Social change, the social organization of families, and fertility limitation

The social organization of the family is a key link between macrolevel soci al change and individual-level childbearing behavior. The family mode of or ganization framework and life course perspective are used to develop hypoth eses about these links. To test those hypotheses, the analysis uses a combi nation of life history and neighborhood history measures designed explicitl y for this purpose. Results from fully dynamic multilevel hazard models dem onstrate both childhood and adult community contexts shape childbearing in independent ways. The results implicate a variety of specific mechanisms li nking social change to fertility behavior: cost-benefit analysis, ideationa l diffusion, and long-term personality development. The results also show c ontextual characteristics at multiple points in the life course may each ex ert independent effects on individual outcomes.