Low-Fertility Cohorts Study, 1978: A Survey of White, Ever-Married Women Belonging to the 1901-1910 United States Birth Cohorts

This study is comprised of personal interviews of white, ever-married women born between July 1, 1900, and June 30, 1910. In 1978, a national survey of 1,049 married women between the ages of 68 and 78 were interviewed between the months of March and July in order to investigate low fertility during the 1920s and 1930s and the women of childbearing age during those decades. In addition to the general purpose, the study was designed to gather information to test specific hypotheses concerning demographic and socioeconomic differentials in fertility, the prevalence of contraceptive practice and the methods employed, the extent to which subfecundity and sterility may have contributed to low fertility, and the timing patterns and childbearing pace of the time. The interview collected information on each respondent's family planning, contraception usage, pregnancy history, fecundity, infertility, fertility, and maternal and infant health. Besides demographic characteristics and background information about the respondents, information was also gathered on their household composition, their husband(s), marriages, and areas of residency.