Relative to the production of children, sometimes with the intent of evaluating the impact on the growth rate of a population.
Across 23 sub-Saharan African countries, fertility decline in the past few decades is in good part attributable to the shrinking share of women in polygynous unions. As Sophia Chae and … Read more
Worldwide, the path leading to delayed fertility is more complex than it may appear at first sight. Thomas Spoorenberg and Vegard Skirbekk offer a few keys to better interpret current … Read more
Across high-income countries, women and couples are having children later than ever before, sometimes turning to assisted reproductive technologies (ART). At older ages, however, Ester Lazzari and Luzia Bruckamp say, … Read more
Using UK birth cohorts (1940–1989), Alessandro Di Nallo shows that parental occupational class predicts whether first births occur in marriage, cohabitation, or while single – and at what ages. Despite … Read more
Rapid decline in a country’s birth and death rates creates a “kinship gap”, leaving people born just years apart with vastly different family support networks. Sha Jiang discusses the ensuing … Read more
Vegard Skirbekk and Thomas Spoorenberg* advocate the combined use of fertility and mortality information, or net reproduction, when discussing fertility levels and trends, both in developing and in developed countries. … Read more
Emergency contraception has been on the rise in Italy in the past 10 years, especially after recent liberalization laws. Gianpiero Dalla-Zuanna, Anna Giraldo and Marzia Loghi discuss the pros and … Read more
Several countries have seen recent increases in the prevalence of mental disorders. Has this contributed to reduced fertility? A Norwegian register-based analysis shows negative associations between mental disorders and birth … Read more
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is playing an increasingly important role in the realization of childbearing intentions in advanced societies. While ART is more accessible than ever, its usage varies across … Read more
Climate change is caused much more by generalized pursuit of throughput growth and the consumption patterns of the wealthy than by population growth. Structural changes would be needed in global … Read more
Ester Lazzari and Valeria Zurla examine how taking on the role of caregiver for a parent influences the expectation to have children. Using prospective data from the Australian HILDA survey, … Read more
The realization of fertility intentions varies greatly across Europe. Zsolt Spéder and Lajos Bálint find that labour market stability, low inflation, strong welfare state involvement, and cultural attitudes emphasizing the … Read more
Poland’s ambitious “Family 500+” program offered substantial monthly payment to families with children. While the program modestly increased overall fertility in the short-term, its effects varied significantly by age and … Read more
Thomas Spoorenberg* updates earlier studies on the increased concentration of reproduction as fertility declines, a trend that is now also apparent in developing countries. When discussing population trends, demographers often … Read more
Fertility transitions in low- and middle-income countries are driven by changes in both preferences for smaller families and their implementation. Claims of an overwhelming dominance of either changing demand or … Read more
Angela Greulich and Laurent Toulemon present a new method for measuring the educational gradient of fertility for women who are at childbearing age rather than for women who have already … Read more
Katya Ivanova and Nicoletta Balbo examine the link between societal pessimism and fertility decisions. Using prospective data from the Dutch LISS panel, the authors illustrate that broader concerns about the … Read more
Return migrants’ fertility is likely to differ from that of nonmigrants and migrants due to migration experiences, norms, adaptation, and socioeconomic factors, but knowledge of their fertility behavior is limited. … Read more
Progress in education has been uneven in sub-Saharan Africa, which may have contributed to slowing or halting fertility decline. Bruno Schoumaker and David A. Sánchez-Páez note that fertility has stalled … Read more
Uruguay’s total fertility rate plummeted from nearly 2 children per woman in 2015 to 1.37 in 2021. As Wanda Cabella, Mariana Fernández Soto, Ignacio Pardo, Gabriela Pedetti note, this unprecedented … Read more
The link between religion and fertility has long interested demographers. While relevant data with the necessary extent and detail are rarely available, Finland, is an exception, as information on religious … Read more
In Australia, according to Ewa Jarosz, Anna Matysiak and Beata Osiewalska, mothers of one child are more likely to have a second birth if certain conditions are met, and notably … Read more
In the prominent political debates about population decline and ageing, short-term changes in the period total fertility rate (TFR) are the main point of reference, even though they can be … Read more
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities are known to have high fertility, but details are difficult to investigate because questions about religion and fertility are rarely asked together in surveys. Lyman Stone’s ingenious … Read more
Women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) experience high prevalence rates of anaemia and HIV, resulting in an average of 14.3 years of reproductive-age life expectancy spent in poor health. Audrey M. … Read more
The number of countries that aim to raise fertility has markedly increased over recent decades. Among policy instruments used to achieve this goal, parental leave schemes play an important role. … Read more
Black women in the US have higher fertility than White women, but this difference does not emerge consistently at all educational levels. Emma Zang and Aparajita Kaphle document these education-specific … Read more
The number and proportion of children born after medically assisted reproduction (MAR) is increasing fast and many gaps in knowledge remain about their longer-term well-being. Using population register data from … Read more
Recent decreases in fertility rates in European countries have fueled gloom and doom about the prospect of shrinking populations. As Nick Parr shows, the levels of fertility that would sustain … Read more
With rising infertility and increasing demand for fertility treatments globally, understanding the role of medically assisted reproduction (MAR) in population demographics and family formation patterns has never been more important. … Read more
In Sweden, a positive association is emerging between income and fertility, Martin Kolk observes. Men and women with higher income have more children than their less wealthy peers, and the … Read more
Rashid Javed and Mazhar Mughal investigate how son preference affects birth spacing in Pakistan. The impact they find is strong, with several negative consequences on the demographic transition of the … Read more
Premature drops in estrogen from early menopausal age may increase the risk of disease and death in later life. To understand what influences early menopausal onset, we looked at the … Read more
As female labour force participation continues to rise in Taiwan, more women are faced with the dual burden of employment and household responsibilities. Jolene Tan highlights the impact of a … Read more
The demographic transition seems to have come to a halt in many poorer countries. The reasons are often poorly understood. Michael Grimm, Isabel Günther, and Kenneth Harttgen show that in … Read more
With a total fertility rate of 0.81 in 2021, South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world. Within a generally declining trend, and very low levels globally, Jolene … Read more
Short birth intervals are often believed to be detrimental for children. While this may be true in some (poor) settings, and for some birth outcomes (preterm birth and low birth … Read more
In India, the percentage of male births has increased since the mid-1980s. Claus Pörtner ties the continuously growing use of prenatal sex selection to India’s falling fertility among highly-educated women. … Read more
The concept of demographic transition is a century old, but there is still no consensus about its drivers. Wolfgang Lutz highlights a recent reassessment of the theory, which adds cognition … Read more
Completed family size has declined in many high-income countries among the post baby boom cohorts. Ester Lazzari, Ryohei Mogi and Vladimir Canudas-Romo find that educational expansion is not the main … Read more
While still low, childlessness in India is on the rise. Trends in childlessness are linked to the opposing factors of poverty and opportunity-driven causes of childlessness, which Koyel Sarkar and … Read more
Current explanations on the link between mortality and fertility imply that mortality exposure increases fertility desires. Conversely, Emily Smith-Greenaway, Sara Yeatman, and Abdallah Chilungo find that, in Malawi, increased mortality … Read more
An original multi-sited analysis of migration (from selected sub-Saharan African countries to France) and contraceptive use reveals that migrant women align more closely with native French women than women in … Read more
The US birth rate has fallen since the 2007 Great Recession, with no signs of reversing. This decline has occurred among women of different age subgroups, education levels, races and … Read more
Family-friendly policies can raise fertility and explain at least part of fertility differences across countries, say Janna Bergsvik, Agnes Fauske, and Rannveig Kaldager Hart. Countries that have thus far provided … Read more
Growing numbers of couples are having children later in life. Australia is no exception and, as Ester Lazzari, Edith Gray and Georgina Chambers show, a key contributor to this rising … Read more
In the years between 1975 and 2005, migrants from China to the US were more likely to have a second and third birth than non-migrant Chinese. Wanli Nie and Pau … Read more
Caroline Krafft, Elizabeth Kula and Maia Sieverding show that a long period of stall in the total fertility rate in Jordan has recently ended. Yet data sources disagree on the … Read more
Examining two waves of a panel survey, Zuzanna Brzozowska, Isabella Buber-Ennser and Bernhard Riederer find evidence that women and men in post-socialist countries more often have a child they planned … Read more
Individual characteristics of late parents have been extensively studied in demographic literature, but less is known about the parental couple. As Marie-Caroline Compans shows, looking at fathers and mothers separately, … Read more
In addition to the commonly used fertility measures, Ryohei Mogi, Jessica Nisén, and Vladimir Canudas-Romo suggest an alternative approach to the study of first birth behaviour, focusing on how long women … Read more
The ratio of males to females at birth is consistently lower in sub-Saharan Africa than in other regions of the world. Anne Morse and Nancy Luke suggest that this pattern may be … Read more
Sexual intercourse is starting earlier than before among Italian adolescents, whose behaviour is converging towards the norms of their European peers. As noted by Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna and Daniele Vignoli, … Read more
Daphne H. Liu and Adrian E. Raftery find that increasing women’s educational attainment and contraceptive prevalence can have an accelerating effect on fertility decline in high-fertility countries, with a larger … Read more
Understanding the timing and determinants of age at menarche is key to determining potential linkages between onset of puberty and health outcomes from a lifecourse perspective. Tiziana Leone and Laura … Read more
Female education is often linked to lower fertility levels and higher rates of childlessness. However, this relationship does not necessarily hold for all population groups. In this study, Nitzan Peri-Rotem … Read more
The Internet is a time-saving and cost-effective modern technology to enact general healthcare programs. Veronica Toffolutti, Hai Ma, Giulia Menichelli, Ester Berlot, Letizia Mencarini and Arnstein Aassve argue that it … Read more
Barbara S. Mensch, Monica Grant and Erica Soler-Hampejsek estimate the effect of enrolment, grade attainment, and skills on herpes and HIV among Malawian adolescents. Grade attained is significantly associated with … Read more
Few investigators examine program diffusion because they lack data from outside the intervention areas. Using data collected from state-level surveys, David Guilkey, Lisa Calhoun and Ilene Speizer demonstrate the spread of … Read more
Debates about global poverty often omit demographic factors. Frank-Borge Wietzke tries to fill this gap, and documents a significant effect of fertility on poverty. This influence works in large part … Read more
It is rarely possible to compare stayers in an origin country, migrants from that country and non-migrants in the destination country.In the case of Italy, however, Roberto Impicciatore, Giuseppe Gabrielli … Read more
Low-educated persons are especially likely to have their children outside marriage in Finland. While the proportion of people with low education has declined sharply in most countries in recent decades, … Read more
Rashid Javed and Mazhar Mughal analyze the effects of the pervasive phenomenon of son preference on Pakistani women’s participation in household decision-making. They find that women with at least one … Read more
In Great Britain, compared to 20 years ago, the traditional gender division of labour is no longer benefiting fertility, note Muzhi Zhou and Man-Yee Kan. Nowadays, couples with more children … Read more
Marriage and childbearing postponement have contributed significantly to China’s fertility decline, and will continue to do so in the future. With the fall in the number of women of childbearing … Read more
From 2006 to 2016, fertility in Australia remained constant for women with high education while it fell sharply for women with low education. As in the Nordic countries, Peter McDonald … Read more
Agnès Guillaume and Clémentine Rossier review the evidence on abortion in the world since 1990. Few countries have liberalized their laws since then, and regressive movements are frequent. The diffusion … Read more
The fertility-contraceptive relationship has weakened in recent years, meaning that greater contraceptive prevalence is needed to obtain a comparable reduction in fertility. Various explanations have been attempted, including unobserved heterogeneity … Read more
Using German data, Francesco Billari, Osea Giuntella and Luca Stella test whether broadband Internet influences fertility choices in a low-fertility setting. They find positive effects of high-speed Internet on the … Read more
Adolescent mothers are atypical not only at the start of their reproductive career, but also in its following stages, which are characterized by a higher intensity but slower tempo, notes … Read more
Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims to reduce global neonatal mortality (NNM) to 12 deaths per 1,000 births by 2030. Reducing NNM in India is critical to this goal because it … Read more
Many studies find that highly educated women have few children and high level of childlessness, but as Marika Jalovaara and colleagues show, the patterns in the Nordic countries have changed … Read more
Masked by time, educational disruptions of the 1980s help explain why steady fertility declines came to a surprising halt in the 2000s in ten sub-Saharan African countries. The findings, according … Read more
Fertility changes in urban versus rural areas of the global South matter for world population dynamics. However, no patterned regularity over time has yet been observed. Mathias Lerch re-assesses long-term … Read more
Political representatives are routinely accused of not following up on promises. They get less criticism for not speaking on citizen rights. In the case of sexual and reproductive health and … Read more
The implementation of fertility desires through contraception is imperfect, resulting in unplanned births and induced abortions. The highest unplanned pregnancy rates (over two pregnancies during a woman’s lifetime) are observed … Read more
Adolescent reproductive health is part of internationally agreed development goals but unmarried adolescents are often left out of the picture despite higher contraceptive demand and prevalence in this group.Sánchez-Páez and … Read more
Researchers have often assumed that only circumstances within national borders influence fertility decisions. In an integrated Europe, however, people may know about and compare conditions across countries.At least in the … Read more
A large body of previous work has suggested that both short and long birth intervals are associated with poor birth outcomes such as low birth weight and preterm birth, as … Read more
Together with Fjalar Finnäs and Mikael Rostila, Jan Saarela shows that in Finland the death of a minor child has only a modest influence on the parental divorce risk, whereas … Read more
Previous research has indicated that being born to older parents is detrimental for offspring longevity. However, the secular trend of increasing longevity may moderate or even reverse any potential negative … Read more
The negative association between advanced maternal age and low birth weight has become progressively weaker over time in the UK (between 1958-2001). This pattern, as Alice Goisis explains, is partly … Read more
Mortality from sexually transmitted diseases has been declining too slowly and unevenly in Argentina, compromising the right to sexual and reproductive health with equal opportunities. This is confirmed by Eleonora Rojas … Read more
After following about one thousand U.S. teen mothers into young adulthood, Stefanie Mollborn, Juhee Woo, and Richard Rogers, found that these women are 2.5 times as likely as other women … Read more
Two forces with a contrasting impact on fertility have typically been overestimated in both scientific writing and the popular press. A marked postponement of fertility (by four years of age) … Read more
In a recent study (Väisänen 2017), I examined how women make decisions to terminate a pregnancy within the wider context of their lives – including the state and quality of … Read more
More and more countries have been adopting population policies to increase birth rates, in order to deal with the growing challenges of aging (United Nations 2013). Following the recent trend, … Read more
Global social changes that diffuse across the world from country to country often proceed most quickly in those places that start last. Change in the pioneer regions is delayed by … Read more
Family policies such as parental leave schemes increasingly support the work-family balance. Although labour force participation has increased in recent decades among mothers in majority populations, maternal employment levels and … Read more
According to the most recent UN estimates (United Nations 2017), almost one half of the world’s population lives in countries with below replacement fertility (BRF), i.e. with a total fertility … Read more
Over time, women’s educational attainment in sub-Saharan Africa has been increasing (Barro and Lee, 2013), while infant and child mortality have been decreasing (United Nations, 2015). Both changes have contributed … Read more
In European demography, Iceland has been an outlier until recently, with a fertility rate well above that of most countries on the continent. Between 1982 and 2014, the Icelandic total … Read more
When uncertain about the stability of their present or future earnings or jobs, individuals postpone life-changing decisions. Scientific research confirms conventional wisdom and shows that the Great Recession that started … Read more
The fertility transition, defined as a change from high and natural fertility (in a range of five to nine children per woman) to low and controlled fertility (down to two … Read more
Although still rare among assisted reproductive technologies (ART)¹, surrogacy is a very controversial subject: some consider it as a new way to overcome infertility,others see it as a new reproductive … Read more
Age at first marriage has been rising throughout sub-Saharan Africa for more than twenty-five years. The median age at first marriage has increased by an average of 1-2 years across … Read more
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the third most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of the countries with the highest fertility in the world, at 6.6 … Read more
The prevalence of living alone during later life varies widely across developed countries but everywhere its recent growth has been remarkable, even in societies with traditionally strong family ties. Fertility … Read more
The postponement of first childbirth has been occurring in most European countries for some decades now. In public and media discussion, delayed childbearing is often rather glibly associated with the … Read more
Until the 1960s and 1970s, infecund (sterile) Western couples who desired a child but could not have one of their own could usually adopt a child in their home country. … Read more