The DHS Program

Determinantes, Niveles y Tendencias de la Fecundidad en la República Dominicana (Spanish) 

Document Type

Further Analysis

Publication Topic(s)

Family Planning, Fertility and Fertility Preferences, Maternal Health, Nutrition

Country(s)

Dominican Republic

Survey

Dominican Republic Experimental, 1986

Language

Spanish

Recommended Citation

Tactuk, Pablo, Maritza Molina A., Senaida Jansen, Zenón Ceballos, and Marina Taveras. 1990. Determinantes, Niveles y Tendencias de la Fecundidad en la República Dominicana. DHS Further Analysis Reports No. 8. Columbia, Maryland, USA: Institute for Resource Development/Macro Systems Inc.

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Publication Date

April 1990

Publication ID

FA8

Abstract:

Based on the Bongaarts' model, the study analyzes total fertility rates and establishes the effects of the most important proximate determinants of fertility (contraception, marriage, and postpartum infecundability) for each of the categories of the variables: geographic zone, marital status, women's education, occupation of the partner, and female economic activity. The study is based on the analysis of the Demographic and Health Survey conducted in the Dominican Republic in 1986. The results of the study show that the marriage and contraceptive use both inhibit fertility and reduce the theoretical rate by 44 percent and 46 percent, respectively, for the total population, whereas postpartum infecundability attributable to breastfeeding patterns has a less significant effect (16). With regard to the different socioeconomic variables, the postponement and interruption of unions reduced fertility by 51 in the urban zone almost double that of the rural zone (28 percent). Contraceptive use reduced fertility among all the groups analyzed. The most striking differences were among the illiterate women (33 percent) and among women with nine or more years of education (53 percent). The greater inhibiting effects of postpartum infecundability affect the fertility of illiterate women (24 percent) and the wives of those working in agriculture (22 percent), while the smallest inhibiting effects on fertility are found among women with nine or more years of schooling (12 percent) and among wives of professionals, managers, and office workers (13 percent).