Effect of salaried work in cities and commercial agriculture on natural fertility in rural maya women from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Abstract

We examined 548 reproductive histories of peasant Maya women from the Maize and Citrus Regions of the State of Yucatan, Mexico, to explore the impact of commercial agriculture and circular migration on rural fertility patterns. Since the 1970s households from the Citrus Region combined subsistence with commercial agriculture, and those from the Maize Region combined subsistence agriculture with salaried work in the nearby cities of Merida and Cancun. We compared the Age-Specific Fertility Rates between cohorts that reproduced before and after economic development, and between populations. Age at desired fertility was determined to search for stopping behavior and Coale and Trussell (Popul Index 40(2):185-258, 1974; Popul Index 44(2):203-213, 1978) model of marital control was used to determine variations from natural fertility. Citrus Region women reduced fertility after development, had fewer children than those from the Maize Region, and most of them stopped reproducing after age 36. However, Total Fertility Rate remained high (5.08). Those in the Maize Region had higher fertility (7.24) and a natural fertility pattern. The importance of food production maintained a high premium on fertility in both regions. While commercial agriculture reduced desired fertility, salaried work in the cities made large families desirable to incorporate labor opportunities into the household’s traditional survival strategy.