The move from large extended families towards the nuclear family already prevalent in the West is one of the most notable demographic trends of the 20th Century. In exploring this "fertility transition" this volume investigates and explains the impact that changing cultural and moral beliefs have had on fertility practice. The contributors create a global picture through a wide variety of theoretical approaches combined with highly focused empirical studies.

• 1: Richard Leete: Introduction and Overview


• Part I: The Value of Children


• 2: Debra Friedman, Michael Hechter, and Satoshi Kanazawa: Theories of the Value of Children


• Part II: The Multi-dimensional Nature of Value Change


• 3: Gigi Santow and Michael Bracher: Traditional Families and Fertility Decline: Lessons from Australia's Southern Europeans


• 4: John Simons: The Cultural Significance of Western Fertility Trends in the 1980s


• 5: Gijs C. N. Beets, Aart C. Liefbroer, and Jenny de Jong Gierveld: Changes in Fertility Values and Behaviour: A Life Course Perspective


• 6: Robert D. Retherford, Naohiro Ogawa, and Satomi Sakamoto: Values and Fertility Change in Japan


• 7: Ronald R. Rindfuss, Karin L. Brewster, and Andrew L. Kavee: Women, Work, and Children: Behavioural and Ideational Change in the United States


• Part III: Mechanisms of Value Change


• 8: Mark R. Montgomery and Woojin Chung: Social Networks and the Diffusion of Fertility Control in the Republic of Korea


• 9: Luis Rosero Bixby: Interaction, Diffusion, and Fertility Transition in Costa Rica: Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence


• 10: Charles Westoff: Mass Communication and Fertility


• 11: Vilmar E. Faria and Joseph E. Potter: Television, Telenovela, and Fertility Change in North-East Brazil


• Part IV: Gender Values, Religion, Kinship, and Fertility Change


• 12: Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer: Fairness and Fertility: The Meaning of Son Preference in Morocco


• 13: Kevin McQuillan: Religious Values and Fertility Decline: Catholics and Lutherans in Alsace, 1750-1870


• 14: Calvin Goldscheider: Religious Values, Dependencies, and Fertility: Evidence and Implications from Israel


• 15: Kofi Benefo: Cultural Perspectives on West African Fertility Changes


• 16: Ahmed Al Sabir and John Simons: Worldliness and Fertility Control: Cultural Attributes of Contraceptive Users among Rural Bangladeshi Women


• Part V: Conclusion


• 18: John B Casterline: Conclusions