Social, cultural, and economic determinants of age at birth of first child in Peninsular Malaysia

Summary

In order to unravel the complex set of the determinants of fertility, we suggest that the child-bearing process be separated into a sequence of events and intervals. As the first step in the child-bearing process, age at first birth is a critical variable. Using data from the 1966-67 West Malaysia Family Survey, we formulate and test a model of the cultural, social and economic determinants of the timing of first birth among a sample of mothers, aged 30—44. Social origins, measured by the woman's father's occupation and the woman's birthplace are not important determinants, but education, early work experience, and ethnicity exercise very strong effects on the age at first birth. Age at first marriage mediates much of the effect of background variables, which suggest that there is little use of contraception to plan the first birth interval. The strong effect of ethnicity is consistent with a cultural interpretation, but important qualifications are noted.

This work has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to both authors, a University Research Council of the University of North Carolina grant to Ronald R. Rindfuss,agrant from the Ford Foundation to the Carolina Population Center, and a ‘centers’ grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Carolina Population Center. The 1966–67 West Malaysian Family Survey was conducted by the Department of Statistics of Malaysia, under the auspices of the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia, with technical assistance from the Population Studies Center of the University of Michigan. We thank the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia for permission to use the data and Professor James Palmore for making available the data tape. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the programming assistance of Judy Kovenock and Akbar Aghajanian.

This work has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to both authors, a University Research Council of the University of North Carolina grant to Ronald R. Rindfuss,agrant from the Ford Foundation to the Carolina Population Center, and a ‘centers’ grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Carolina Population Center. The 1966–67 West Malaysian Family Survey was conducted by the Department of Statistics of Malaysia, under the auspices of the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia, with technical assistance from the Population Studies Center of the University of Michigan. We thank the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia for permission to use the data and Professor James Palmore for making available the data tape. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the programming assistance of Judy Kovenock and Akbar Aghajanian.

Notes

This work has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to both authors, a University Research Council of the University of North Carolina grant to Ronald R. Rindfuss,agrant from the Ford Foundation to the Carolina Population Center, and a ‘centers’ grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Carolina Population Center. The 1966–67 West Malaysian Family Survey was conducted by the Department of Statistics of Malaysia, under the auspices of the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia, with technical assistance from the Population Studies Center of the University of Michigan. We thank the National Family Planning Board of Malaysia for permission to use the data and Professor James Palmore for making available the data tape. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the programming assistance of Judy Kovenock and Akbar Aghajanian.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

R. Rindfuss

Charles Hirschman is Associate Professor of Sociology, Duke University and Ronald Rindfuss is Associate Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.