This report presents data on U.S. births using information from the birth certificates of the 3.96 million births in 1999. Data are presented for maternal demographics (age, live-birth order, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, and educational attainment); maternal characteristics (medical risk factors, weight gain, tobacco use, and alcohol…

There is an extensive theoretical literature that postulates a trade off between child quantity and quality within a family. However, there is little causal evidence that speaks to this theory. Using a rich dataset on the entire population of Norway over an extended period of time, we examine the effects of family size and birth order on the…

A survey of births of Hispanic parentage in 1985 in 23 states and the District of Columbia, where approximately 92 percent of America's Hispanic population resides, yielded the following statistical information: (1) 372,814 babies were born to Hispanic mothers; (2) nearly two-thirds of the mothers were Mexican; (3) Puerto Rican, Central and South…