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Fertility transition in communist Albania 1950-1990
No full textIn 1945, at the end of the Second World War, Albania had the highest fertility in Europe with an average of more than six live births per woman. However when Albania emerged from behind the 'olive curtain' in 1990, fertility had fallen to three children per woman, despite a pro-natalist environment and in the virtual absence of contraception and abortion. Nevertheless, after five decades, Albania's position at the top of the European fertility league remains unchanged. This paper documents the fertility transition in Albania during the period 1950-90 and places the demographic results in the context of recent socioeconomic and cultural change
The highest fertility in Europe – for how long? Determinants of fertility change in Albania
No full textAlbania’s demographic changes have sparked considerable interest in recent years. Much of this attention has arisen due to a general lack of knowledge and to the seemingly paradoxical demographic behaviour of the Albanian population (Gjonça, A. 2001; Gjonça, A. et al. 1997). The country has experienced a high level of life expectancy and relatively high levels of fertility in recent years. While previous research gives some answers to developing trends and patterns of mortality and fertility change, not much is known about fertility behaviour either during the communist period or during the nineties. The post-transition situation is bound to have profound impact on society and the behaviour of individuals within it. Using the 2002 Albanian Living
Standard and Measurement Survey (ALSMS) we analyse fertility behaviour in terms of the quantum and tempo. The results from survival analysis techniques suggest that the reduction of fertility is mainly due to social development, with particular emphasis on
female education, as well as the improvement of child mortality. The results for the 1990s also reveal some strong period effects mainly influencing higher parities. The persistence of traditional norms and values continue to affect family formation in Albania, while the changes in social and economic circumstances shape childbearing
Paradoxes of health transition in Europe's poorest country: Albania 1950-90
No full textScholars interested in the ways in which good health, as measured by levels of mortality, can be achieved at low cost have paid considerable attention to countries and regions in Asia and Latin America where this has been accomplished. Until recently the analogous experience of a poor developing country in Europe, Albania, was impossible to study, because of the totalitarian and isolationist policies of the communist regime that ruled the country from 1944 to 1990. The authors chart the main trends in mortality transition in Albania, examine the underlying and proximate causes of the mortality decline, and consider the wider relevance of the results. They conclude with a discussion of postcommunist developments in the country and their influence on mortality change
Albania: Trends and patterns, proximate determinants and policies of fertility change
No full textFor a very long time, Albania has had one of the highest levels of fertility in Europe: in 2002 the total fertility rate of 2.2 children per woman was the highest in Europe. Although this current level is high, the country has experienced a rapid fertility reduction during the last 50 years: a TFR decline from 7 to 2.2. This reduction has occurred in the absence of modern contraception and abortion, which indicates the significance of investments in the social agenda during the communist regime that produced policies with indirect effects on fertility. Most significant of these were policies focused on education, in particular on female education. Social and demographic settings for a further fertility reduction in Albania have been present since 1990. Contraception and abortion have been legalized and available since the early 1990s, but knowledge of their use is still not widespread in the country, largely due to the interplay between traditional and modern norms of Albanian society. This chapter points out that future fertility levels will be determined not only by new policies that might be introduced, but predominantly by the balance of this interplay
Mortality transition in Albania, 1950-1990
Get PDFAlbania was noteworthy, not just for the isolationist policy of its government, or its domestic rigid policies applied to Europe's poorest country, but because of its high life expectancy at birth. At the end of the eighties, life expectancy at birth passed the boundary of seventy, although the country's GDP per capita was {dollar}2500 in 1990, the lowest in Europe (Madison 1995).This puzzled scholars, who either doubted the success of Albania, or because of the lack of firm information, speculated with different explanations (Watson, 1995). This research was initiated by this controversy in trying to first, estimate the scale of Albania's success in improving life expectancy and document the mortality transition in Albania during the period 1950-1990. It also looks at the social, economic and political factors behind the success of improving life expectancy at birth from 51 to 71 years in a relatively short period of 40 years. The research attempts to explain why the Albanian pattern of mortality, with very high infant and child mortality and very low adult mortality, is so different from that of other East European countries, which had the same social and economic backgrounds. The analysis concludes that the life style factors are the most likely factors in explaining the controversial mortality pattern of Albania. The research uses a new set of complete data, obtained from formerly-closed Albanian State Archives, which were made available only after 1994. It is the first time that the cause specific data are used to analyse the mortality transition in Albania. The research starts with a description of country's cultural and historical background. It continues with the political, social and economic transition during the communist rule 1945-1990, which are of particular importance in understanding the demographic regime in general, and the mortality transition in particular (Caldwell, 1986). The research continues with a detailed analysis of the availability and quality of mortality data. The analysis of mortality trends and patterns during this period confirms the success of Albania in achieving high life expectancy at birth by the end of eighties. It also shows that this was achieved by very low adult mortality, and relatively high infant and child mortality. The later analysis shows that this finding is related to the cause specific pattern of mortality, as well as regional differences within the country. The research ends with an international comparison of mortality trends and patterns in Albania, in the context of whether the Albanian success was part of the experience of countries that had "a good health at low cost" (Caldwell, 1986), or if the Albanian way is another route to low mortality
Aux carrefours de l’Europe : un premier aperçu sur les différences régionales de mortalité adulte dans les Balkans
No full textLa santé des populations repose sur un ensemble complexe de facteurs. Alors que les démographes considèrent souvent les déterminants socio-économiques, comme le revenu ou le statut urbain-rural, le rôle des facteurs culturels sous-jacents est souvent plus délicat à évaluer. Avec l’avancement de la transition sanitaire et la primauté des maladies dégénératives sur les maladies infectieuses dans les causes de décès, les conditions de vie, et plus particulièrement le régime alimentaire pourraient jouer un rôle de plus en plus important. Ce texte, qui analyse en détail les tendances et les spécificités de la mortalité de la région, révèle que la manière de vivre, comme l’alimentation, serait le principal déterminant de la mortalité des adultes dans les Balkans. Cette conclusion s’appuie sur les analyses régionales. Les causes de mortalité ont été mobilisées pour trouver une explication à ce modèle. D’autres facteurs comme le statut socio-économique des différentes régions sont également considérés. Bien que, faute de données individuelles, le texte ne puisse conclure définitivement quant à cette hypothèse, il suggère fortement que les facteurs alimentaires sont de la première importance pour expliquer les différences régionales dans les Balkans.The health of any population is determined by a complex set of factors. While demographers often consider socio-economic determinants, such as income or urban-rural status, longer-standing cultural factors are often hard to assess. As the health transition progresses, and as infectious diseases are replaced by degenerative causes of death, considerations of life-style, especially of diet, may come to play increasingly significant roles. This paper, which details the trends and patterns of mortality in the Balkans, reveals that life style factors, such as diet might be the main determinants of adult mortality pattern in the Balkans. The conclusion is based on sub-regional analyses of adult mortality in the Balkans. The paper also looked at the causes of death mortality in order to find explanation for the observed pattern. Other factors such as socio-economic status of different subregions in the Balkans is also considered. While the paper could not be conclusive in its hypothesis due to the lack of individual data, it strongly suggests that dietary factors are of prime importance in explaining the sub-regional differences in the Balkans
Knowledge and beliefs about national development and developmental hierarchies: The viewpoints of ordinary people in thirteen countries
Get PDFScholars and policy makers have for centuries constructed and used developmental hierarchies to characterize different countries. The hypotheses motivating this paper are that such social constructions have been circulated internationally, are constructed similarly in various countries, and follow the social constructions of elite international organizations, such as the United Nations. This paper uses data from 15 surveys in 13 diverse countries to study how developmental hierarchies are understood in everyday life. Our research shows that most people have constructions of developmental hierarchies that are similar across countries and are similar to the developmental hierarchies constructed by the United Nations. These findings suggest that developmental hierarchies are widely understood around the world and are widely available to ordinary people as they make decisions about many aspects of life.Fil: Thornton, Arland. Michigan State University; Estados UnidosFil: Binstock, Georgina. Centro de Estudios de Población; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Abbasi Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal. University of Tehran; IránFil: Ghimire, Dirgha. Michigan State University; Estados UnidosFil: Gjonca, Arjan. University College London; Estados UnidosFil: Melegh, Attila. Demographic Research Institute; HungríaFil: Mitchell, Colter. University of Princeton; Estados UnidosFil: Moaddel, Mansoor. Eastern Michigan University; Estados UnidosFil: Xie, Yu. Michigan State University; Estados UnidosFil: Young DeMarco, Linda. Michigan State University; Estados UnidosFil: Yount, Kathryn M.. University of Emory; Estados Unido
Mortality transition in Albania, 1950-1990
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