Search

CONTEXT An estimated 10% of U.S. women of reproductive age report a current disability; however, the relationship between disability, motherhood attitudes and fertility intentions among these women is largely unknown. METHODS Data from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth were used to examine attitudes toward motherhood and fertility intentions among 10,782 U.S. women aged 15-44. A series of regression models assessed, separately for mothers and childless women, associations between disability status and women's attitudes and intentions. RESULTS Women with and without disabilities held similar attitudes toward motherhood. Among women without children, women with and without disabilities were equally likely to want a child and equally likely to intend to have one. However, childless women with disabilities who wanted and intended to have a child were more likely to report uncertainty about those intentions than were childless women without disabilities (odds ratio, 1.7). Mothers with disabilities were more likely to want another child (1.5), but less likely to intend to have a child (0.5), than were mothers without disabilities. CONCLUSIONS Deepening understanding of the reproductive health desires, needs and challenges of women with disabilities is essential if the highest quality reproductive health services are to be provided for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexually experienced women are at risk of cervical cancer, one of the most common female reproductive cancers. Nearly 20% of U.S. women aged 18-64 have a disability, and disability is associated with health care access; however, the relationship between disability and Pap smear receipt remains underexplored. Data on 20,907 women aged 21-64 from the 2000 and 2005 National Health Interview Surveys were used to investigate the relationship between disability and cervical cancer screening. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between disability and both women's receipt of a Pap smear and their receipt of a doctor's recommendation for a Pap smear in the past year. Having a disability was negatively associated with Pap smear receipt (odds ratio, 0.6). Compared with women with no disabilities, those with mobility limitations and those with other types of limitations had reduced odds of having received a Pap smear (0.5-0.7). Disability was positively associated with having received a recommendation for a Pap smear (1.2); however, among women who had received a recommendation, those with disabilities had reduced odds of having received a Pap smear (0.5). Among women who had not received a Pap smear, 31% of those with disabilities and 13% of others cited cost or lack of insurance as the primary reason. The negative relationship between Pap smear receipt and multiple types of disability suggests barriers beyond the human-made physical features of the environment. Efforts to reduce inequalities in reproductive health care access should consider the needs of women with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the role of gender equity in the family and its relationship to fertility behavior. It is proposed that a decline from replacement-level fertility to very low fertility is associated with a combination of high levels of gender equity in individual-oriented institutions, such as education and market employment, and low levels of gender equity in the family and family-oriented institutions. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households for dual-income couples in the United States, the authors investigated whether gender equity in the family, as indicated by the division of housework between couples with one child, is related to the transition to a second birth. The division of housework between couples, as well as perceptions of the fairness of this division, can affect demographic outcomes. The results of the study presented in this article suggest that working couples in the United States do indeed display a fertility response to the division of housework. Couples are more likely to proceed to a second birth when wives share of housework is relatively low. They are also more likely to have a second birth when wives do most of the housework.

The majority of women in China, including mothers of young children, are in the labor force. This article investigates the relationship between mothers' work and child care and explores how type of work affects level of involvement in children's care. Substantive understandings of the relationship between mothers' work and child care may well depend on the way work is conceptualized and measured, especially nonwage work. Nearly two-thirds of women in China live in rural areas, where nonwage work predominates. Analysis of data from eight provinces indicates that wage workers spend less time in child care, but so do women with heavy nonwage demands. Women's involvement in multiple economic activities has consequences for both work-child care compatibility and work intensity, and may be especially important in efforts to categorize women's work in industrializing economies. Because the majority of the world's women do not work in the wage sector, the implications of these findings extend beyond China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the implementation of China's one-child policy started in the early 1980s. Percentage of selected rural and urban communities with specific exceptions regarding number of children allowed; Cash subsidy for couples agreeing to have only one child in selected rural and urban communities; Rural and urban communities that impose a fine on or delay registration of out-of-plan children.