CANADIAN STUDIES IN POPULATION

Canada (Edmonton) 08

1998 – VOLUME 25, NUMBER 1

99.08.1 - English - Manju P. ACHARYA, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)

Chronic social stress and emotional well-being: An analysis of mental health of immigrants in Alberta (p. 1-28)

This article examines the cause and effect relationships between chronic stress and mental health status of 20 to 64 year old immigrants living in Alberta. For the purpose of this analysis, the 1994/95 Canadian National Population Health Survey data were used. The study considers years of schooling, place of birth, age, household income, socioeconomic status and general chronic stress index as important factors that may influence immigrant's mental disorder. A multivariate analysis was utilized to highlight the significant predictor variables. The study proposes an explanation using the socio-demographic stressor model. It seems that age and household income have a strong effect on general chronic stress, which in turn influences the mental health of the immigrants. By splitting the place of origin into developed and developing regions, differences in the use of indicators to predict mental health condition of immigrants were noticed. The study presents two path models to examine the social stressor theory. (CANADA, STATE, IMMIGRANTS, MENTAL HEALTH)

99.08.2 - English - Junjie ZHANG and Roderic BEAUJOT, Population Studies Centre, Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2 (Canada)

Family attributes in the return to full-time and part-time employment (p. 29-44)

On the basis of the 1992-93 Survey of Income and Labour Dynamics, we consider the return to full-time and part-time employment as competing risks for persons who have been not-employed after a period of employment. It is found that family characteristics play a larger role than human capital factors in this transition. In particular, married men are more likely to return to employment, especially full-time. While married women are not signicantly different from single women, cohabitating women are more likely to return to full-time employment. Women are affected by the presence of young children, but only in terms of a lower likelihood of full-time employment; women with young children are not less likely to return to part-time employment. The results suggest that education and training play lesser roles than the division of paid and unpaid work in the re-employment prospects after a period of non-employment. (CANADA, LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION, UNEMPLOYMENT, PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT)

99.08.3 - English - Margaret L. DE WIT, Southwest Region Health Information Partnership, UWO Research Park, London, Ontario (Canada), and Zenaida R. RAVANERA, Population Studies Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario (Canada)

The changing impact of women's educational attainment and employment on the timing of births in Canada (p. 45-68)

Analyzing 1995 Canadian General Social Survey data and making use of Cox Proportional Hazards (1972), we consider possible cohort differences in the impact of women's education and employment on birth timing. Consistent with previous studies (De Wit and Rajulton, 1992; De Wit, 1994), our findings demonstrate the continuing importance of education and employment for more recent cohorts and also reflect their increasing impact over time on birth timing. Further analyses of interactions between education and employment show that, for all cohorts, the effect of previous employment increases with level of education, meaning that women with the most education as well as prior work experience have the greatest incentive to initiate childbearing earlier. We conclude that 1) the joint effects of women's education and employment have a more powerful influence on the timing of childbearing than either of their separate effects; and that 2) this combined effect of education and early work experience appears to be increasing over time. (CANADA, BIRTH SPACING, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, MATERNAL AGE, COHORT ANALYSIS)

99.08.4 - English - Juhee SUWAL and Frank TROVATO, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)

Canadian aboriginal fertility (p. 69-86)

This study compares the fertility of aboriginal peoples with that of non-aboriginal Canadians. Three hypotheses are developed: the characteristics assimilation hypothesis, the minority status insecurities hypothesis, and the pronatalist subculture thesis. We use data from the 1991 census Public Use Sample Tapes (Family File) to test these hypotheses. The aboriginal population included in the study are divided into three subgroups: husband/wife aboriginal, husband aboriginal/wife non-aboriginal, and wife aboriginal/husband non-aboriginal, in order to assess the possible influence of intermarriage on aboriginal fertility. The findings are consistent with the minority status insecurities and pronatalist subculture hypotheses. It is concluded that although there is some degree of aboriginal assimilation to the mainstream Canadian society through intermarriage and socioeconomic improvements, pronatalist norms tend to counteract the pace of fertility decline among aboriginal peoples. (CANADA, INDIGENOUS POPULATION, DIFFERENTIAL FERTILITY, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, MIXED MARRIAGE, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS)

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