Birth control and regional differentials in the Soviet Union.

Abstract Following the territorial division pointed out by Urlanis into those parts of the Soviet Union where birth control is practised and where it is not as widespread, it is possible to ascertain the importance of different factors bearing on fertility within each region. This study was based on data obtained from the 1959 USSR Census of Population including information on social and demographic characteristics of the urban and rural populations for over 150 political-administrative areas. In Central Asia, Azerbaidjan and Armenia, outside the region of birth control, the level of fertility depends mainly on the proportion of women who are married and also on their social position measured by the discrepancy in the educational status of men and women. In contrast, the birth control region of a relatively low level of fertility in urban areas, for example, displays the characteristic of women's educational achievement most strongly associated with the child-woman ratio. Except for the rural areas in this region, the present study fails to support the popular hypothesis that economic dependency of women is directly related to fertility.