This paper examines the social and demographic features of divorcing couples by the grounds on which their decrees are made absolute and by the party granted the divorce. The demographic characteristics include ages at marriage and at divorce of husbands and of wives granted decrees, duration of marriage, number of children, and the social class of both the husband and the wife. The data are also analysed for particular categories of couples: those in which the wife is a housewife, couples where the husband is unemployed, couples who have a child which was pre-maritally conceived, and couples who have dependent children. There are clear and interesting differences in the demographic characteristics of couples who successfully petition on the various grounds, suggesting that the law is used in different ways by different couples. Reasons for the observed patterns are considered. The data provide some basis for assessing the possible repercussions on divorce of socioeconomic changes, and for informed discussion on whether and how divorce law might sensibly be improved.

The attitudes of women of reproductive age to IVF therapy and human embryo research were investigated. A questionnaire was given to 1920 consecutive women attending clinics for family planning (1050), ante-natal care (705) and infertility (165). This paper reports the analysis of 1701 returned questionnaires, all from women of reproductive age. The great majority (94%) were in favour of IVF treatment. Sixty-seven percent approved of research on human embryos up to 14 days to improve IVF treatment, and a further 10% supported research on embryos designed to avoid birth defects. The majority (79%) thought women should be allowed to donate ova for research. The social characteristics of the infertility group were similar to those of the ante-natal group except for lower parity. In the family planning and ante-natal groups attitudes were not related to age, social class or parity, but were influenced by religious beliefs.

The changes in the average male-female performance difference for nine running, six swimming and four skating events between the years 1936 and 1984 are examined. The data, world records and verified best performances, confirm the conclusions derived in earlier more circumscribed studies that women's performances relative to men's have improved markedly and are continuing to improve. This improvement is manifest in long and short distance events and in those in which women have been competing for a long time as much as those they have taken up recently. Regression analyses suggest that eventual equality of performance may be attained in the foreseeable future. The implications of these findings for women's sport are discussed. Women still have a more restricted programme in these three sports and many others; in particular several of the longer distance events are not open to them at Olympics, World Championships and so forth. These restrictions are obviously based on false perceptions of women's biology. With increasing participation, media exposure, training and social acceptance, women's improvements are likely to continue. The reasons for and implications of the previous incorrect scientific assessment of women's sporting potential are also discussed.

This article employs the analytical model of Bongaarts and Potter to compare the proximate determinants of fertility among three populations in Nepal's Kathmandu valley with the following characteristics: (1) high and low caste, (2) urban and urban fringe residence, and (3) users and non-users of contraception. It is shown that while Nepal, as a whole, is firmly entrenched in Phase 1 of the fertility transition, each of the populations studied has begun to experience a demographic transition to different degrees. In fact, greater progress in controlling fertility has been made than previously known.

This paper examines the levels, trends, patterns and Kuwaiti-non-Kuwaiti differentials in fertility, by socioeconomic variables and the major factors that may account for recent changes. Kuwaiti fertility is very high: in 1980, the crude birth rate was about 47 and the total fertility was 6–8 per woman. Childbearing still extends to later ages but fertility in the early and middle reproductive years has declined recently, as a result of the rise in age at marriage and the fall in the proportion of currently married women in the younger age groups. Non-Kuwaiti fertility is consistently lower, with total fertility at about 69% of the Kuwaiti level. This differential cannot be explained by the age structure of the populations alone. Analysis of completed fertility by education and economic activity status indicates an inverse relationship.

The paper explores factors that influence fertility levels in Sri Lanka. It shows that three environmental variables and two socioeconomic variables explain 76–4% of the variance among districts.

A survey conducted in 1975, as part of the World Fertility Survey programme, provided evidence that fertility began to decline in Pakistan during the early 1970s. Because of the low level of contraceptive use recorded in that survey, the fertility decline was attributed to delayed marriage. However, a second and similar survey conducted approximately 5 years later showed almost exactly the same pattern of very recent decline, and indeed a reduction in contraceptive use. The two surveys disagreed for the period of overlap. It is concluded that there were essentially no changes in fertility during the decade, and that it remained at pre-1970 levels.

A sample of 1871 women having a child under 3 years old in Bas Zaire was studied to determine the correlates of breast-feeding practices and to examine the interrelationships among breast-feeding, contraceptive practices and desire for pregnancy. Socioeconomic factors that were related to the length of breast-feeding include economic status, maternal education, migration status, urban residence, pregnancy and sex of the index child. Among non-pregnant women, current desire for pregnancy also was related to breast-feeding status when the length of time since birth of the last child was taken into account. Rural women were reportedly ready for another pregnancy sooner after the birth of their last child than were urban women. On the other hand, urban women were much less likely to be practising traditional abstinence or other effective methods of contraception.

Ahmad, Gilbert & Naqui (1985) note that there is a substantial and significant positive correlation between the heights of spouses in Pakistani arranged marriages. This was so even in those cases where the spouses had not seen one another before the ceremony. They offer three possible explanations. I should like to suggest another.