True or false? Nineteenth-century Sápmi fertility in qualitative vs. demographic sources

There is limited knowledge about childbirth and childcare among Arctic indigenous peoples in historical times, and the Swedish Sami are no exception. The main aim of the present study is to investigate whether the Sami experienced fertility trends parallel to those of the rest of the population in the area and in Sweden as a whole. Digitized parish records offer a unique possibility to include comparisons from ethnic, cultural, geographical and long-term perspectives. The present study compares the statements about fertility and childcare provided by qualitative sources with data from quantitative demographic investigations. This comparison reveals a contrasting picture, from which it is evident that contemporary observers’ impressions of the Sami and their childbirths were somewhat inaccurate. Opposite to what the qualitative sources claimed Sami fertility was higher than the national average rates. Moreover, crude birth rates were high and the average number of children in families exceeded what was generally claimed. We can conclude that the statements made by clergy, physicians and travelers concerning childbirth among the Sami did not correspond particularly well with the demographic reality.     

‘Two children to make ends meet’: the ideal family size,parental responsibilities and costs of children on two sides of the Iron Curtain during the post-war fertility decline

One of the major corollaries of the post-war fertility boom and decline is that two-child families became common across Europe after the 1970s. Despite the general agreement on the convergence of fertility trends, there is still little understanding of how this change took place in a comparative perspective of Western and Eastern Europe, which at that time were characterised by Cold War tensions of different ideological regimes. This study addresses this aspect by focusing on individual decisions around childbearing, child-rearing and family size. Based on 104 oral histories from Switzerland and Ukraine, this study illuminates that the urban setting provided parents with a similar set of constraints and opportunities, which eventually resulted in strikingly similar perceptions of the costs of childrearing on two sides of the Iron Curtain. Individuals’ motives to postpone first birth in Switzerland and second birth in Ukraine rested on a similar aspiration to invest in the well-being of children by ensuring material security for the family. This aim was increasingly achieved through female labour-force participation and adoption of modern contraception – the pill in Switzerland and abortion in Ukraine. While the timing of returning to the labour market and the share of women working after entering parenthood might have varied across the two contexts, a good mother became increasingly defined in both contexts in terms of providing emotionally and financially for her children. Although the introduction of modern birth control methods allowed couples to plan family size more carefully, it also made Swiss and Ukrainian women increasingly carry the major costs and actual burden of birth control. Altogether, this study challenges the common assumption around the persistence of strikingly different demographic realities in post-war Western and Eastern Europe by uncovering the mechanisms behind the stabilisation of family size around the two-child family ideal.     

佤族女性问题研究文献评述

佤族是生活在我国西南边疆的古老民族,也是云南省特有的15个少数民族之一。佤族妇女在佤族社会的进步和发展过程中扮演了极其重要的角色。国内对佤族女性的研究大多集中在1990年代,研究者大多为女性,研究的内容主要包括佤族女性的社会地位、佤族婚俗、佤族的生育文化等。整体来看,佤族女性问题研究已取得了一定成就,但研究的范围还比较狭窄。     

“三孩政策”与中华优秀生育文化建构

中共中央、国务院提出“实施三孩生育政策及配套支持措施”，是我国进一步优生优育的重大 举措。本研究通过考察“三孩政策”的历史背景与现实依据，认为进一步优生优育的重大举措符合我国现阶段 人口和经济社会发展形势，是对中华传统生育文化的创造性转化和创新性发展。落实进一步优生优育的重大举措， 当务之急是完善“三孩政策”的保障机制，在全社会形成与社会主义核心价值观相一致的良好生育文化。     

工作场所母乳喂养及其影响因素分析

工作场所母乳喂养问题，不仅事关女职工权益保护、母婴身心健康，而且对我国实施“三孩” 政策后如何平衡企业用工压力与女职工权益保护需求之间的张力，具有现实且积极的研究价值。研究从个人、 组织和社会结构三个层面对影响工作场所母乳喂养的因素进行分析。研究结果表明：在个体层面，学历对母乳 喂养整体时长与返岗后继续母乳喂养时长均产生影响；在组织层面，明确的规章制度是生育权益的有效保障； 在社会结构层面，随着产假的增加，其对延长母乳喂养时间的影响呈现边际效益递减。因此，科学合理的产假 制度和母婴友好型社会的构建，对促进母乳喂养具有特别重要的意义。研究建议，需要在宏观层面解决生育成 本的合理分担，以激发企业落实生育保护政策的积极性。     

Economic crisis,families, and family policy in the Baltic states, 2009–2014

ABSTRACT

The three Baltic countries experienced the most rapid population decline throughout the 1990s and 2000s in Europe. The resulting critical demographic situation motivated the governments of the Baltic states to pay more political attention to family policy issues than in the rest of Europe. The aim of the paper is to analyze the development of family policy in Baltic countries and factors that influenced it during the 2009 economic crisis. Also, the outcomes in terms of child poverty and fertility are highlighted. Results show that the economic resources and fertility level had an essential impact on family policy in the Baltic states. Economic support to families, in turn, directly alleviate the poverty level of families and indirectly influence fertility.     

Putting the pieces together: 40 years of fertility trends across 19 post-socialist countries

Demographic change has been a key consequence of transition, but few studies trace fertility trends across countries over time. We describe fertility trends immediately before and after the fall of state socialism across 19 Central and Eastern European and Central Asian countries. We found a few common patterns that may reflect economic and political developments. The countries that experienced the most successful transitions and integration into the EU experienced marked postponement of parenthood and a moderate decline in second and third births. Little economic change in the poorest transition countries was accompanied by less dramatic changes in childbearing behavior. In western post-Soviet contexts, and somewhat in Bulgaria and Romania, women became more likely to only have one child but parenthood was not substantially postponed. This unique demographic pattern seems to reflect an unwavering commitment to parenthood but economic conditions and opportunities that did not support having more than one child. In addition, we identify countries that would provide fruitful case studies because they do not fit general patterns.     

Low fertility and concurrent birth control policy in China

China’s one-child policy, introduced in the late 1970s, has been in effect for over three decades. This article reviews China’s low fertility rate and the implementation of this stringent birth control policy in the context of low fertility. First, China’s fertility intention, behavior, and low fertility level trend are presented. Then, the official response to the low fertility level and the consequent misguided policy-making are investigated. Next, various obstacles to the abolishment of the strict birth control policy are discussed, including national leaders’ authority, related family planning regulations and laws, the inertia of this basic state policy under the auspices of the common good, the displacement of the family planning systems, and the necessity for social maintenance fees to keep grassroots governments in operation. After discussing the recent reform of this birth control policy in 2013 and the subsequent results, the incentives for a universal two-child policy are elucidated. These include the official acknowledgment of low fertility, the effect of birth control policy on fertility decline, the reactions of the general public, the attitudes of grassroots family planning cadres, the appeal from scholars, international experiences, the merging of population and family planning commissions, and national leaders’ attitudes. The paper concludes with an analysis of the cost of this birth control policy over the past decades.     

邓小平对马克思主义生产力理论的丰富和发展

邓小平在我国社会主义现代化建设的实践中,就社会主义社会发展生产力的重大意义、主要途径及相关条件,提出了一系列精辟见解,极大地丰富和发展了马克思主义生产力理论.     

关于生育权的法律探讨

近年来日益凸现的生育权纠纷引起了人们对生育权问题的高度关注,但我国现行法律对生育权的规定尚不全面,在该权利的性质、主体及侵权行为的范围等问题上学界存在诸多争议。生育权是一种身份权,其主体应限于有合法婚姻关系的男女双方,其内容应包括生育请求权、决定权、知情权和生育方式选择权等。