| Abstract: | A cross-sectional study of maternal age-specific birthrates was conducted in an attempt to gain insight into age patterns of childbearing. The age specific fertility rates were considered as the dependent variable set. These 6 variables consisted of 1970 live births to women in the age groups 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, and 40-44. The age-specific fertility rates were calculated for each of the 338 New York City health areas that are the sampling units. The canonical analysis used is a multivariate method of exploring these patterns which provides a means for dealing with some of the difficult analytical problems encountered. The relationships of fertility patterns with sets of variables reflecting housing, income and occupation, education and labor force participation, marital patterns, and ethnicity are explored for New York City neighborhoods. 3 dimensions of childbearing emerged with high consistency across the variable sets - roughly describable as early, middle and late fertility. The 1st pattern - high early fertility and particularly teen-age childbearing - is identified with the poorest areas of the city. The income, occupation, education and unemployment figures in these areas are consistent with a minimal preceived penalty for early childbearing. The 2nd dimension - birthrates of women ages 25-34 - identifies another distinctive group of areas. Many low income women at this age continue to bear children at moderate rates; middle income women bear the children they postponed having in the earlier years. The late childbearing group seems best understood as attributable to religious and ethnically related differences among areas. The 1st dimension is the most important for the perspective of the impact on population growth. |
