Fertility declines in Brazil and Mexico: tempo quantum and parity composition effects.

Fertility in Brazil and Mexico declined strongly during the last 40 years. In 1960 TFR in Mexico was around 7.3 and in 2000 reached 2.4. In Brazil the decline was less intense but also expressive declining from 5.7 in 1960 to 2.1 in 2000. Figure 1 shows that the decline in both countries started in the middle 1960s from a different level and in a different pace and that at the end of the 1990s Brazils and Mexicos fertility was near the replacement level. Fertility studies in Brazil and Mexico are in general limited to the analysis of the traditional measures (TFR ASFR and mean age of childbearing) most because of the low quality of birth registration and the absence of good birth histories. Its known that the traditional measures are distorted and although very useful lead to a misunderstanding of the overall process of fertility decline. The investigation of alternative measures is becoming more important as the fertility level reaches lower levels. (excerpt)