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Fertility rates in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) have been identified to be depicted by a  unique demographic scenario, that sets  the region  apart from other regions in the world. Demographers are particularly keen on comprehending the dynamics surrounding the demographic transition of the sub continent especially with respect to its shift from high fertility rates to low fertility rates.  The decline in fertility embodies the second phase of the demographic transition process. The discourse on fertility rates in the sub continent has been coined to be an anomaly based on its prevalence being an exception in the world. Discussion pertaining to fertility levels in the region in this paper was made  with the purpose of illuminating the factors that account for the region’s high fertility rates, as well as on  fertility discourse in the region, and the variation that characterize its prevalence amongst the countries in the sub continent. Information on the fertility rates revealed that social organization and cultural setting in the region play pivotal roles in forging high fertility rates in the region.

What impact do family policies have on women's ability to have a family and participate in the labor market? Drawing on two cases, Japan and Sweden, I will identify different patterns of family policies' impact on fertility rates and women's participation in the labor market. Comparing the countries of Japan and Sweden, I ask how family policies influence choices about family and work life. Within this context, I will highlight the similarities we can find in both countries. Japan and Sweden are both industrialized nations with highly- developed economic structures and people enjoy high living standards. In both countries, we can also find similar elements of family policy. The three types of policies I study, (child allowances, parental leave legislation, as well as the establishment and expansion of childcare institutions) exist in both countries. At the same time, Japan and Sweden differ in the historical patterns of family roles reflected in each country's family policy framework. Due to these particular differences, the two countries show different outcomes concerning fertility rates and women's labor market participation. In my paper, I will closely examine the relationship between the existing circumstances and women's decisions in this context. / Master of Arts

Immigrant women are frequently found to have higher fertility relative to women in the majority population. This is often attributed to their socioeconomic characteristics, cultural preferences and patterns of childbearing, and adaptation to the destination context. However, several limitations in the research to date may mask the associations and processes which shape women’s fertility: 1) frequently used indicators are not sensitive to the way in which fertility is shaped by the migration process 2) key proximate determinants of fertility are often not integrated into analyses and 3) non‐migrant women in sending countries are often excluded as a reference for immigrant women’s childbearing behavior. In order to assess how women’s migratory moves and social context affect fertility, I compare the risk of first birth and patterns of contraceptive use at higher‐order parities for non‐migrant, immigrant and native‐born women. For these analyses, I use data from nationally‐representative surveys of reproductive health and family formation from Mexico, the United States, Turkey and Germany. The results from these analyses demonstrate that both foreign‐born Mexican‐ and Turkish‐origin immigrant women experience first birth earlier than non-migrants, second generation immigrants, and native-born women at destination. However the underlying determinants of earlier birth are different for these two groups. There are also differences for second generation women; US-born Mexicans experience first birth at significantly younger ages than whites, whereas age at first birth is very similar for German-born Turkish women and ethnic Germans. Furthermore, patterns of contraceptive use among immigrant women who have at least one child are notably different than patterns observed for non-migrants. US-born women have similar contraceptive use compared to whites, but Mexican-born women are less likely to use permanent and highly effective methods, even after controlling for fertility intentions. Turkish-origin women in Germany exhibit large differences in contraceptive use relative to non-migrant women, particularly the very low reported use of withdrawal. These findings indicate that fertility determinants vary across origin and destination context. The observed differences between Mexican- and Turkish-origin women suggest that distinct processes of migration, socialization, and access to contraception lead to variation in the fertility outcomes for these two groups. / text

According to statistics by the Council of Taiwan, the fertility rate in Taiwan is the world's lowest in 2010. The average number of babies born to women of childbearing age life is 0.9 people. In other words, the average number of children per woman is less than 1. In 2023 Taiwan will enter a negative population growth. Taiwan's population structure becomes a declining birthrate, aging society.The future workforce reduction will greatly affect the competitiveness of Taiwan. The most important factor of decreasing fertility in Taiwan is economics.The majority of people think that raising children has become a heavy burden.Except for a few women, due to personal career planning, work and other factors not yet fertility or infertility .The majority of women still want to have her own children.The most people's attitude of giving birth is reserved because of high unemployment rate ,unsound preschool education system and little child-care subsidy . In the empirical study found that there is no relationship between the fertility rates and the amount of maternity allowance.That is maternity grant can not increase fertility rate. If maternity benefits can not be improved the fertility rate,the fertility incentives of tax breaks are smaller to people.There are some shortcomings of tax incentives for increase the birth,such as revenue loss,tax fairness and so on. It is also possible to increase the birth rate had no significant improvement. The government uses tax benefits to increase fertility rate depending on revenue loss and population growth . The amount and range of tax incentives should be calculated carefully in order to make a balance between the revenue loss and population growth.

This thesis studies different aspects of reproductive behaviour on the international, national, and local levels in post-communist countries. The main focus is Ukraine, where fertility rates are very low and the population is in severe decline. The studies contribute new knowledge about the applicability of a family policy typology developed on the basis of Western countries’ experience for post-communist countries, and about the influence of family policies on fertility levels in these countries. Moreover, the studies investigate whether and how macro-level influences impact on individuals’ reproductive behaviour. Four articles are included in the thesis: Family policies in Ukraine and Russia in comparative perspective analyses the institutional set-up of family policies in both countries and compares the findings to 31 other countries. The results show that Ukrainian family policies support a male-breadwinner type of family, while the benefit levels of Russian family policies are low, compelling families to rely on relatives or the childcare market. Family policies and fertility - Examining the link between family policy institutions and fertility rates in 33 countries 1995-2010 comparatively explores whether family policies have an effect on fertility rates across the case-countries. Pooled time-series regression analysis demonstrates that gender-egalitarian family policies are connected to higher fertility rates, but that this effect is smaller at higher rates of female labour force participation. To have or not to have a child? Perceived constraints on childbearing in a lowest-low fertility context investigates the influence of the perception of postmodern values, childcare availability and environmental pollution on individuals’ fertility intentions in a city in Eastern Ukraine. It is shown that women who already have a child perceive environmental pollution as a constraint on their fertility intentions. Prevalence and correlates of the use of contraceptive methods by women in Ukraine in 1999 and 2007 examines changes in the prevalence and the correlates of the use of contraceptive methods. The use of modern contraceptive methods increased during the period and the use of traditional methods decreased, while the overall prevalence did not change. Higher exposure to messages about family planning in the media is correlated with the use of modern contraceptive methods.

Immigrant flows in Greece after 1990 transformed Greece from a country of outwards migration to an inwards migration state. The contribution of immigrants in a globalized world of migration with sub-replacement fertility levels found in developed countries is a particularly interesting topic in demographic studies. The primary aim of this thesis is to discuss the changes of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of immigrant population in Greece focusing on Albanian and Bulgarian immigrants. In order to answer these research questions, data from the last three national population census of 1991, 2001 and 2011 as well as vital statistics for European and non-European immigrants’ fertility in Greece have been used. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics for the differential age structure of Greek population and immigrant groups. Reasons for immigration to Greece, educational attainment of immigrants, rates of unemployment and employment status of immigrant population have been used to approach the research questions. The results indicated a younger age structure of Albanian and Bulgarian immigrant population. Meanwhile, immigrant population appears to have higher unemployment rates compared to native Greek population. Finally, a substantial decline of general fertility rates for non-European immigrant women in Greece compared to native Greek women has been observed within the years of the economic recession.

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The aim of this thesis is to analyze two major indicators representing the processes of natural changes in population, which are not influenced by age structure -- age specific fertility rate and age specific mortality rate and to introduce functional data analysis, which has recently become increasingly applied in many scientific fields. The functional data analysis is introduced on the Czech demographic data set for more than last sixty years. The thesis briefly describes historical development of mortality and fertility and also describes selected methods of functional data analysis by using statistical program R. Functional data analysis provides a wide variety of graphics tools to explore the data which we called functional and help us to explore all typical and atypical features, identify outliers etc.

生育率的降低是影響台灣地區近年來人口老化的顯著因素，因其變化幅度通常高於死亡率，對人口結構的影響較大。過去台灣地區生育率研究多為整體生育(如：總生育率、年齡別生育率)趨勢的模型，較少探討台灣各地區的特色。為能更深入瞭解台灣生育行為變化的特性，本文將生育率的研究層面由整體的資料，延伸至全台灣地區的各鄉鎮市區（不含離島地區有350個鄉鎮市區），希冀能更精確地找出與台灣地區生育率持續下降的相關因素。本文分為兩個部份，以鄉鎮市區的年齡別婦女生育率與年齡別有偶婦女生育率為研究對象，資料時間為1991、1992、2001、2002年：第一部份探討各鄉鎮市區的生育率數值間是否存在空間相關性，並進一步瞭解生育率較高（或較低）的地區是否有聚集的現象。第二部份則套用空間迴歸模型探討與生育率數值有關的因素（例如：人口密度、教育程度等），更精確且客觀地提供生育率未來趨勢的建議。 關鍵字：生育率、人口老化、空間統計、空間群聚、空間迴歸 / Both the fertility rates and mortality rates, especially the fertility rates, have been experiencing dramatic decreases in recent years, and the population aging thus has become one of the major concerns in Taiwan area. In order to identify the factors that are related to the decrease of fertility rates, unlike the previous works that deal with the aggregate national data, we will study the fertility pattern in township level. We will use the data of age-specific fertility rates and total fertility rates in 1991, 1992, 2001, and 2002 in 350 townships of Taiwan area. This study will be separated into two parts. First, we shall explore if there is spatial correlation among 350 townships of Taiwan area and detect if there are spatial clusters for higher fertility townships. The second part of this project will be focused on the spatial regression model. We will use this model to determine the factors that are highly correlated to the dropping of fertility rates. Key Words: Fertility Rates, Aging Population, Spatial Statistics, Spatial Clustering, Spatial Regression