Fertility in Peten, Guatemala: The Impact of the Individual, the Household and the Context on Fertility Behavior

Kathryn Grace, University of California, Santa Barbara
David Carr, University of California, Santa Barbara

This research explores fertility correlates in the Peten, a high fertility region of Guatemala, during the 1998-99 time period. By taking into account land use and labor characteristics at the household and community levels in addition to individual level factors related to diffusion, gender equity, and socio-demographics the research aims to enhance the traditional application of the demand framework used to examine fertility. Data from the 1998/99 Demographic and Health Survey containing a unique environmental module was used. A multi-level model using a count variable (total children ever born) as the response where individuals are nested within their geographical location was compared to a negative binomial model as well as a traditional Poisson generalized linear model. The results of the analysis highlight the importance of incorporating individual and household land and labor characteristics with factors related to diffusion to explain the variation in fertility behavior.