Suchergebnisse

Although the incidence of unwanted pregnancies has declined since the early 1970s (Pratt and Horn, 1985; Anderson, 1981; Westoff, 1981), large proportions of women continue to experience unwanted pregnancies (Forrest, 1987; Pratt, 1985). Of particular concern to researchers is the well‐being of mothers and children from pregnancies that are unwanted or unplanned. In 1982, among women who were ever married, 10 percent of all births were unwanted, and 28 percent mistimed. Among never‐married women, fully 25 percent of all births were unwanted, and about half the remaining births were mistimed (Pratt and Horn, 1985). The focus of this research is the exploration of determinants of wantedness among women whose first pregnancies result in live births. Our analyses reflect interest in whether and how pregnancy wantedness is affected by family background characteristics, early formed attitudes, value systems, and socioeconomic aspirations, as well as maternal socio‐demographic status at the time of the pregnancy. Policy implications emerge from the findings, particularly concerning differences and similarities in the process determining unwanted first births for blacks and whites.

Although researchers have tried to explain the relatively high fertility of Mexican Americans with both individual and contextual ethnic characteristics, evidence for the effects of contextual factors has been more consistent. Still, the means by which ethnic context influences fertility is unclear. In this paper, we seek to further clarify the ways in which the ethnic context affects Mexican American fertility by incorporating several specific contextual measures into analyses of recent births. In addition to the relative size of the Mexican American population, we include an index comprised of several indicators of the cultural environment which may foster high fertility. We alternatively test the ratio of Hispanic-to-white female unemployment as an indicator of local limitations in economic opportunities. Analyses of 1980 census data provide little support for a cultural-contextual explanation of fertility, but some support for the notion that the local context affects fertility through limiting economic opportunities.