Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2021 Jun 24;16(6):e0253535.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253535. eCollection 2021.

Balancing fertility and livelihood diversity in mixed economies

Joseph V Hackman  1 , Karen L Kramer  1
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Balancing fertility and livelihood diversity in mixed economies

Joseph V Hackman et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Mixed economies provide a unique context for testing theories of fertility change. Because they have a stake in two traditions, mixed-economy households balance the demands of both a labor-based subsistence economy, which benefits from a large family, and a wage-labor economy, which benefits from reduced fertility. Additionally, household size changes over the course of its life-cycle and shapes available economic opportunities. Here we argue that in mixed economies, fertility may reflect opportunities for livelihood diversity rather than simply responding to the restricted socioeconomic benefits of small families. While low fertility may in some cases have an economic benefit, low fertility can also limit the livelihood diversity of a household which is a key strategy for long-term economic success. We test this prediction with longitudinal data from a Maya community undergoing both a sustained decline in fertility and rapid integration into the market economy. Using household-level fertility, number of adults, and livelihood diversity at two time points, we find that household size is positively related to livelihood diversity, which in turn is positively related to household income per-capita. However, household size also has a negative association with income per capita. The results reflect a balancing act whereby households attempt to maximize the economic diversity with as few members as possible. Broadly, these results suggest that theories of fertility decline must account for how households pool resources and diversify economic activities in the face of increasing market integration, treating fertility as both an outcome and an input into economic and reproductive decision-making.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Schematic model depicting the predicted relationships between number of adults, livelihood diversity, and income per capita.
Livelihood diversity increases with increasing number of productive adults. Livelihood diversity also has a positive impact on resource flows through the household (income per capita). However, household size will have a direct negative impact on income per capita.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Bivariate associations between income, household size, and livelihood diversity.
Association between (A) household size and income per capita, (B) household size and livelihood diversity, and (C) livelihood diversity and income per capita. Data are stratified by established and new households. Shaded areas represent the 95% CI of the OLS line.
Fig 3
Fig 3
SEM analysis results for the full model (Panel A), and the models for established (Panel B) and new (Panel C) households.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Godoy R. Indians, markets, and rainforests: Theory, methods, and analysis. New York, NY: Analysis. Columbia University Press; 2001.
    1. Godoy R, Reyes-García V, Byron E, Leonard WR, Vadez V. THE EFFECT OF MARKET ECONOMIES ON THE WELL-BEING OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND ON THEIR USE OF RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES. Annu Rev Anthropol [Internet]. 2005. Oct 16 [cited 2018 Mar 1];34(1):121–38. Available from: http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120412 - DOI
    1. Urlacher SS, Liebert MA, Josh Snodgrass J, Blackwell AD, Cepon-Robins TJ, Gildner TE, et al. Heterogeneous effects of market integration on sub-adult body size and nutritional status among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador. Ann Hum Biol. 2016. Jul 3;43(4):316–29. doi: 10.1080/03014460.2016.1192219 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Godoy R., Brokaw N., Wilkie D., Colon D., Palermo A., Lye S., et al. Of Trade and Cognition: Markets and the Loss of Folk Knowledge among the Tawahka Indians of the Honduran Rain Forest. 2016;54(2):219–34.
    1. Godoy R, Reyes-García V, Huanca T, Leonard WR, Vadez V, Valdés-Galicia C, et al. Why do subsistence-level people join the market economy? Testing hypotheses of push and pull determinants in Bolivian Amazonia. J Anthropol Res. 2005;61(2):157–78.

Publication types