SOC FINAL EXAM

fertility

fertility

referring to the # of children born to women (esp population 15-49)

fecundity

biological capacity to reproduce (physically able to have children)

• men are fecund longer

fecund period - menarche - menopause

stages of fecundity

maximum fertility

16 children/women

• opportunity costs (what women give up when they have children, esp that many)

• employment (developed countries have a higher status of women~can delay fertility)

• education

• nutrition

• mental health/safety of children and parents

Why do societies not come close to 16 kids?

natural fertility

rate of reproduction you would expect without any intervention or limitations

family control

limit family size after birth via infanticide (killing), fosterage, orphanage

proximate determinants of fertility

• intercourse variables

• conception variables

• gestation variables

intercourse variables

a proximate determinants of fertility

form/dissolutions of sexual unions

• age of 1st sexual union

• permanent celibacy (religious reasons)

• time spent outside sexual unions (married, divorced, single, remarried)

exposure to intercourse within the union

• voluntary abstinence

• involuntary abstinence

• sexual frequency

conception variables (exposure to concepetion)

a proximate determinants of fertility

• involuntary infecundity (unable to have children)

• voluntary infecundity (tubes tied, vasectomy)

• contraceptive use/non-use~ blends into access and information/knowledge

gestation variables

a proximate determinants of fertility

miscarriage and abortion

fertility, mortality, migration

3 population processes

utility of framework

assess contribution of any factor to change a nation’s overall fertility

ex: estimate abortion rates (before/after policy change)

fertility intentions

predict short term fertility - not helpful for long term fertility

• cultural shifts/policy changes

• fertility decisions made 1 child at a time

baseline (survey)

1. want or not want a kid

baseline (survey) fertility

1. want or not want a kid

   1. want, not have

   2. want, have

   3. not want, not have

   4. not want, have

parity progression ratio

fraction of people going from x kids to x+1 kids

• expenses/income / cost whether physical or opportunity

  • dual income

• lifestyle

• education - postponing, stage of life course

fertility transition

shift from high fertility rate char by only minimal individual deliberate control, to low fertility entirely under a woman’s control

• delay in childbearing to older ages and typically an earlier end to childbearing

• to control fertility does not mean to limit it

• understand why fertility has been so high in human history

• define concepts related to human reproduction, review (global) measurements

Why, when, and how does fertility decline from high to low levels?

menarche

the onset of menstruation, usually occurring in early teens

menopause

the end of menstruation

• emotional fulfillment

• religious reasons (“be fertile and multiply”)

• circumstances (unintended preg)

• be above replacement level

• elder care / retirement

Why do people want kids?

social factors and fertility

• women status

• income, wealth

• education

critiques of the economic model

1. jointness of demand

2. complexity of child services

critiques of the economic model - jointness of demand

demand for kids is coupled with demand for sex; people have sex despite whether they want them

critiques of the economic model - complexity of child services

hard to identify what the value of a child is

• consumption unity (psych benefits, enjoy being a parent)

• labor productivity

• old age security

• survival

• cultural norm

• security/labor

• son preference

why fertility is so high

mixed composition

idea based on this curvlinear relationship that people want to have a male and a female

stage 1 to go to stage 3

1. acceptance of calculated choice

2. perceive advantage of lower fertility

3. knowledge/mastery of effective technique control

ansley coale

identified what has to be there for substantial fertility decline, does not have to be accompanied by mortality decline

acceptance of calculated choice

religion (an obstacle): contracpetives interfere with the gods

low status of women: patriarchy, multiple marriages~don’t decide when to have sex/can’t say no

perceive advantage of lower fertility

economic stability, position in social structure-have to decide how many kids fi in

knowledge/mastery of effective technique control

to reduce level of fertility

not everyone has ability to get contraceptives (birth control, condoms) - more educated tend know how to effectively use

cultural barriers make it less acceptable

Bangladesh

do arranged marriages

women = low status, high fertility rates

Grameen Bank

microcredit program; women can join, female participation in the program is positively correlated with female empowerment —> lead to contraceptive use —> traveled to the village and spread to other women

leads to lower fertility

modernization and secularization

cultural diffusion Grameen Bank

women who live in the village eventually began using contraceptives, even though they don’t feel the same levels of empowerment

unmet need - fertility

women have desire to space, delay, or limit births but do not have the means available

depend on countries structure (religious, women status)

Thomas Theorem

if you perceive something to be real, it’s real in its consequences

• social construction of reality (norms, values, structure)

• if you experience certain norms in the life course, they’re not necessarily aware of outside ideas

• job availability

• age structure

• education

• language

• politics/polarization

why would people move to specific countries

random

migration is not

network theory - migration

people around you can help you get adjusted (find job, house, etc.)

cumulative causation - migration

even though it doesn’t seem sensible, they will do what everyone else is doing; even if it goes against their rational process

becomes part of culture

nationalists

might not agree with migration in a country

believe migrants live in their country and take their jobs

dot counters experiment

over/under estimater, divided into groups based on nothing

likely to favor those in their in group/those “labeled” like them

migration transition

shift from rural to urban as well as a shift to high levels of international migration

• happens in stage II with rapid population growth

• burn societies of resources (carrying capacity)

migration

any permanent change in residence; a change resulting in a move of entire realms of activity to a certain place

internal migration

within the same country; weaker cultural impact

international migration

between different countries

immigrant

came into a country

emmigrant

moving out of a country

push-pull theory of migration

some people move because they are pushed out of their former location; others move because they have been pulled or attracted to someplace else

migration evolution

current state of migration, with the population largely urban based and people moving between and within urban places

• if motivation to leave is so great

• cost-benefit analysis (ex: safety from a country with war)

why would we expect migration to continue even if countries forbid it?

neoclassical economic approach (migration)

supply-demand framework

economic job is good, worker supply low, wage is high = low migration

economic job is poor, worker supply high, wage is low = high migration

costs involved in migration

• money

• psychological (PTSD, not easy journey)

• leaving family and culture

• chance of survival

new household economics of migration

minimize risk, maximize income

distribute workers

dual labor market theory - migration

structure of economy and employment dictate migration from lower developed countries to developed countries to foll the secondary jobs

primary sectors: high end job that pays a lot (need college degree)

secondary sectors: lower pay jobs, not as prestigious (what migrants come for in this theory)

additional factors of migration

1. transportation

2. communication

3. destination

transportation - migration

• lowers cost involved in living farther away

• planes today

communication - migration

• don’t have to sever communication once you get to place of origin

• advancement

• language barrier

destination - migration

• not always voluntary

• employment transfers-get moved via work (20%)

• moving closer to relatives (pre-determined location)

intervening obstacles in migration

• distance of the expected destination

• cost of getting there

• poor health (ex: Hispanic paradox)

selective, not random

migration is

migration - life cycle

• usually early to mid 20s

• stages of life where people are most likely to migrate

• graduate college, find a job, no kids, easier to move

gender - life cycle

• tide migration

• social/female status: some females may be left behind or forced to migrate by men

  • ^ status women choose to migrate on their own

unmarried - migration

• migrate more than married people

• a single person does not have to rely on someone else

• unmarried could include divorced, widowed, never married, co-habitating

levels of education - migration

• educated people are more likely to migrate than less educated

• make more money and have more resources

net migration rate

# of migrants - # of out migrants

total migration rate

reflection of the total effect of migration

# of in migrants + # of out migrants

migration ratio

proportion of population growth that’s attributable to migration

net # migrants/ # births - #deaths

consequences of migration

• concern of discrimination and social acceptance

  • network theory and enclaves offsets this

• fear of violence

• increase and decrease of population can alter population structure

  • can affect job opportunities

age cohort

group of people born around the same time in history and go through history together

ex: Gen Z, boomer, millenial

post COVID age cohort

educational gap, bad/lazy habits, anxiety

why things might be changing in college admissions for example

Baby Boomers (1946-1964) - social security

• established 1929-1930; gives financial assistance after the age of 65

  • people originally receiving did not live as long as they do today —> also not as many people paying into it

  • going to eventually run out

Baby Boomers (1946-1964) dependency ratio

number of people who are working ages versus those at the dependent age

• working age: 15-64

• dependency age: 0-14 and 65+

sandwich generation

when you take care of your children and parents

staying alive longer and staying alive longer when they’re sick

sex ratio

number of males per 100 females

cohort effect

see differences across age, but these ages went through distinct times in history

ex: you don’t get racist as you get older, it’s the 65+ cohort

age effect

change with chronological age

ex: income

life course perspective

many years to think and imagine what that life stage will look like; when you get there and it’s not what you imagined it can be hard for you to handle

65+ life stage

retirement

retirement effects

• more time for leisure; especially in developed countries

• lonely, especially if widowed

• need a plan

• family focused

• mental aspect: miss working so go out and get part-time jobs

when people retire later

take “our” generations jobs

second route of parenting

in a poor economy, families rely on grandparents to watch their kid

• co-residential or 20+ hours a week

• unexpected, can affect marital quality

marital homogany

marry someone similar to you and has similar beliefs to you

• education (driving factor today)

• religion (1950s)

• race

diversity and change in families

1. blended families (bc of divorce, remarried)

2. separated families

functions of marriage

• sense of stability

• have children and raise them

• socially motivated - get invited to certain things

• normative thing (see other people do it, feel they need to)

age transition

represents a shift over time in the age and sex population in which there are slightly more males than females, to an older population with more females than males

age stratification

the assignment of social roles and social status on the basis of age

ex: getting married, being sexually active, dying, criminal behavior

measuring age structure

calculate a population’s median age: age at which half of the people are above it and half are below

urban transition

represents the reorganization of human society from being predominately rural and agricultural to predominately urban and nonagricultural

urban

function of

1. population size

2. space (land area)

3. economic and social organization

4. ratio of population to space (density/concentration)

urban places

can be thought of as a spatial concentration of people whose lives are organized around nonagricultural activites

social environment

the people whom we interact and share our lives with

built environment

physical buildings and landscapes in which life takes place

social and built environment

urban environment is a combo of

fertility rates are going down:

1. people are having fewer kids, maybe even no kids

2. postponing birth of first child (status of women, career)

3. high divorce rates

family - women status

• more likely to employ contraceptives because they have a say, working towards career/seeking higher education

• postpone fertility, even marriage

  • cohabitation

why would you cohabit?

• scared of commitment

• able to have sex without legal commitment

• trial marriage

• save money

• social pressure

• globally - might not be legal to marry the same sex

why would conception while cohabitating spur marriage for white people?

• history of religion, marriage is important

• child out of wedlock could be seen as disgraceful

• cohabitation is a step towards marriage