The impact of female education and other selected variables on fertility in Jamaica / L.V. Whittaker.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Publisher:
- Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa., United States, 1980.
- Description:
- 124 p.
-
Language:
- English
- Summary:
- Studies on fertility in Jamaica have been aimed primarily at exploring contraceptive knowlege and practices among females of childbearing age. A decline in fertility in several developing countries at least suggests that certain factors may have contributed to the decline which, up to this time, have not been explored in Jamaica. The purpose of this study was to investigate empirically the relationships between fertility and educational attainment, child mortality, and the desire for additional children, as a basis for home economics policy making and program implementation in Jamaica. Data analysis was based on 2765 females in rural and urban areas between ages 15-49. Females who were not attending school fulltime and had been involved in at least 1 union at the time the survey was conducted were eligible. Respondents were interviewed by a qualified staff drawn from a pool of permanent enumerators employed in the Dept. of Statistics. The study design followed a 2-stage sampling process. The 1st stage was a stratified selection of geographic areas followed by a 2nd stage with an unstratified sample of household dwellings within the selected areas. The design resulted in an overall sampling fraction of 1%. The questionnaire used in the study was developed for the World Fertility Survey and adapted to the Jamaican conditions. The main analytical technique was a multiple regression analysis to determine the association between the criterion variable and predictor variables. Intermediate variables were used to establish the kind of relationships that exist between criterion and predictor variables. Tests for statistical significance were carried out by means of F ratio. Correlation coefficient was used to establish an association between predictor variables and the criterion variable using the Pearson Product-Moment Model. The hypothesis regarding an inverse relationship between education and fertility was supported. Education proves to be significant in explaining variations in numbers of children ever born both at the 5% and 1% levels. The coefficient of multiple determination explains 45% (R <2> =0.45) of the variation in the number of children born. According to the findings, married women had the highest number of children born, followed by common-law unions and visiting relationships. Among married women, the largest mean number of children born was found among women who entered a union before age 15. Union status emerged as being a statistically significant contributor. The findings pertaining to religious affiliation showed Catholic women to have the lowest mean number of children ever born. The 2 largest religious groups, Baptists and Anglicans, tended toward higher means in almost all levels of educational attainment. Only 1/2 of the females in the sample expressed religious preferences. A strong correlation was observed between the mean number of children ever born and age of females as well as between the age at 1st entry into a union and the number of births. The tendency is for the number of children ever born to increase as age increases. Also observed was a strong correlation between union status and desire for additional children. The estimated correlation coefficient between child mortality and children ever born supports the stated hypothesis. Within each age group, women who experienced child death had consistently higher fertility. Moreover, the greater the number of deaths, the higher the number of children ever born. Also, differences in the mean number of children born according to child deaths were quite distinct when women in the younger age groups were compared to older women.
- MeSH:
- Americas
Attitude*
Caribbean Region
Educational Status*
Family Characteristics*
Fertility*
Infant Mortality*
Jamaica
Marriage*
Mortality*
North America
Nuclear Family*
Population Dynamics*
Public Policy*
Religion*
Social Change*
Social Welfare*
- Publication Type(s):
- Academic Dissertation
- Report Number:
- 0020151
010764
- Other ID:
- (DNLM)00113350
- NLM ID:
- 101011885 [Book]