"Latin American birthrates plummeting; Urbanization, health care, TV soap operas cited" by Juan Forero | Washington Post, January 01, 2012
BATAN, Brazil - Fertility rates have dropped in many parts of the world in recent decades, but something particularly remarkable has happened to the once-prolific family pattern across Latin America. From sprawling Mexico to tiny Ecuador to economically buoyant Chile, fertility rates are sinking even though abortion is illegal, the Catholic Church opposes birth control, and government-run family planning is rare.
A frenzied migration to the cities, the expansion of the female workforce, better health care, and the example of the small, affluent families portrayed on the region’s wildly popular soap operas have contributed to a demographic shift....
Women were empowered by a prodemocracy movement that rose up against a 1970s-era military dictatorship. That dictatorship, which wanted to populate Brazil’s remote areas, inadvertently contributed to fewer births by promoting industrialization. That led rural families to crowd into cities, where children could be a financial drain....
The aspirations of Brazilian women are underscored by a report issued by the Center for Work-Life Policy, a think tank in New York. The report, “The Battle for Female Talent in Brazil,’’ says that 59 percent of Brazilian women consider themselves “very ambitious’’ and that 80 percent of college-educated women aspire to upper-echelon posts.
The lives of Brazil’s career women are often reflected in the country’s elaborate soaps, which researchers say have been an important factor in the change.
The protagonists on these shows may be anguished about lost love, but they inhabit an affluent, high-flying world, whose distinguishing features include the small family.
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Related: Drumming up business in Brazil
