Little is known about the dynamics of fertility transition in South Africa, though recent studies have begun to shed light on demographic changes in the country. This study presents trends and patterns of fertility observed in a rural South African population. Various demographic and statistical techniques were used to examine fertility patterns in a population of 21,847 women in a rural KwaZul...

Iran's significant success in implementing Family Planning (FP) during the past 25 years, has made it a role model in the world. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in Iran has dropped from 6.5 in 1960 to 1.6 in 2012, which is well below the targeted value of 2.2 for the country. Iran's success story, however, did not merely root in the implementation of FP programs. In other words, families' strong...

We investigate with German data how the use of temporary agency work has helped establishments to manage the economic and financial crisis in 2008/09. We examine the (regular) workforce development, use of short-time work, and business performance of establishments that made differential use of temporary agency work prior to the crisis. Overall, our results suggest that establishments with a gr...

Scanning recent news sources, anyone preparing for the upcoming celebration of Christmas might wonder how exactly we can manage to celebrate wholeheartedly in a global climate of terrorist attacks, massive migrations of traumatized war victims and economic refugees, and generalized fear for the future. Commentators, syndicated columnists and political cartoonists in recent times have highlighte...

Introduction: Iran experienced a dramatic fertility decline during recent decades. There was also an indication of a shift towards later childbearing from 2000. Past research on fertility has shown that the education variable is the most important determinant of fertility behaviors. However, the impact of education on fertility timing in Iran has been less considered. Methods: In a cross secti...

Respected editor 1 In his article Bellieni mentioned ‘in western countries couples have high expectative about the advantages of delayed parenthood and exploit fertility as late as possible’ (1). Decreasing total fertility rate (TFR) is the number of children who would be born per woman (or per 1,000 women) if she/they were to pass through the childbearing years bearing children according to a ...

Education and economic activity are two of the main determinants of women's status. They are also commonly considered as two of the main determinants of fertility decline and demographic transition. Iran has experienced a remarkably rapid fertility decline over the past decade. The decline has surprised many observers both because of its size and tempo and the fact that it started almost immedi...

Reconstructions and projections of populations by age, sex, and educational attainment for 120 countries since 1970 are used to assess the global relationship between improvements in human capital and democracy. Democracy is measured by the Freedom House indicator of political rights. Similar to an earlier study on the effects of improving educational attainment on economic growth, the greater ...