Intelligence and fertility in the United States: 1912-1982.

PIP: Results are presented for the 1st analysis of the relationship between IQ and completed fertility using a large, representative sample of the US population. Correlations are predominantly negative for cohorts born between 1894 and 1964 but are significantly more positive for cohorts whose fertility was concentrated in the baby boom years. Previous studies reporting slightly positive correlations appear to have been biased in their restriction of samples to atypical cohorts. The National Opinion Research Center (NORC), a nonprofit research organization affiliated with the University of Chicago, conducted the General Social Survey (GSS) in the US each year from 1972 to 1982, except for 1979. A combination of block quota and full probability sampling was employed. Hour-long interviews were completed with 12,120 respondents who were English-speaking, noninstitutionalized adults (18 years or older) living within the continental US. Such questions as age, place of birth, income and occupation, were asked in each interview. Other questions about attitudes on various social, political, and moral issues were rotated in different years. The unique opportunity this data set affords is an overview of the relationship between intelligence and fertility for a nationally representative sample of Americans whose major reproductive years fell between 1912 and 1982. Data were consolidated from the 4 surveys in which the vocabulary test was given (1974, 1976, 1978, and 1982). Respondents were divided into 15 birth cohorts of 5-year intervals ranging from before 1894 to 1964. Correlations between vocabulary scores and number of siblings are markedly negative across all 15 cohorts. Vocabulary sibling correlations are more negative in every cohort than vocabulary offspring correlations. Previous reports of a neutral or slightly eugenic relationship appear to be due to the nature of the samples used, in part because the cohorts chosen were atypical, and in part because they did not include nonwhites. Childless respondents averaged slightly higher scores than did those with 1 or more children, indicating that the automatic exclusion of the childless from sibling-IQ studies has not spuriously inflated negative correlations.^ieng

The growth in noncitizen SSI caseloads 1979-1996: aging versus new immigrant effects.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this research is to assess the degree to which the recent growth in the rate of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) usage is concentrated among recently arrived elderly immigrants or among earlier arriving immigrants who have "aged in place" and thus become eligible for benefits. METHODS: We use 1980 and 1990 Census data and 1997 Current Population Survey (CPS) data to examine whether the growth in the elderly noncitizen caseload during the 1980s and 1990s may be attributed to increases in rates of receipt among newly arrived elderly immigrants, to increases in rates of receipt among "settled" immigrants who have aged into categories that allow them to obtain SSI benefits, or to increases in the number of persons in each of these groups. RESULTS: We find that the major contribution to the growth in the noncitizen elderly SSI caseload has been the significant increase in the rate of receipt among those who have lived in the United States for more than 10 years (a smaller increase occurred among recent arrivals). This factor accounts for about half of the total growth in the caseload and cannot be explained by increases in poverty among noncitizens. DISCUSSION: The idea that the availability of SSI for elderly immigrants has acted as a magnet for poor elderly immigrants, thereby accounting for the growth in the elderly immigrant SSI caseloads during the 1980s and 1990s, does not receive much support in the findings of this research.

Masculinity-femininity and the desire for sexual intercourse after vasectomy: a longitudinal study.

PIP: This research was concerned with the question of whether masculinity-femininity is related to postoperative changes in desire for intercourse among men who underwent vasectomy. Sexual desire was assumed at the outset to be a positive characteristic associated with masculinity among males with its expression being a means of reaffirming a sense of masculinity. The hypothesis was that masculinity would have a positive effect on changes in the desire for intercourse following vasectomy. Of the initial 176 couples who filled out questionnaires, 75 actively participated in follow-up and furnished data for this analysis. This group was compared to the group who did not furnish follow-up data and the 2 groups were found not to differ significantly with respect to masculinity, femininity, age or education. Masculinity was positively and significantly related to the postsurgical expression of increase in desire for sexual intercourse among vasectomized men. There is support then for the notion that response to vasectomy may sometimes involve compensation in those men who would likely perceive vasectomy as demasculinizing. 1 negative finding was that androgynous males do not alter their desire following vasectomy.^ieng

International migration from the Dominican Republic: findings from a national survey.

PIP: Results of a survey which sought to provide a profile of international Dominican migrants indicate that international migration from the Dominican Republic is primarily a middle class urban phenomenon, with rural unemployment representing only a small segment of the migration flow. The strongest reasons for emigrating were economic, and most migrants tended to leave the Dominican Republic at the peak of their productivity. The profile of the migrant which emerged from the survey does not fit the stereotype of an illiterate, unskilled, and unemployable individual who decides to emigrate to receive welfare. Results also show that about 40% of migrants had returned at the time of the survey, and suggest that the poorer the migrant, the less likely it is he/she will return. Most persons migrating in order to study tend to return after their studies are over, and a large number of migrants have trouble adjusting to a foreign society. Finally, international net migration does not seem to be increasing; in fact the findings suggest that net migration declined considerably in the 1970s, after reaching a peak in the 1960s.^ieng

The sociodemographic characteristics of Mexican immigrant status groups: implications for studying undocumented Mexicans.

"Based on Warren and Passel's...estimate that nearly two-thirds of Mexican-born noncitizens entering the U.S. during 1975-80 and included in the 1980 Census are undocumented immigrants, this article uses the 1980 Public Use Microfiles to delineate four Mexican origin immigrant status groups--post 1975 Mexican-born noncitizens, pre-1975 Mexican-born noncitizens, self-reported naturalized citizens, and native-born Mexican-Americans." It is found that "the pattern of sociodemographic differences among these groups provides support for the idea that the first two categories contain a substantial fraction of undocumented immigrants. These two groups (especially the first) reveal characteristics that one would logically associate with undocumented immigrants--age concentration (in young adult years), high sex ratios, low education and income levels, and lack of English proficiency."

Ethnic variations in the relationship between income and fertility.

The effects of husband'spotential andrelative incomes on completed fertility, as well as their effects on certain parity progression probabilities, are examined within samples of Anglos, Blacks and Mexican Americans. Relationships are estimated using data from the one-percent 1960 and 1970 U.S. Public Use Samples. The results reveal different patterns of relationship by ethnicity between the measures of income and the measures of fertility. The effects on completed fertility of the income measures are positive for Anglos and negative for Blacks, while in the case of Mexican Americans the effect ofpotential income is negative and that ofrelative income is positive. Income effects on the parity progression probabilities are similar in pattern to those from the analyses using completed fertility, although somewhat different patterns tend to appear at different birth orders, especially among Anglos.

Racial fertility differences: the role of female employment and education in wanted and unwanted childbearing.

This paper employs data from a merged sample of the National Surveys of Family Growth to examine how female employment status conditions the relationship between education and wanted and unwanted births among African American and white women. A rationale is presented for why a minority group status hypothesis that posits lower fertility among more highly educated African American women as compared to similar white women might find support in the case of wanted births and among certain women, including earlier birth cohorts. Our results provide some evidence for these ideas as well as evidence for a social characteristics hypothesis that predicts convergence of childbearing with rising education. However, persistently higher levels of unwanted births among African American women of all educational levels suggest that the dynamics of racial fertility differences are more complex than either of the hypotheses imply.

PIP: This study examines the impact of female employment on wanted and unwanted births among African-American and White women in the US, the time in the life course when education is measured, and female employment status prior to first birth. The study aims to examine more carefully Johnson's (1979) minority group status hypothesis and the social characteristics hypothesis. Data were obtained from pooled data from the 1973, 1976, 1982, and 1988 National Surveys of Family Growth (NSFG) among a subsample of 34,827 ever married women with at least one child who had completed their wanted childbearing. The three tests of selection bias revealed robust models without substantial selection bias. The sample includes 8515 women who worked prior to first birth (2054 Blacks and 6461 Whites) and 5223 nonworking women prior to first birth (1931 Blacks and 3292 Whites). Findings indicate that nonworking women, compared to working women, had a fertility higher by about 0.33 children. Logistic models indicate that Black women's fertility decreased with increased levels of education. Black women with lower levels of education had higher wanted and unwanted fertility, regardless of employment status or when education was measured. When education was measured late in the life course, working Black women had lower fertility (by 0.1 children) than their White counterparts. The wanted fertility of highly educated, nonworking Black women, regardless of when education was measured, was lower (by 0.33 children) than their White counterparts. When education was measured at first marriage, the differences by race were about 0.4 children. This cross-over pattern for wanted births was not evident in the cohort of women born after 1945. Unwanted childbearing for Black women at all education levels was higher than among Whites. Differences by race decreased with increases in educational level. Findings support both hypotheses but incompletely explain unwanted fertility by race.

Undocumented Mexican immigrants and the earnings of other workers in the United States.

This article examines the effects of undocumented Mexican immigrants on the earnings of other workers in geographical labor markets in the Southwest. The number of undocumented Mexicans included in the 1980 census in southwestern SMSAs is estimated. We then estimate the parameters of three specifications of a generalized Leontief production function with various demographic groups as substitutable factors. The statistically significant effects of undocumented Mexicans on the earnings of other groups are positive, but of slight magnitude. Legal immigrants' effects on native white earnings, however, are small and negative. The results are consistent with the possibility that undocumented Mexican immigrants' jobs complement those of other workers. The implications for public policy concerns about the effects of illegal Mexican immigration are discussed.

Racial differences in contraceptive choice: complexity and implications.

Previous research has failed to generate consensus about why black fertility has persistently exceeded that of whites in the United States. In an effort to shed light on this question, this article examines black/white differences in sociodemographic factors affecting contraceptive choice. Using data from the 1976 and 1982 National Surveys of Family Growth, we find a complex pattern of black/white differences. Not only does contraceptive choice vary by race, but the effects of such variables as age, marital status, and education also differ between blacks and whites. For example, compared with whites, black married women avoid coital methods, and compared with blacks, white women shift contraceptive behavior more as they change marital status. The complex nature of the racial differences in contraceptive choice are interpreted as reflecting differences in marriage patterns and trends.

Public assistance receipt among immigrants and natives: how the unit of analysis affects research findings.

Differences between immigrant and native households in rates of welfare receipt depend on nativity differences in individual-level rates of receipt, in household size, in mean number of recipients in receiving households, and in household nativity composition. We present algebraic derivations of these relationships and use data from the 1990 and 1991 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to examine empirically the extent to which levels of welfare receipt for immigrants and natives are sensitive to the use of household-, family-, or individual-level units of analysis or presentation. The findings show that nativity differences are statistically significant only at the level of larger units. The results also indicate that if immigrants and natives had identical living arrangements, immigrants' household-level receipt of Supplemental Security Income would significantly exceed natives' receipt even more than it actually does, but the nativity difference in receipt of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) would reverse directions. Moreover, the level of AFDC receipt of immigrant households falls significantly below that of native households when native-born children living in households headed by immigrants are treated as if they were foreign born.

The number of illegal migrants of Mexican origin in the United States: sex ratio-based estimates for 1980.

This article reports the results of applying a sex ratio-based method to estimate the number of undocumented Mexicans residing in the United States in 1980. The approach centers on a comparison between the hypothetical sex ratio one would expect to find in Mexico in the absence of emigration to the United States and the sex ratio that is in fact reported in preliminary results from the 1980 Mexican Census. The procedure involves, inter alia, assuming a range of values for the sex ratio at birth and for census coverage differentials by sex in Mexico. Even the combinations of these values most likely to result in large estimates suggest that no more than 4 million illegal migrants of Mexican origin were residing in the United States in 1980.

Language usage and fertility in the Mexican-origin population of the United States.

This article examines the effects of English proficiency and female education on cumulative and recent fertility within the Mexican-origin population in the U.S. To ascertain whether the cultural or the human capital aspects of linguistic variables have the greater salience for fertility behavior, fertility patterns of bilingual women are compared with those of monolingual women speaking English or Spanish. Using the 1980 U.S. Census 5 percent Public Use Microdata Sample for ever-married Mexican-origin women aged 15-44, we find that for almost all age cohorts, the effects of English proficiency are negative and increase with rising education. The strength of the interaction is greater in younger age groups. Greater English proficiency is also associated with a more negative impact of education for native- than foreign-born women. Overall, the influence of "opportunity cost," as opposed to cultural factors, is more important in shaping the fertility behavior of these women.

Circular, invisible, and ambiguous migrants: components of difference in estimates of the number of unauthorized Mexican migrants in the United States.

Based on an equation that can be used with available data and that provides a basis for facilitating decomposition analyses, this research estimates that about 2.54 million total (as opposed to enumerated) unauthorized Mexicans resided in the United States in 1996. Comparing this figure with an estimate of about 2.70 million released by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) during the 1990s, we find that the two estimates involve different assumptions about circular, invisible, and ambiguous migrants. Such differences not only can have important policy implications; they can also be sizable and can operate in opposite directions, as illustrated by findings from a components-of-difference analysis. The results are also extrapolated to 2000, and implications for 2000 census counts are discussed.

Changes in sexual desire after voluntary sterilization.

PIP: The authors consider 3 hyypotheses of prediction of self-reported changes in sexual desire, not frequency of sexual relations, following contraceptive sterilization. The hypotheses are: 1) the fear of pregnancy hypothesis, which predicts an increase in self-reported desire for sexual relations among both sterilized and nonsterilized females and males; 2) the compensatory hypothesis, which predicts an increase in sexual desire only among those sterilized; and 3) the gender-specific hypothesis, which predicts different effects of sterilization depending upon gender. Data were drawn from a sample of 713 husbands and wives who obtained either a female or a male sterilization, and who completed a questionnaire before the procedure; 224 people returned a completed questionnaire 6 months after the procedure. In this follow-up questionnaire respondents were asked whether desire for sexual intercourse had increased, decreased, or remained the same; 2 control variables, age and education, were introduced into the analysis. Approximately the same proportion of males and females reported an increase in sexual desire, which is consistent with the findings of other investigators. In the case of males the higher the education the less likely the respondent is to report an increase in desire; in females, the older the respondent the less the likelihood of reported increase. Sterilized females are also less likely than nonsterilized females to report an increase in sexual desire, while sterilized males are no more likely than nonsterilized males to report an increase. The major finding of the analysis is that the effects of sterilization on desire for sexual intercourse varies depending on whether it is the male or the female who is sterilized; thus, the gender-specific hypothesis predicting that the effect of sterilization is less likely to make for an increase in sexual desire among females is supported by the results; sterilized females were found to be less likely than females whose husbands are sterilized to report an increase in desire, which is consistent with the idea that surgical sterilization may involve a greater degreee of physical trauma for some women than for men.^ieng