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C F Westoff

Publications and source records attributed to C F Westoff.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Potential effects on fertility and child health and survival of birth-spacing preferences in sub-Saharan Africa.

Using Demographic and Health Survey data from 20 sub-Saharan African countries, this article compares the actual lengths of birth intervals to women's reported preferred lengths, and assesses the implications of the difference between the two for selected demographic and health indicators. The results show a clear pattern. In Comoros, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe, women prefer much longer birth intervals than those they actually have, compared with women in the other 15 countries studied. As a consequence, the potential effects of spacing preferences on the level of fertility and on the prevalences of short (less than 24 months) birth intervals and child malnutrition are greatest in the same five countries. The covariates of preferred birth-interval lengths are also examined. An explanation is offered for this pattern, based on the observed sharp decline in fertility recently experienced by these five "forerunners." In general, women who know, approve of, discuss, and use family planning prefer longer intervals than do their counterparts. The policy and program relevance of these results is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

The potential role of contraception in reducing abortion.

This study examines the potential role of further increases in contraceptive prevalence and effectiveness in reducing abortion rates. The model used in this analysis links the abortion rate to its direct determinants, including couples' reproductive preferences, the prevalence and effectiveness of contraceptive practice to implement these preferences, and the probability of undergoing an abortion to avoid an unintended birth when a contraceptive fails or is not used. An assessment of the tradeoff between contraception and abortion yields estimates of the decline in the total abortion rate that would result from an illustrative increase of 10 percentage points in prevalence. This effect varies among societies, primarily because the tendency to obtain an abortion after an unintended pregnancy varies. For example, in a population with an abortion probability of 0.5, a 10 percentage-point increase in prevalence would avert approximately 0.45 abortions per woman, assuming contraception is 95 percent effective. If all unintended pregnancies were aborted, this effect would be three times larger. Eliminating all unintended pregnancies and subsequent abortions would require a rise in contraceptive prevalence to the level at which all fecund women who do not wish to become pregnant practice contraception that is 100 percent effective. A procedure is provided for estimating this "perfect" level of contraceptive prevalence.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed1998

The consistency and validity of reproductive attitudes: evidence from Morocco.

Information on reproductive attitudes is now routinely collected in fertility surveys in developing countries, and has become very important for understanding fertility behaviour. The quality of this information, however, is rarely assessed, partly due to lack of necessary data. In this paper, the recently completed panel survey in Morocco by the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) was used to investigate the consistency of reporting of ideal number of children, reproductive intentions and the planning status of the last birth. The validity of reproductive intentions for subsequent fertility behaviour was also examined. The findings indicate that the three measures of reproductive attitudes are subject to different degrees of measurement error. The measure of reproductive intentions is the most consistent of the three, followed by ideal number of children. The latter is much more consistent at the aggregate level than at the individual level. The reliability of the planning status of the last birth is marred, mainly by an unwanted child being reclassified as 'wanted' with time since the birth of the child. The reproductive intentions of women were also found to be positively related to their subsequent fertility.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Mass media messages and reproductive behaviour in Nigeria.

This paper examines the effects of exposure to mass media messages promoting family planning on the reproductive behaviour of married women in Nigeria using cross-sectional data. Longitudinal data are also used to ensure that exposure to media messages pre-dates the indicators of reproductive behaviour. Cross-sectional analysis suggests that: (1) contraceptive use and intention are positively associated with exposure to mass media messages, and (2) women who are exposed to media messages are more likely to desire fewer children than those who are not exposed to such messages. Similarly, analysis of the longitudinal data shows that exposure to mass media messages is a significant predictor of contraceptive use. Thus, exposure to mass media messages about family planning may be a powerful tool for influencing reproductive behaviour in Nigeria.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Catholicism and fertility in Puerto Rico.

This paper examines the association between fertility and religious affiliation among Puerto Ricans. Bongaarts' proximate determinants framework is used to compare religious categories on behaviors that directly affect fertility. We found no difference in recent fertility between Catholics and non-Catholics in Puerto Rico (total fertility rate = 2.5). We also found Catholics and non-Catholics to be similar on age at first marriage (23.3 and 23.4 years, respectively), contraceptive use (71 percent and 69 percent of married women currently contracepting), and breast-feeding practices (mean duration of breast-feeding of 4.4 and 4.3 months). Differences were observed between less committed and more committed Catholics in total fertility rate, age at first marriage, and contraceptive use, but these differences were not large and were in the opposite direction from the expected. Our findings support the theory of convergence of Catholic and non-Catholic fertility for the US. Our discrepancy with findings from the National Survey of Family Growth is evidence of the cultural diversity in the US Hispanic population and indicates the importance of disaggregating by ethnicity or national origin when studying this population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Fertility in the United States.

From the postwar high of 3.8 births per woman at the peak of the baby boom, the total fertility rate in the United States has fallen to 1.8, where it has remained unchanged for nearly a decade. This below-replacement level of fertility has, in recent decades, characterized most Western countries, some of which have shown declines to well below 1.5 births per woman. Were it not for the continued infusion of immigrants, the U.S. population, which already shows the aging characteristic of low fertility, would stop growing and begin to decline before the middle of the next century. The low fertility in the United States has been accomplished by a postponement of marriage and by the widespread use of contraception, with heavy reliance on surgical sterilization as a contraceptive method. Judging from the experience of other Western countries and from our own historical experience of two centuries of fertility decline interrupted only by the baby boom, as well as from the absence of social trends that would counteract those contributing to that decline, the prognosis is for a continued low level of fertility in the United States.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Women's sex preferences in the United States: 1970 to 1975.

This analysis examines the potential effect of sex preselection technology in the United States. The results suggest that controlling the sex of offspring is not the desire of most American women; that if it were employed, there would be a significant increase in sons as first-born and daughters as second children; that the overall sex ratio would be little changed from that occurring naturally except at very low fertility levels with universal use of such technology; and that fertility is only minimally influenced by gender preferences.

Attitude↗
PubMed1980

Contraceptive efficacy: the significance of method and motivation.

The relationship between contraceptive failure and selected characteristics of users is examined using data collected in the 1970 and 1975 rounds of the National Fertility Study. Intention regarding future childbearing and choice of contraceptive method are found to be the most important considerations. Within categories of intention, choice of method appears to have an important influence on differentials by age and other characteristics. The longitudinal aspect of the study design permitted the inclusion in the analyis of certainty of intention, coital frequency, and women's perceptions of their own ability to control fertility.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

The end of "Catholic" fertility.

Catholic and non-Catholic fertility during the post-World War II period are compared in this paper. Evidence accumulated across five sample surveys of fertility in the United States, which were conducted at five-year intervals from 1955 through 1975, forms the basis for the analysis; both cohort and period measures are employed. Starting from a situation where Catholic fertility was very little higher than that of non-Catholics, it is shown that the differential increased markedly during the baby boom and then declined to a point where the two trends nearly come together in the mid-1970s. Interpretation of the recent convergence in the light of various theories that have been put forward to explain the differential suggests that it will be an enduring phenomenon.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1977

The predictive validity of reproductive intentions.

On the basis of data collected in the 1975 National Fertility Study (NFS) in which continuously married white women interviewed in the 1970 NFS were reinterviewed five years later, the aggregate and individual validity of reported fertility intentions is evaluated. The main finding about aggregate prediction is that 1970 intentions overestimated 1971-1975 fertility to the same extent as the conventional 1970 total fertility rate. The conclusion is that intentions suffer all of the same vulnerabilities as other period measures. At the individual level, the validity of intentions is considerable in comparison with most other indicators.

Adult↗