BACKGROUND
Research has shown that the prevalence of unmarried cohabitation has increased in
most Latin American countries and that childbearing within consensual union,
traditionally confined to low-income groups, is becoming socially acceptable among
highly educated women.
OBJECTIVE
We focus on the increasing importance of childbearing within consensual union for
overall fertility. We measure the relative contribution of births within marriage and
births within consensual union to period fertility as a component of population change
for 13 Latin American countries from 1980 to 2010.
METHODS
We use census data and the own-children method to estimate the contribution of
marriage and consensual union to age-specific fertility rates, to cumulative fertility, and
to the TFR.
RESULTS
In most Latin American countries the contribution of marriage to age-specific fertility
rates has decreased over time, whereas the contribution of consensual union has
increased steadily. In Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico the
contribution of marriage to the TFR is still larger than the contribution of consensual
union. In Ecuador and Uruguay they have become roughly similar. In Brazil, Colombia,
Cuba, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela the contribution of consensual union to the TFR is
larger than that of marriage.