The Influence of Child Mortality on Fertility in Taiwan

Data were collected from women and 2 years later from many of their husbands to test 4 hypotheses about the positive effect of child mortality on fertility behavior in Taiwan. The experience of child mortality was not related to current contraceptive behavior but fear of child mortality resulted in a slightly less than average use of contraception. However experience of child mortality delays the initial use of contraception while fear of child mortality has little effect on the timing of the first use of contraception. The ideal number of children is higher for couples who express an expectation or fear of child mortality. Actual child mortality did not show a strong relationship with ideal family size.