Research in Causes of Variations in Fertility

Recent Research Findings. A survey of population research in this country shows that certain social indices are significantly correlated with fertility rates. The more frequently studied relations may be briefly stated as follows: i. There is a relation between fertility rates and the degree of urbanization of a given population.1 2. There is a relation between fertility rates and position in the social-economic scale as indexed by income and occupational status.2 This of course must be immediately qualified by stating that the relation is probably not linear. There is some evidence that the sub-dependent groups, the negative elite have a low fertility rate;3 that the white collar clerical class has a lower fertility than classes below and above them in the scale;4 and that the very high status groups have higher birth rates than the classes just below them.5 Moreover, in some of the European countries there appears to be some tendency for the relation to reverse itself and for the lower social-economic groups to be less fertile than the upper groups.' However, in this country the general relation of higher fertility in the lower social-economic groups and lower fertility in the upper groups holds true for the present.7 3. Closely related to the findings with respect to social-economic status is the fact that occupational rank is negatively related to fertility rates.8 4. Another frequently cited relation which seems closely connected with

Developmental psychology · Fertility · Population · Sociology · Demography · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Social Psychology

• Freud and American Sociology, 1909-1949

  Open Access•Robert A Jones•Journal of the History of the…•1974

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