Cultural vs. Economic: Re-Visiting the Determinants of Fertility at a Sub-National Level in the U.S, 1990 - 2000
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/ijbsr.v2i6.137Abstract
It is widely accepted that through the past century, and especially since 1950, the world population has grown at an accelerating pace landing the current world's population at about 6.5 billion and, according to UN projections, it is expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050 (Bongaarts 2005). However, this growth is not uniform and tends to vary both regionally and intra-regionally around the world (Bongaarts 1998). There are competing theories as to the true determinants of fertility levels and these identified patterns (Caldwell 2001). The bulk of these theories pit economic determinants versus socio-cultural determinants as the primary indicators concerning the onset of fertility decline. However, most of this work has had an international focus with very few examining sub-national trends in fertility patterns. This paper draws on the work of one study which examined sub-national trends in the U.S. in hopes of better understanding current trends in determining fertility in the U.S. (Cutright 1983). An OLS regression approach is employed allowing for the examination of the two competing theories. Findings suggest that, while both are certainly significant, the role of economic determinants.Downloads
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).