The Contribution of Sociodemographic Changes to the Childlessness Trend in Brazil

Victor Leocádio
Ana Paula Verona, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Adriana Miranda-Ribeiro, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

In Brazil, 13.5% of the cohort of women born between 1966-1970 ended the reproductive life without children. This percentage represents an increase of almost 50% if compared to the 1942-1946 cohort. Given this context, the aim of this study is to decompose the effects of rates and composition components in the explanation of the increase of childlessness in Brazil. In order to reach this proposed aim, this work uses decomposition based on logistic regression. Analyzing components in aggregate form, it is observed that both components contribute to the increasing trend, with a slight advantage for changes in reproductive behavior. Examining specifically the contributions of each of the categories of the variables, it is observed that the increase in childlessness is attributable mainly to two changes: composition of women with elementary incomplete; and reproductive behavior of women who have ever lived with spouses.

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 Presented in Session 1. Fertility, Family Planning, Sexual Behavior, & Reproductive Health 1