Union Status, Union Stability and Sterilization in New Zealand

Elizabeth Thomson, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Bettina Friese, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Huey-Chi Chang, University of Wisconsin at Madison

Most research on contraceptive sterilization is based on married women and/or their partners. Because women and men are spending much more of their reproductive lives in cohabiting unions and singlehood, sterilization decisions may increasingly be made by individuals rather than couples. In addition, the value of reproductive potential may be greater in the later childbearing years if new partnerships are formed with desires for a common child, thus reducing demand for sterilization. Extending research conducted in the U.S., we examine effects of union status and union stability on the risk of tubal sterilization in New Zealand. We use the 1995 New Zealand Fertility and Family Survey and specify age (from 25) as the baseline duration dependency. In addition to combinations of prior and current union status, we control for women's education and minority status, and estimate duration dependence on age of youngest child and duration in current union status.