Social differentials in the partnership trajectories of childless women in India.

IF 1.2 4区 社会学 Q4 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Rojin Sadeghi, Michel Oris, Matthias Studer
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Abstract

India has undergone a dynamic demographic transition resulting in relatively low fertility. In this context, one would expect that the population of childless women has recently become more heterogeneous. In particular, one would suspect a process of polarisation with a growing distinction between women who are unable to give birth and women who forgo motherhood for one reason or another. We investigate this supposed polarisation within the framework of the life course approach. We examine the childless Indian women's partnership trajectories and their associated socioeconomic profiles. Data was extracted from the fourth round (2015-2016) of the National Family Health Survey. A total of 8,997 women aged 36-49 who have not given birth by age 36 were studied. The analysis consisted of three parts: a sequence analysis, a cluster analysis, and a multinomial regression. Results confirm childlessness' polarised experience, along with a real heterogeneity of partnership trajectories. Indian childless women come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, and their life courses reflect a continuum of different realities in terms of social norms and decision-making power. In particular, trajectories without any relational event or with extramarital sexual activity are observed among the most educated women, suggesting that their childlessness may be related to factors other than infertility. By describing the heterogeneity of their backgrounds and profiles, our findings challenge the uniform representation of childlessness in India. In doing so, this article participates in the expansion of research on non-parenthood in non-Western populations and highlights the contribution of the life course approach.

印度无子女妇女伴侣关系轨迹的社会差异。
印度经历了动态的人口转型,导致生育率相对较低。在这方面,人们可以预期,没有子女的妇女人口最近变得更加多样化。特别是,人们会怀疑这是一个两极分化的过程,不能生育的女性和因为这样或那样的原因放弃生育的女性之间的区别越来越大。我们在生命历程方法的框架内调查这种假定的两极分化。我们研究无子女的印度妇女的伙伴关系轨迹及其相关的社会经济概况。数据来自第四轮(2015-2016年)全国家庭健康调查。研究人员对8997名年龄在36岁至49岁之间未生育的女性进行了研究。分析由三部分组成:序列分析、聚类分析和多项回归。结果证实了无子女的两极化经历,以及伴侣关系轨迹的真正异质性。印度无子女妇女来自不同的社会经济背景,她们的人生历程反映了社会规范和决策权方面不同现实的连续体。特别是,在受教育程度最高的妇女中,观察到没有任何关系事件或有婚外性活动的轨迹,这表明她们的无子女可能与不育以外的因素有关。通过描述他们的背景和概况的异质性,我们的研究结果挑战了印度无子女的统一代表。在这样做的过程中,本文参与了非西方人口中非生育研究的扩展,并强调了生命历程方法的贡献。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
2.50
自引率
11.10%
发文量
43
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