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. 2022 Oct;34(10):e23788.
doi: 10.1002/ajhb.23788. Epub 2022 Aug 8.

Influence of sociodemographic factors in birth seasonality in Spain

Adela Recio Alcaide  1   2 , César Pérez López  2   3 , Francisco Bolúmar  1   4
Affiliations

Influence of sociodemographic factors in birth seasonality in Spain

Adela Recio Alcaide et al. Am J Hum Biol. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: The goal of the present research is to establish for the first time a hierarchy of sociodemographic factors according to their importance influencing birth seasonality.

Methods: We used Vital Statistics data on all births registered in Spain in the period 2016-2019. Differences in the degree of seasonality between sociodemographic groups (defined by maternal age, maternal marital status, maternal education, birth order, maternal job qualification, maternal employment status, maternal location population size, and maternal country of birth) were first examined with descriptive techniques. Secondly, analysis through alternative Data Mining techniques determined the association between sociodemographic factors and birth seasonality and the factors importance rank.

Results: Those factors related to maternal labor status (employment status, job qualification, and education) were found to be the most relevant influencing birth seasonality. It was found that the overall seasonal pattern in Spain was driven by lower skilled employed mothers, in contrast with not employed or high skilled employed mothers, who showed a different or weaker seasonality. Finally, we found that a change in the rhythm pattern has taken place in the last decades in Spain.

Conclusions: Birth seasonality is to a large extent related to maternal employment status. Employed mothers, normally more affected by the seasonality of work calendar than the unemployed, show higher conception rates structured around holidays. This may indicate that the observed change of seasonal pattern in Spain in the last decades, as in other European countries, may be specifically driven by the progressive higher participation of women in labor market.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Seasonal variation in births, years 2016–2019
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Seasonal variation in births by maternal age group
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Seasonal variation in births by birth order
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Seasonal variation in births by maternal education
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Seasonal variation in births by maternal marital status
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Seasonal variation in births by maternal town size
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Seasonal variation in births by maternal job qualification
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Seasonal variation in births by maternal country of birth
FIGURE 9
FIGURE 9
Seasonal variation in births by maternal employment status. Only 2018–2019
FIGURE A1
FIGURE A1
Periodogram of births by frequency, 2016–2019
FIGURE A2
FIGURE A2
Employed mothers by educational level
FIGURE A3
FIGURE A3
Student mothers by educational level
FIGURE A4
FIGURE A4
Unemployed mothers by educational level
FIGURE A5
FIGURE A5
Economically inactive mothers by educational level
FIGURE A6
FIGURE A6
Permanently disabled mothers by educational level
FIGURE A7
FIGURE A7
Not recorded or mothers who cannot be classified
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