This study was conducted to test the following notions: (1) blacks are less committed to the norm of legitimacy and; (2) black women have less reason and desire than white women to marry--whether or not they are unmarried mothers. The data are drawn from a questionnaire administered to 704 obstetrical patients, 81 percent of whom were black.…

Presents a role playing activity in which students develop expertise in planning policies for reducing birth rates in poor countries with rapidly increasing populations. (Author/DB)

The author believes that, although there are negative aspects to the declining school enrollment in the primary schools in England (e.g., teacher redeployment, teacher unemployment, school closures), this phenomenon could give rise to a higher general standard of living and better educational opportunities for all. (KC)

This article suggests that there are three principal sources of metropolitan population decline: the declining birth rate, the reversal of rural-to-urban migration, and inter-metropolitan migration. (Author/AM)

Age, location, and fertility, which are functions of historical and cultural processes, are seen to have major impact on the income, unemployment rates, and IQs of many American ethnic groups. However, if government policy and attitudes of discrimination could be changed, these groups could improve their socioeconomic status. (Author/AV)

In explaining both fertility and family development, relationships among patterns which existed under slavery and the changes which they underwent during the century following the Civil War remain a subject of continuing interest, although the answers are by no means as obvious as was formerly thought. (Author)

Examines the National Pediatric Service and the research program of the Maternity-Infant-Hospital-School in Honduras. Reports that health conditions of young children (birth to six years) in Honduras are appalling and that available funds for health services are inadequate, reflecting the country's economic and social crisis. (NH)

Examines the relation between maternal social networks and mother-infant interactions in 34 mother-preterm and 20 mother-full term dyads with infants aged six months. Results demonstrate that, although full-term infant birth is typically positive, it is less clear that preterm birth is positive, with the result that network members are unsure of…

Analyzes eight years of panel data from 895 White married women, with husband present, who had a first birth prior to the 1978 interview to investigate social-psychological factors that may affect exit from the labor force prior to the birth event and reentry following the birth event. (Author/ABB)

Surveyed 291 mother-child and 221 father-child dyads to examine adolescent perceptions of parental educational goals. Results showed family size and student's age had no effect, but birth order and sibling sex composition interact with sex of the parent and the adolescent in effects on accuracy of perception. (JAC)

Compares the fertility of Puerto Ricans who migrated to the United States with the fertility of their non-migrant counterparts who remained in Puerto Rico, and examines the effect of the migration itself and the subsequent exposure to a low fertility milieu on fertility. (Author)

A teaching program designed for beginning sociology students is described. Using a computer, students are introduced to sociological research methods and techniques by examining crude birth rates and per capita income in various countries. (ND)

The values humans possess take form in relation to the day-to-day activities and decisions (instrumental values) and as criteria for a lifetime (terminal values). This study compares the importance level assigned by adolescents to instrumental and terminal values and the relationship of adolescents' perception of value importance with their…

Research supports the anecdotal observation that unmarried mothers and their children face greater obstacles and suffer greater strains than married couples and their children. Less is known about the specific characteristics of the women who have births outside of marriage. This research brief paints a fuller picture of nonmarital childbearing.…

This paper presents data from a survey of all 50 states that examined specific programs and policies being pursued at the state level to discourage teenage and nonmarital childbearing. Overall, the teen childbearing rate has continued to fall, and in 1999 it was the lowest on record. Some research points to a relationship between welfare policies…