The Age of Women at Completion of Childbearing

The proportions of mothers completing their childbearing by various ages were calculated for different groups with different religions and countries of birth within the Australian population using data from the Census of 1971. A mother was assumed to have completed childbearing if she had not borne an additional child for at least nine years. The oldest ages at birth of the last child are found among mothers born in the Netherlands; the youngest, among those born in Yugoslavia or Greece. There is also a consistent and marked difference by religion: Catholic mothers complete childbearing at a generally later age than do non-Catholics. The Catholic/non-Catholic difference is very slight among those born in Germany, but quite marked among those born in Australia, Britain, and the Netherlands. Age at completion of childbearing varies directly with age at marriage (controlling for parity), but, in general, is determined mostly by the number of births. However, spacing appears to be an important element in certain groups. In some instances this derives from an interruption of childbearing following immigration; in others, from the differential exercise of control over births

Birth control · Birth rate · Birth records · Birth weight · Census · Developed country · Family planning · Fertility · Geography · Immigration · Parity (physics) · Place of birth · Population · Pregnancy · Research methodology · Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving

• Life Course Alternatives

  Open Access•Carl F Grindstaff, T R Balakrishnan et al.•The Canadian Journal of Sociology•1989

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  Open Access•C M Suchindran, Chirayath Suchindran et al.•Demography•1992

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