[Regional fertility levels and trends in Brazil--application of own children method to the 1970 census].

An arrangement of Brazil's diverse regions was made in order to compare fertility levels in the decade of the 1960s, using the own children method on data from the 1970 demographic census of Brazil. Regions were categorized into 3 groups of high, medium, and low fertility. Regions 5 and 6 (Northeast and North) comprise the 1st group, Regions 3 and 4 (Minas Gerais, Espiritu Santo, and the Southern states) the 2nd group, and Regions 1 and 2 (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) the 3rd. Socioeconomic development in each of the 3 groups is described. A disaggregation of data by age specifically identifies groups that are defined by fertility behavior; thus, it becomes evident that women aged 25-39 years (particularly in the Northeastern region but also of the North) exhibited a significant increase in fertility rates around 1965. Additionally, the major rates of the period corresponded to the rates of this age group. In considering rural and urban areas of residence, 2 important characteristics emerged. On 1 hand, it was the rural area which is most closely associated with the fertility increase in 1965. On the other hand, it is the urban areas which registered a polarization, differentiating regions of high fertility (North and Northeast with Minas Gerais and Espiritu Santo) and low fertility (Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and the other Southern states). In the rural area it is difficult to establish any classification, especially at the beginning of the decade. Differentiation in the rural area appears more clearly at the end of the period. There appears to be a general tendency to maintain throughout the period a certain parallel among the regions. It is the product of 2 different behaviors, synthesized into a general form. While in the urban area, fertility levels widely differed at the beginning of the period, they tended to become homogeneous in the final years of the 1960s. The rural area, on the contrary, had similar fertility levels during the early 1960s and tended to become diversified at the close of the decade. In summary, the fertility trend of Brazil as a whole in the decade before 1970 was the product of diverse trends and levels, which become evident when they are presented as disaggregated data for each region. Although the results are what might be expected when considering the socioeconomic circumstances of the regions, diversity is still present in each region when the different rates for urban and rural areas are examined.