Abstract

Moldova's first Demographic and Health Survey (2005 MDHS) is a nationally representative sample survey of 7,440 women age 15-49 and 2,508 men age 15-59 selected from 400 sample points (clusters) throughout Moldova (excluding the Transnistria region). It is designed to provide data to monitor the population and health situation in Moldova; it includes several indicators which follow up on those from the 1997 Moldova Reproductive Health Survey (1997 MRHS) and the 2000 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2000 MICS). The 2005 MDHS used a two-stage sample based on the 2004 Population and Housing Census and was designed to produce separate estimates for key indicators for each of the major regions in Moldova, including the North, Center, and South regions and Chisinau Municipality. Unlike the 1997 MRHS and the 2000 MICS surveys, the 2005 MDHS did not cover the region of Transnistria. Data collection took place over a two-month period, from June 13 to August 18, 2005.

The survey obtained detailed information on fertility levels, abortion levels, marriage, sexual activity, fertility preferences, awareness and use of family planning methods, breastfeeding practices, nutritional status of women and young children, childhood mortality, maternal and child health, adult health, and awareness and behavior regarding HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. Hemoglobin testing was conducted on women and children to detect the presence of anemia. Additional features of the 2005 MDHS include the collection of information on international emigration, language preference for reading printed media, and domestic violence. The 2005 MDHS was carried out by the National Scientific and Applied Center for Preventive Medicine, hereafter called the National Center for Preventive Medicine (NCPM), of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. ORC Macro provided technical assistance for the MDHS through the USAID-funded MEASURE DHS project. Local costs of the survey were also supported by USAID, with additional funds from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and in-kind contributions from the NCPM.

MAIN RESULTS

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS

Ethnicity and Religion. Most women and men in Moldova are of Moldovan ethnicity (77 percent and 76 percent, respectively), followed by Ukrainian (8-9 percent of women and men), Russian (6 percent of women and men), and Gagauzan (4-5 percent of women and men). Romanian and Bulgarian ethnicities account for 2 to 3 percent of women and men. The overwhelming majority of Moldovans, about 95 percent, report Orthodox Christianity as their religion.

Residence and Age. The majority of respondents, about 58 percent, live in rural areas. For both sexes, there are proportionally more respondents in age groups 15-19 and 45-49 (and also 45-54 for men), whereas the proportion of respondents in age groups 25-44 is relatively lower. This U-shaped age distribution reflects the aging baby boom cohort following World War II (the youngest of the baby boomers are now in their mid-40s), and their children who are now mostly in their teens and 20s. The smaller proportion of men and women in the middle age groups reflects the smaller cohorts following the baby boom generation and those preceding the generation of baby boomers' children. To some degree, it also reflects the disproportionately higher emigration of the working-age population.

Education. Women and men in Moldova are universally well educated, with virtually 100 percent having at least some secondary or higher education; 79 percent of women and 83 percent of men have only a secondary or secondary special education, and the remainder pursues a higher education. More women (21 percent) than men (16 percent) pursue higher education.

Language Preference. Among women, preferences for language of reading material are about equal for Moldovan (37 percent) and Russian (35 percent) languages. Among men, preference for Russian (39 percent) is higher than for Moldovan (25 percent). A substantial percentage of women and men prefer Moldovan and Russian equally (27 percent of women and 32 percent of men).

Living Conditions. Access to electricity is almost universal for households in Moldova. Ninety percent of the population has access to safe drinking water, with 86 percent in rural areas and 96 percent in urban areas. Seventy-seven percent of households in Moldova have adequate means of sanitary disposal, with 91 percent of households in urban areas and only 67 percent in rural areas.

Children's Living Arrangements. Compared with other countries in the region, Moldova has the highest proportion of children who do not live with their mother and/or father. Only about two-thirds (69 percent) of children under age 15 live with both parents. Fifteen percent live with just their mother although their father is alive, 5 percent live with just their father although their mother is alive, and 7 percent live with neither parent although they are both alive. Compared with living arrangements of children in 2000, the situation appears to have worsened.

FERTILITY

Fertility Levels and Trends. The total fertility rate (TFR) in Moldova is 1.7 births. This means that, on average, a woman in Moldova will give birth to 1.7 children by the end of her reproductive period. Overall, fertility rates have declined since independence in 1991. However, data indicate that fertility rates may have increased in recent years. For example, women of childbearing age have given birth to, on average, 1.4 children at the end of their childbearing years. This is slightly less than the total fertility rate (1.7), with the difference indicating that fertility in the past three years is slightly higher than the accumulation of births over the past 30 years.

Fertility Differentials. The TFR for rural areas (1.8 births) is higher than that for urban areas (1.5 births). Results show that this urban-rural difference in childbearing rates can be attributed almost exclusively to younger age groups.

CONTRACEPTION

Knowledge of Contraception. Knowledge of family planning is nearly universal, with 99 percent of all women age 15-49 knowing at least one modern method of family planning. Among all women, the male condom, IUD, pills, and withdrawal are the most widely known methods of family planning, with over 80 percent of all women saying they have heard of these methods. Female sterilization is known by two-thirds of women, while periodic abstinence (rhythm method) is recognized by almost six in ten women. Just over half of women have heard of the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), while 40-50 percent of all women have heard of injectables, male sterilization, and foam/jelly. The least widely known methods are emergency contraception, diaphragm, and implants.

Use of Contraception. Sixty-eight percent of currently married women are using a family planning method to delay or stop childbearing. Most are using a modern method (44 percent of married women), while 24 percent use a traditional method of contraception. The IUD is the most widely used of the modern methods, being used by 25 percent of married women. The next most widely used method is withdrawal, used by 20 percent of married women. Male condoms are used by about 7 percent of women, especially younger women. Five percent of married women have been sterilized and 4 percent each are using the pill and periodic abstinence (rhythm method). The results show that Moldovan women are adopting family planning at lower parities (i.e., when they have fewer children) than in the past. Among younger women (age 20-24), almost half (49 percent) used contraception before having any children, compared with only 12 percent of women age 45-49.

MATERNAL HEALTH

Antenatal Care and Delivery Care. Among women with a birth in the five years preceding the survey, almost all reported seeing a health professional at least once for antenatal care during their last pregnancy; nine in ten reported 4 or more antenatal care visits. Seven in ten women had their first antenatal care visit in the first trimester. In addition, virtually all births were delivered by a health professional, in a health facility. Results also show that the vast majority of women have timely checkups after delivering; 89 percent of all women received a medical checkup within two days of the birth, and another 6 percent within six weeks.

CHILD HEALTH

Childhood Mortality. The infant mortality rate for the 5-year period preceding the survey is 13 deaths per 1,000 live births, meaning that about 1 in 76 infants dies before the first birthday. The under-five mortality rate is almost the same with 14 deaths per 1,000 births. The near parity of these rates indicates that most all early childhood deaths take place during the first year of life. Comparison with official estimates of IMRs suggests that this rate has been improving over the past decade.

NUTRITION

Breastfeeding Practices. Breastfeeding is nearly universal in Moldova: 97 percent of children are breastfed. However the duration of breast-feeding is not long, exclusive breastfeeding is not widely practiced, and bottle-feeding is not uncommon. In terms of the duration of breastfeeding, data show that by age 12-15 months, well over half of children (59 percent) are no longer being breastfed. By age 20-23 months, almost all children have been weaned.

Exclusive breastfeeding is not widely practiced and supplementary feeding begins early: 57 percent of breastfed children less than 4 months are exclusively breastfed, and 46 percent under six months are exclusively breastfeed. The remaining breastfed children also consume plain water, water-based liquids or juice, other milk in addition to breast milk, and complimentary foods. Bottle-feeding is fairly widespread in Moldova;

This statistic presents the primary source of debt of Americans in 2019, by generation. At that time, the most common debt source for Generation Z was education loan debt, with 20 percent of respondents choosing that option. Mortgages were the primary debt of both Gen X and Baby Boomer respondents.

This is a qualitative data collection comprised of interviews with 70 women generated as part of an ESRC funded study 'Transitions and Mobilities: Girls growing up in Britain 1954-76 and the implications for later-life experience and identity' (ES/P00122X/1), otherwise known as the ‘Girlhood and Later Life Project’. This study addressed women born 1939-52 who became young adults in Britain 1954-76. The youth of this generation has immense historical and current significance. These women grew up in a period of far-reaching post-war social change. In later life they are part of the largest group of over 60s in British history with unprecedented influence and are widely seen to be ageing differently from their predecessors partly due to their youth experiences. The study had 2 aims. First, to investigate key experiences and transitions to adulthood of young women from different social backgrounds in Britain 1954-76, addressing related spatial mobilities. Youth was defined as 15 to 24 years, bridging the end of compulsory full-time education and the age by which most young women married. Two cohorts were identified: war babies born 1939-45 and baby boomers born 1946-52. Second, to explore the relationship between the youth of these women and their current, later-life experiences and identities.

This study addressed women born 1939-52 who became young adults in Britain 1954-76 because this generation of women has immense historical and current significance. In their youth, these women were in the vanguard of postwar social change. In later life they are part of the largest group of over 60s in British history with unprecedented influence and are widely seen to be ageing differently from their predecessors partly due to their youth experiences.

This study investigated the key youth events and transitions to adulthood 1954-76 of girls born 1939-52, and the implications for their later-life experience and identity. It looked initially at the period 1954-76 when these girls were 15-24 years. It included working- and middle-class girls from rural and urban areas and compared 2 cohorts - war babies born 1939-45 and baby boomers born 1946-52. The exploration of youth experiences paid close attention to spatial mobilities because of their likely significance for understanding social diversity and inequalities in youth and longer term. Topics covered included: travel for work, study and leisure; leaving home; residential mobility; independent travel.

The research employed 4 quantitative and qualitative methods. 1) Documentary research to provide contemporary evidence of youth and to contextualise and inform methods 2 and 4. 2) Secondary analysis of longitudinal surveys to identify the occurrence and timing of youth events and transitions 1954-76 and to explore relationships between youth and later-life experiences. The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) is the backbone of this part. It was launched in 2002 to generate data about the lifecourses and ageing of people born pre-1954 in England; it includes retrospectively-collected data about youth 1954-76 and prospectively-collected data on later life. The study also utilised the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD)which has followed through to the present a sample of children born in Britain in 1946; this includes girls from Wales, Scotland and England and enabled comparisons between prospectively and retrospectively collected data on youth. 3) Qualitative study of the records of a sample of 70 ELSA and 30 NSHD participants to holistically assess youth experiences and lifecourse trajectories. 4) Two interviews using 3 elicitation methods with each of the 70 ELSA participants to probe: relationships in the survey data; the personal meaning and import of youth events, transitions and related spatial mobilities; links between youth experiences and later-life experience and identity. The interviews are archived.

The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country will have throughout their reproductive years. In the United States in 1800, the average woman of childbearing age would have seven children over the course of their lifetime. As factors such as technology, hygiene, medicine and education improved, women were having fewer children than before, reaching just two children per woman in 1940. This changed quite dramatically in the aftermath of the Second World War, rising sharply to over 3.5 children per woman in 1960 (children born between 1946 and 1964 are nowadays known as the 'Baby Boomer' generation, and they make up roughly twenty percent of todays US population). Due to the end of the baby boom and increased access to contraception, fertility reached it's lowest point in the US in 1980, where it was just 1.77. It did however rise to over two children per woman between 1995 and 2010, although it is expected to drop again by 2020, to just 1.78.

The total fertility rate of Brazil at the end of the nineteenth century was approximately 6.3 births per woman; this means that the average woman of reproductive age would have roughly 6 children in their lifetime. Brazil's fertility rate then decreased and plateaued at just under six children per women in the first half of the twentieth century, before increasing slightly in the 1940s; this increase coincides with the worldwide baby boom that was experienced in the aftermath of the Second World War, during which time Brazil's economy and political landscape stabilized. From the late 1960s onwards, Brazil's fertility rate went into decline, and dropped by approximately three children per woman in the next three decades. This decline is similar to that of many other developing nations during this time, where access to contraception, improved education and declining infant and child mortality rates contributed to lower fertility rate across the globe. In the past fifteen years, Brazil's fertility rate has continued to decrease (albeit, at a much slower rate than in previous decades) and in 2020, it is expected to be at just 1.7 children per woman.

This graph depicts the revenue forecasts for the U.S. toys and games market from 2009 to 2014. Estimated revenue for 2010 is 21.98 billion U.S. dollars.

U.S. Toys and Games Market

The toys and games market comprises a wide range of products, including art and craft, building and other learning and hobby sets/toys, dolls, jigsaw, board and card games, action figures, die cast models, soft toys and outdoor games and sports toys/games. Traditional toy sales are suffering due to the growing popularity of the computer games market; however, this is somewhat balanced by a constant demand for infants’ toys. Toys and games are not necessities but rather viewed as a treat of which frequency and cost is dependent on the affluence of the buyer. Grandparents of the baby-boomer generations are generally wealthier than in previous generations, especially in developed nations, and are able to spoil their grandchildren to a greater extent. The popularity of many toys and games is short-lived and/or seasonal, which means the retail market is subject to rapid change.

It is becoming increasingly challenging for independent toy stores to compete with mass merchandisers and department stores, as these types of stores are able to exploit economies of scale to offer low prices. However, the biggest threat and the most significant substitutes to the toys and games market are computer games. Children are playing computer games at a lower age in an increasingly digital world. Consoles, PCs and mobile phones are playing an ever growing part in children's lives by providing games, education and entertainment. Despite not providing a cheaper alternative on the whole, computer games are becoming more popular to the detriment of traditional toys and games where customer loyalty is low with no switching costs.

The toys and games market is generally fragmented, with numerous retailers present, boosting the competition within this market. Some market players are highly dependent on revenues from toys and games sales, with department stores and supermarkets being less dependent than specialized toy stores, due to the variety of goods on offer.

In 1900, the fertility rate in turkey was just over 6.9 children per woman, meaning that the average woman born in Turkey in that year could expect to have approximately seven children over the course of their reproductive years. This figure would see little change for much of the first half of the 20 th century, falling only to 6.7 children by 1945. However, the fertility rate in Turkey would begin to see dramatic change in the years following the Second World War, as fertility would initially rise in the post-war, global baby boom, only to begin rapidly falling as Turkey began to modernize and access to contraception became more widespread in the country. Fertility would fall the fastest in the 1980s, as Turkey would experience high levels of urbanization and improvements in access to education for women. As a result of these developments, the fertility rate in Turkey would fall to approximately 2.6 children per woman by the turn of the century. This trend would continue steadily into the 21st century, and in 2020, Turkey has a (roughly) replacement-level fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman.

This statistic shows the market size of the toy market worldwide in 2015, by country. That year, the toy market in the United States was valued at approximately 25.5 billion U.S. dollars.

U.S. Toys and Games Market

The toys and games market comprises a wide range of products, including art and craft, building and other learning and hobby sets/toys, dolls, jigsaw, board and card games, action figures, die cast models, soft toys and outdoor games and sports toys/games. Traditional toy sales are suffering due to the growing popularity of the computer games market; however, this is somewhat balanced by a constant demand for infants’ toys. Toys and games are not necessities but rather viewed as a treat of which frequency and cost is dependent on the affluence of the buyer. Grandparents of the baby-boomer generations are generally wealthier than in previous generations, especially in developed nations, and are able to spoil their grandchildren to a greater extent. The popularity of many toys and games is short-lived and/or seasonal, which means the retail market is subject to rapid change.

It is becoming increasingly challenging for independent toy stores to compete with mass merchandisers and department stores, as these types of stores are able to exploit economies of scale to offer low prices. However, the biggest threat and the most significant substitutes to the toys and games market are computer games. Children are playing computer games at a lower age in an increasingly digital world. Consoles, PCs and mobile phones are playing an ever growing part in children's lives by providing games, education and entertainment. Despite not providing a cheaper alternative on the whole, computer games are becoming more popular to the detriment of traditional toys and games where customer loyalty is low with no switching costs.

The toys and games market is generally fragmented, with numerous retailers present, boosting the competition within this market. Some market players are highly dependent on revenues from toys and games sales, with department stores and supermarkets being less dependent than specialized toy stores, due to the variety of goods on offer.