Fertility Transitions in Brazil: An Analysis in the Light of Educational Levels

Adriana Miranda-Ribeiro, João Pinheiro Foundation (FJP)
Ricardo A. Garcia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

The first decade of this century represented the entry of Brazil in the group of below replacement fertility countries. The transition process began in the 1960s, when TFR was 5.8, accelerated during the 1980s, reaching 1.9 by 2010. The country's average does not reflect the differentials in reproductive behavior of Brazilian women. Considering the example of the extremes educational levels (women less than 8 years versus women higher than 11 years of schooling), one can observe that although the differentials decreases over time, they are still considerable. The present work investigates the fertility transition in Brazil in the light of the women’s educational level. The hypothesis is that it is possible to identify more than one stage of fertility transition in Brazil. The main objective is to analyze the fertility differentials, seeking characteristics that allow to say in what stage of the demographic transition each educational group is.