Childbearing in five Arab countries

The life-table technique is used in this study to describe childbearing patterns in five Arab countries (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, and Yemen). Two summary measures es al e estimated: the cumulative proportion of women of a given parity having a subsequent birth within 60 months of the previous birth (quintum), and the median length of the interval between successive births. The analysis indicates that in Yemen (where the total fertility rate exceeds seven children per woman of reproductive age), women begin childbearing at a relatively early age and a large proportion of ever-married women reach high parity at a relatively fast pace. Morocco and Egypt (with TFRs of 3.3 and 3.8 children per woman, respectively) are characterized by delay in the onset of childbearing, a slow pace of childbearing, and a smaller proportion of ever-married women reaching high parity. In Algeria and Sudan (with TFRs of 4.4 and 4.6 children), delay in the onset of childbearing plays a larger role in fertility reduction than do the tempo or the quantum of childbearing.