Reproductive Patterns of Mexican Women in Times of Covid-19

Marta Mier-y-Teran, National Autonomous University of Mexico
Nathaly Llanes-Díaz, Centro de Estudios Demográficos, Urbanos y Ambientales, El Colegio de Mexico

The objectives of this paper are to analyze the way in which the COVID-19 pandemic affected women's reproductive patterns, as well as to discuss the differences based on certain characteristics of women such as age, schooling, marital status and stage of family formation within the context of the fertility transition process in Mexico. Our analysis seeks to account for the heterogeneity of the impact of the pandemic on the reproductive decisions of women; considering that decision-making processes in times of crisis develop according to age, number of children, family size, and marital and socioeconomic status. It is expected that socioeconomic differences in fertility tend to be further exacerbated by the pandemic. The data source is the Birth Certificate from the Ministry of Health, which provides continuous and updated information on births that occur in Mexican medical units. The analysis is on a monthly basis during the period 2017-2022; relative change is used to unravel the impact of the pandemic at its different stages and according to women's characteristics.

Keywords: Population, Shocks and Pandemics, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Data and Methods

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