Fecundidade na Região Norte: uma análise socioeconômica e espacial do perfil reprodutivo das mulheres nortistas

Abstract

Fertility is considered an important determinant of population dynamics. Your levels and trends have a significant influence on population growth and age distribution, constituting an important tool for analysis on the reproductive behavior of a population. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of reproductive behavior of women Northerners, considering their socioeconomic factors, spacial differences and reproductive intentions. For this research was used as the primary basis the information of Census, PNAD and the PNDS considering the last decades of the twentieth century. Thus it was found that fertility in the North, similarly to what has happening throughout the country, has shown a declining trend with a levels that are very close to the rate of population replacement. But this decline is not manifested uniformly among different areas and socioeconomic categories, in poor areas and with the worst socioeconomic conditions in the region the fertility rates are higher, for example in the states of Acre and of Amazonas. It was observed that the variables years of education, income and female work are inversely related to the level of fertility, because the higher they are, fewer children northern women tend to have. Regarding the variables color, marital status and condition of the home, it was verified that black women living in consensual unions and those who live in rural areas were those that emerged with the highest fertility levels. Finally it was founded changes in reproductive intentions of women northerners in the last decades, which began to opt for smaller families as the ideal standard, wishing to have small number of children. The perspective for the coming years is that fertility continues to decline across the region and social strata. Understanding this demographic phenomenon constitutes an important tool for developing public policies compling with social demands effectively, allowing a better quality of life for the population as a whole.