Research indicates that people often end their childbearing years with fewer children than they had expected in young adulthood. However, our understanding of the role of infertility in explaining this discrepancy remains limited. Using data from 10 low‐fertility countries included in the second round of the Generations and Gender Survey, this study examines the correspondence between ideal and actual family size among men and women, as well as the influence of infertility and socioeconomic factors on whether they achieved the number of children they considered ideal for themselves. The results show that up to half of men and women end their reproductive years wishing they had more children. Having experienced infertility stands out as a key predictor of this gap, increasing the likelihood of underachieving one's ideal family size by 17 percent and 26 percent among childless men and women, and by 12 percent and 19 percent among those with one child.
{"title":"Infertility and Unrealized Ideal Family Size","authors":"Ester Lazzari, Eva Beaujouan","doi":"10.1111/padr.70043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70043","url":null,"abstract":"Research indicates that people often end their childbearing years with fewer children than they had expected in young adulthood. However, our understanding of the role of infertility in explaining this discrepancy remains limited. Using data from 10 low‐fertility countries included in the second round of the Generations and Gender Survey, this study examines the correspondence between ideal and actual family size among men and women, as well as the influence of infertility and socioeconomic factors on whether they achieved the number of children they considered ideal for themselves. The results show that up to half of men and women end their reproductive years wishing they had more children. Having experienced infertility stands out as a key predictor of this gap, increasing the likelihood of underachieving one's ideal family size by 17 percent and 26 percent among childless men and women, and by 12 percent and 19 percent among those with one child.","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145955078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
School enrollment has increased in many sub‐Saharan African countries over recent decades, alongside substantial socioeconomic and demographic transitions. However, gains in educational enrollment have not been equal, raising questions about the determinants of access to and variability in school enrollment. The living arrangements of children constitute one possible factor associated with this variability. We leverage 60 census samples, provided by IPUMS International, to analyze links between living arrangements and school enrollment for 24 African countries between 1976 and 2019, and explore how these associations have changed across countries and over time. The results suggest that school enrollment among children aged 7–14 increased in all countries, but variability in enrollment by children's living arrangement persists. Children living in households without both of their parents or without their mother face a disadvantage compared to those in households with both parents. Among recent samples, living in households with a mother only is associated with higher school enrollment in around two‐thirds of countries, even when controlling for individual and household characteristics. The persistent heterogeneity in children's school enrollment across households demands further attention to better understand the links between family and developmental processes, and to inform policies aiming to increase children's school enrollment.
{"title":"School Enrollment and Living Arrangements of Children in Sub‐Saharan Africa","authors":"Maria Pohl, Ewa Batyra, Albert Esteve","doi":"10.1111/padr.70045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70045","url":null,"abstract":"School enrollment has increased in many sub‐Saharan African countries over recent decades, alongside substantial socioeconomic and demographic transitions. However, gains in educational enrollment have not been equal, raising questions about the determinants of access to and variability in school enrollment. The living arrangements of children constitute one possible factor associated with this variability. We leverage 60 census samples, provided by IPUMS International, to analyze links between living arrangements and school enrollment for 24 African countries between 1976 and 2019, and explore how these associations have changed across countries and over time. The results suggest that school enrollment among children aged 7–14 increased in all countries, but variability in enrollment by children's living arrangement persists. Children living in households without both of their parents or without their mother face a disadvantage compared to those in households with both parents. Among recent samples, living in households with a mother only is associated with higher school enrollment in around two‐thirds of countries, even when controlling for individual and household characteristics. The persistent heterogeneity in children's school enrollment across households demands further attention to better understand the links between family and developmental processes, and to inform policies aiming to increase children's school enrollment.","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145955077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Caitlin Brown, Eeshani Kandpal, Jean Lee, Anaise Williams
How much intra‐household inequality is there in nutritional outcomes, and what does this mean for policy targeting? Using Demographic and Health Survey data for the South Asia region, we show that two‐thirds of undernourished individuals live in households with others who are not undernourished. Within‐household inequality contributes almost as much to overall nutritional inequality as between‐household inequality. While wealth is significantly correlated with undernourishment, only half of all undernourished individuals are found in the poorest 40 percent of households. Even in the wealthiest households, 10 percent of adults and 15 percent of children are undernourished. Adding additional covariates, such as birth order, adult education, and those related to household sanitation infrastructure, does little to improve the predictive power of individual nutritional status. As a result, accurately targeting undernourished individuals using household‐ or community‐level observables is likely to be difficult. We find that straightforward outcomes such as age or access to sanitation infrastructure do as well as household wealth at targeting undernourishment; yet all the targeting methods we consider yield large inclusion and exclusion errors, raising questions as to whether nutrition interventions should be targeted.
{"title":"Nutritional Inequality and Policy Targeting in South Asia","authors":"Caitlin Brown, Eeshani Kandpal, Jean Lee, Anaise Williams","doi":"10.1111/padr.70035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70035","url":null,"abstract":"How much intra‐household inequality is there in nutritional outcomes, and what does this mean for policy targeting? Using Demographic and Health Survey data for the South Asia region, we show that two‐thirds of undernourished individuals live in households with others who are not undernourished. Within‐household inequality contributes almost as much to overall nutritional inequality as between‐household inequality. While wealth is significantly correlated with undernourishment, only half of all undernourished individuals are found in the poorest 40 percent of households. Even in the wealthiest households, 10 percent of adults and 15 percent of children are undernourished. Adding additional covariates, such as birth order, adult education, and those related to household sanitation infrastructure, does little to improve the predictive power of individual nutritional status. As a result, accurately targeting undernourished individuals using household‐ or community‐level observables is likely to be difficult. We find that straightforward outcomes such as age or access to sanitation infrastructure do as well as household wealth at targeting undernourishment; yet all the targeting methods we consider yield large inclusion and exclusion errors, raising questions as to whether nutrition interventions should be targeted.","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145732692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study documents the concentration of childbearing to later reproductive ages, analyzing global patterns of fertility postponement from 1950 to 2040. We study late fertility (ages 30+) and very late fertility (ages 35+) trends at the global, subregional, and national levels using data for all countries and areas of the world since 1950 and historical data for eleven countries dating to 1850. The analysis reveals a significant shift toward late fertility in developed regions only, with fertility increasingly occurring after age 30. Globally, more than one out of three births in 2023 occurs to women aged 30 and above, compared to only one in four in 1990. Historical comparisons indicate similar late fertility patterns in pre‐demographic transition populations and early industrialized societies. The share of childbearing at age 35 among those aged 30 and above is, however, not universally increasing with declining fertility. The study identifies substantial regional disparities in late fertility trends, with some regions maintaining stable late fertility timing despite changes in total fertility levels.
{"title":"A Concentration of Reproduction to Later Ages? A Worldwide Assessment of Trends in Fertility Timing","authors":"Thomas Spoorenberg, Vegard Skirbekk","doi":"10.1111/padr.70036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70036","url":null,"abstract":"This study documents the concentration of childbearing to later reproductive ages, analyzing global patterns of fertility postponement from 1950 to 2040. We study late fertility (ages 30+) and very late fertility (ages 35+) trends at the global, subregional, and national levels using data for all countries and areas of the world since 1950 and historical data for eleven countries dating to 1850. The analysis reveals a significant shift toward late fertility in developed regions only, with fertility increasingly occurring after age 30. Globally, more than one out of three births in 2023 occurs to women aged 30 and above, compared to only one in four in 1990. Historical comparisons indicate similar late fertility patterns in pre‐demographic transition populations and early industrialized societies. The share of childbearing at age 35 among those aged 30 and above is, however, not universally increasing with declining fertility. The study identifies substantial regional disparities in late fertility trends, with some regions maintaining stable late fertility timing despite changes in total fertility levels.","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145704028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editors' Note on the December 2025 Issue","authors":"Raya Muttarak, Joshua Wilde","doi":"10.1111/padr.70041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70041","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145664485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"JakubBijak (Ed.) From Uncertainty to Policy: A Guide to Migration ScenariosEdward Elgar, 2024, 184 p., Open Access. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035319800","authors":"ROMAN HOFFMANN","doi":"10.1111/padr.70039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70039","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145593986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"MargoAnderson and WilliamSeltzerUse and Misuse of the United States Census: The Role of Data in the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War IISpringer, 2024, 230 p., $44.99","authors":"BARBARA A. ANDERSON","doi":"10.1111/padr.70038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70038","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"55 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145575704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"RichardBanégas and ArmandoCutoloID Wars in Côte d'Ivoire: A Political Ethnography of Identification and CitizenshipOxford University Press, 2024, 345 p., $140.00","authors":"KEITH BRECKENRIDGE","doi":"10.1111/padr.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70037","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145509279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Between 1990 and 2019, primary school enrollment in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) surged from 62 million to 187 million students. Despite this growth, SSA remains one of the most unequal continents, challenging the notion that educational expansion reduces wealth inequality. This paper investigates the correlation between educational expansion and household wealth inequality in SSA by conceptualizing educational expansion as distinct regimes with varying educational compositions and rates of expansion, rather than a sequential increase in the proportion of educated populations. Utilizing Demographic and Health Surveys from 15 SSA countries, this paper decomposes changes in household wealth inequality across four expansion regimes spanning the 1990s and 2010s. Contrary to predictions that educational expansion and wealth inequality would follow an inverted U‐shaped curve as proposed by the Kuznets hypothesis, evidence reveals considerable cross‐country variation. Decomposition analysis demonstrates that the level of inequality varies by the overall educational composition and the relative pace of expansion between primary and secondary education. These findings highlight the importance of categorizing educational expansion as distinct regimes by revealing how seemingly similar educational expansions have vastly different associations with wealth inequality.
{"title":"Educational Expansion Regimes and Wealth Inequality in Sub‐Saharan Africa","authors":"Jeong Hyun Oh","doi":"10.1111/padr.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70032","url":null,"abstract":"Between 1990 and 2019, primary school enrollment in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) surged from 62 million to 187 million students. Despite this growth, SSA remains one of the most unequal continents, challenging the notion that educational expansion reduces wealth inequality. This paper investigates the correlation between educational expansion and household wealth inequality in SSA by conceptualizing educational expansion as distinct regimes with varying educational compositions and rates of expansion, rather than a sequential increase in the proportion of educated populations. Utilizing Demographic and Health Surveys from 15 SSA countries, this paper decomposes changes in household wealth inequality across four expansion regimes spanning the 1990s and 2010s. Contrary to predictions that educational expansion and wealth inequality would follow an inverted U‐shaped curve as proposed by the Kuznets hypothesis, evidence reveals considerable cross‐country variation. Decomposition analysis demonstrates that the level of inequality varies by the overall educational composition and the relative pace of expansion between primary and secondary education. These findings highlight the importance of categorizing educational expansion as distinct regimes by revealing how seemingly similar educational expansions have vastly different associations with wealth inequality.","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145447139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study examines the relationship between fertility and social policies across countries within the European Union. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU‐SILC) data from 2005 to 2020, the research investigates how increases and reductions in family allowances are connected to the likelihood of subsequent births in the short term. Based on the social investment hypothesis and a general expansion of family policies in the European Union since 2005, we investigate if and how increased family support contributes to birth events within families. The novel contribution of the analysis is to assess asymmetric fertility reactions to changes in family‐related social benefits. We present the first comparative study that not only analyses expansive policy changes but also retrenchments. Specifically, we look at changes in benefit generosity and universalism from one year to another. Findings indicate that enhancing the generosity of cash benefits is positively related to an increase in the likelihood of having a child. However, reductions in generosity are associated with larger declines in fertility responses, highlighting a negativity bias. In contrast, changes in universalism exhibit more symmetric behavioral responses, with expansions and retrenchments linked to comparable effect sizes regarding subsequent births. Similarly, the combined indicator of generosity and universalism reveals balanced associations in both directions.
{"title":"The Biased Reaction to Changes in Family‐Related Public Expenditure: How Generosity and Universalism Relate to Fertility","authors":"Andrea Barigazzi, Giovanni Gallo, Stephan Köppe","doi":"10.1111/padr.70034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.70034","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the relationship between fertility and social policies across countries within the European Union. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU‐SILC) data from 2005 to 2020, the research investigates how increases and reductions in family allowances are connected to the likelihood of subsequent births in the short term. Based on the social investment hypothesis and a general expansion of family policies in the European Union since 2005, we investigate if and how increased family support contributes to birth events within families. The novel contribution of the analysis is to assess asymmetric fertility reactions to changes in family‐related social benefits. We present the first comparative study that not only analyses expansive policy changes but also retrenchments. Specifically, we look at changes in benefit generosity and universalism from one year to another. Findings indicate that enhancing the generosity of cash benefits is positively related to an increase in the likelihood of having a child. However, reductions in generosity are associated with larger declines in fertility responses, highlighting a negativity bias. In contrast, changes in universalism exhibit more symmetric behavioral responses, with expansions and retrenchments linked to comparable effect sizes regarding subsequent births. Similarly, the combined indicator of generosity and universalism reveals balanced associations in both directions.","PeriodicalId":51372,"journal":{"name":"Population and Development Review","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145447156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：