The End of the Rejuvenation of the Fertility Schedule in Brazil: Evidence from Changes in Contraception Use and Reproductive Preferences among Adolescents and Young Women

For the first time since the beginning of Brazil’s fertility decline, its schedule has stopped rejuvenating. A key factor for this phenomenon is the sharp decrease of fertility among teenagers in the first decade of the 21st century. This paper examines recent changes in two determinants of reproductive behavior of adolescents and young women in Brazil: the use of contraceptives and the ideal number of children. Using data from the 1996 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the 2006 Pesquisa Nacional de Demografia e Saúde (PNDS), changes in the use of contraceptives and reproductive preferences according to age groups and cohorts are examined. The results show a great increase in the use of contraception among adolescents and young women and indicate an increase in preference for low parity and a decrease in the average ideal number of children across cohorts. The early fertility schedule in Brazil in addition with lower expectations regarding future fertility strongly suggest that there is a lot of room for further decline of fertility in the country. The study emphasizes recent and not yet investigated changes in adolescents and young women' reproductive behavior in Brazil and sheds light on the likely continuation of changes in the Brazilian fertility schedule and level.