The Role of Abortion in the Last Stage of Fertility Decline in Vietnam

CONTEXT: Vietnam has experienced a rapid fertility decline over the last three decades, yet fertility rates vary considerably across the country's 54 ethnic groups. METHODS: Data were drawn from the 2001 Vietnam National Health Survey, which collected information from 27,097 currently married w...

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Main Authors: TEERAWICHITCHAINAN, Bussarawan, AMIN, Sajeda
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2010
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/962
https://doi.org/10.1363/3608010
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spelling sg-smu-ink.soss_research-22172015-12-12T07:26:25Z The Role of Abortion in the Last Stage of Fertility Decline in Vietnam TEERAWICHITCHAINAN, Bussarawan AMIN, Sajeda CONTEXT: Vietnam has experienced a rapid fertility decline over the last three decades, yet fertility rates vary considerably across the country's 54 ethnic groups. METHODS: Data were drawn from the 2001 Vietnam National Health Survey, which collected information from 27,097 currently married women aged 15–49 on their birth and abortion history over the preceding five years, as well as their current contraceptive use. Multivariate regression analyses identified associations between individual, household and community characteristics and women's contraceptive use and abortion history, and examined ethnic differences in the types of methods used and in abortion incidence. RESULTS: Vietnam's total fertility rate was 1.6 children per woman, whereas the rate among ethnic minorities in the northern uplands and central highlands was 2.6 and 2.8, respectively. These groups also had a lower abortion rate than the national average (0.3–0.5 vs. 0.7), and were less likely than the group comprising the Kinh majority and the Chinese minority to have used either a modern or traditional contraceptive (odds ratios, 0.4–0.7) or to have had an abortion (0.2–0.6). The likelihood of having had an abortion was elevated among older (5.6–21.2) and better educated women (1.4–1.7), as well as among those with one or two children and those from socioeconomically advantaged ethnic groups (1.2–1.4). Finally, abortion rates were higher among women who practiced traditional methods than among those who used modern ones. CONCLUSIONS: Because better access to abortion is unlikely by itself to reduce fertility among high-fertility minority groups, programs that provide supportive reproductive health services and that target young, low-parity and less educated women may help to lower fertility among these groups. 2010-06-01T07:00:00Z text https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/962 info:doi/10.1363/3608010 https://doi.org/10.1363/3608010 Research Collection School of Social Sciences eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University population human fertility fertility decline abortion Vietnam Asian Studies Demography, Population, and Ecology Gender and Sexuality
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic population
human fertility
fertility decline
abortion
Vietnam
Asian Studies
Demography, Population, and Ecology
Gender and Sexuality
spellingShingle population
human fertility
fertility decline
abortion
Vietnam
Asian Studies
Demography, Population, and Ecology
Gender and Sexuality
TEERAWICHITCHAINAN, Bussarawan
AMIN, Sajeda
The Role of Abortion in the Last Stage of Fertility Decline in Vietnam
description CONTEXT: Vietnam has experienced a rapid fertility decline over the last three decades, yet fertility rates vary considerably across the country's 54 ethnic groups. METHODS: Data were drawn from the 2001 Vietnam National Health Survey, which collected information from 27,097 currently married women aged 15–49 on their birth and abortion history over the preceding five years, as well as their current contraceptive use. Multivariate regression analyses identified associations between individual, household and community characteristics and women's contraceptive use and abortion history, and examined ethnic differences in the types of methods used and in abortion incidence. RESULTS: Vietnam's total fertility rate was 1.6 children per woman, whereas the rate among ethnic minorities in the northern uplands and central highlands was 2.6 and 2.8, respectively. These groups also had a lower abortion rate than the national average (0.3–0.5 vs. 0.7), and were less likely than the group comprising the Kinh majority and the Chinese minority to have used either a modern or traditional contraceptive (odds ratios, 0.4–0.7) or to have had an abortion (0.2–0.6). The likelihood of having had an abortion was elevated among older (5.6–21.2) and better educated women (1.4–1.7), as well as among those with one or two children and those from socioeconomically advantaged ethnic groups (1.2–1.4). Finally, abortion rates were higher among women who practiced traditional methods than among those who used modern ones. CONCLUSIONS: Because better access to abortion is unlikely by itself to reduce fertility among high-fertility minority groups, programs that provide supportive reproductive health services and that target young, low-parity and less educated women may help to lower fertility among these groups.
format text
author TEERAWICHITCHAINAN, Bussarawan
AMIN, Sajeda
author_facet TEERAWICHITCHAINAN, Bussarawan
AMIN, Sajeda
author_sort TEERAWICHITCHAINAN, Bussarawan
title The Role of Abortion in the Last Stage of Fertility Decline in Vietnam
title_short The Role of Abortion in the Last Stage of Fertility Decline in Vietnam
title_full The Role of Abortion in the Last Stage of Fertility Decline in Vietnam
title_fullStr The Role of Abortion in the Last Stage of Fertility Decline in Vietnam
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Abortion in the Last Stage of Fertility Decline in Vietnam
title_sort role of abortion in the last stage of fertility decline in vietnam
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2010
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/962
https://doi.org/10.1363/3608010
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