Prior research has focused on studying female fertility, but male fertility remains overlooked. Using data from the 2001 Demographic Yearbook, the 1964 to 2002 Taiwan-Fukien Demographic Yearbooks, the 2004 National Statistics Reports and the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) Cycle 6, this dissertation examines male and female fertility at the aggregate and individual levels by studying men's and women's fertility differentials in rates and in determinants. Based on examining the age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) and the total fertility rates (TFRs) for men and women during the 1990 to 1998 period in 43 countries and places, results show that male and female age-specific fertility mainly differs in the older age groups. In those age groups, male fertility largely outnumbers female fertility. And this pattern is especially apparent in low fertility countries (TFR<2,200). With regard to total fertility, male and female TFRs tend to be similar in countries with TFR values lower than 2,200 where female fertility tends to be higher than male fertility. The opposite pattern is true for countries with male and female TFRs higher than 2,200. In the analysis of Taiwan fertility, results reveal that male and female TFRs for most years during 1975 to 2004 are far from identical. The ASFRs for men and women also differed over time and varied by educational attainment. Although fertility determinants at the aggregate level impact men's and women's fertility similarly, models combining these factors are more powerful when explaining female than male fertility. The individual level analyses of the U.S. samples also show significant fertility differentials by gender. Age, marriage, and Hispanic origin increase men's fertility to a greater extent compared to women's fertility. Family income increases men's fertility but decreases women's fertility. Participating in the labor force shows a much stronger positive effect on male than on female childbearing. Cohabitation experience, however, has a significantly stronger impact increasing women's than men's fertility. And an increased number of sexual partners is more likely to reduce men's children compared to women. These findings reported draw research attention to male fertility and contribute to understanding the dynamics of male fertility.
ETD Chair
Poston, Dudley George T. and Gladys H. Abell Professor of Liberal Arts
