Suchergebnisse

SummaryA study of the differentials in fertility of Iraq's Mohafadhas, and the association of fertility with various socio-cultural factors, is handicapped for want of the reliable vital statistics from which measures of fertility can be satisfactorily derived. The alternative method, using a simple measure of fertility, the child–woman ratio, which requires only a knowledge of the population in age groups is therefore used. Since this measure is computed from census statistics, it is affected by differences in enumeration errors and in mortality and migration. An attempt has been made in this paper to keep these factors constant by using a modified child–woman ratio for comparing fertility levels.The analysis showed that fertility rates vary from region to region, between Mohafadhas within a region and between rural and urban areas. One important broad geographic variation was that the Northern region was the area of high fertility. For the Mohafadhas, significant differences were noted in only six of the sixteen Mohafadhas of Iraq. Rural–urban difference was minimal, with few exceptions, and it was not always in the same direction. The intra-rural variations in the fertility ratio were far more important than intra-urban differences.Correlation analysis showed that the average age at marriage, the proportion never married and the sex ratio in the reproductive ages were the important factors in explaining fertility differences between Mohafad has. There was virtually no correlation between fertility and urbanization or literacy.

The average age at the time of operation was 38 years for husbands and about 35 years for wives. Most of the men had, at least, thedesired number of living children before they underwent vasectomy. Theaverage number of living children at the time of operation was 3·3. About88 % of the men were white. About 38% were Catholics, 28 % Protestant and 18% Jewish. The men were highly educated; over 17% had apost-graduate degree. Nearly 60% were engaged in professional, managerial or technical occupations. This points to superiority of vasectomized men in their economic and educational position. Public media sources played the most important role in referring persons for vasectomy. About 57% of the men had learned through articles published in newspapers or magazines. Large family size and non-availability of an ideal contraceptive were the most important reasons for seeking vasectomy.

SummaryThis paper examines the levels, trends and Kuwaiti–non-Kuwaiti differentials in stillbirth, infant and child mortality rates during the 1957–79 period. The present infant mortality rate (33 per 1000) and its component parts are high in contrast to those in more developed countries. But during the last few decades, the rates showed definite decline. The decline in infant and child mortality was rapid between 1955 and 1970 when the infant death rate was about 100 or more per thousand livebirths, but slowed after the infant mortality rates were brought down to around 50 in 1970. The large scale reduction in mortality since 1950 is closely associated with socioeconomic progress and improvements in standards of living as well as wider availability and better accessibility of health services. Kuwait is still in a position where mortality can be reduced further, provided that investment in health and education continues.

SummaryThis paper examines the levels, trends, patterns and Kuwaiti-non-Kuwaiti differentials in fertility, by socioeconomic variables and the major factors that may account for recent changes. Kuwaiti fertility is very high: in 1980, the crude birth rate was about 47 and the total fertility was 6–8 per woman. Childbearing still extends to later ages but fertility in the early and middle reproductive years has declined recently, as a result of the rise in age at marriage and the fall in the proportion of currently married women in the younger age groups. Non-Kuwaiti fertility is consistently lower, with total fertility at about 69% of the Kuwaiti level. This differential cannot be explained by the age structure of the populations alone. Analysis of completed fertility by education and economic activity status indicates an inverse relationship.