Parenthood is no longer the default in Canada
Canada’s fertility rate has fallen sharply over the past decade. New research suggests that the decline is not only because people face obstacles to having children. As Benoît Laplante and … Read more
Fertility
National identity and fertility intentions in Hungary
National identity, defined as attachment to the nation, shapes behaviour. As fertility declines, childbearing may become a national issue. If the nation is important to individuals, are they more likely … Read more
Life trajectories of African unwed mothers after the loss of their child
Yingyi Lin, Emily Smith-Greenaway, Camila Cortes Rodriguez, and Shelley Clark examine how the death of a premaritally born child affects an unmarried mother’s future life trajectory in 26 sub-Saharan Africa … Read more
Health around the time of first birth matters for future fertility
Evidence from Norway indicates that chronic health problems are just one of the factors liable to influence individual fertility. Øystein Kravdal, Emily Grundy, and Rannveig K. Hart argue that health … Read more
Reproductive life concentrated into ever-shorter windows*
Demographers have long tracked how many children women have and when. But how widely fertility is spread across reproductive ages has received comparatively little attention. Thomas Spoorenberg introduces a simple … Read more
Son preference and reproductive behaviour in Uzbekistan
Using data from the 2021–2022 Uzbekistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, Khilola Dushamova, Rashid Javed, Gayrat Suyunov and Munira Zakirova find that son preference shapes reproductive behaviour among Uzbek women. Women … Read more
Why menstrual health belongs in population surveys
Population surveys measure health and wellbeing but overlook menstrual cycle status and symptom burden, a blind spot affecting nearly half the population. Drawing on a survey review and qualitative research, … Read more
Women’s stable employment and first births in Europe
Although men’s employment has a consistently positive association with starting a family in Europe, this association has been less clear for women. Using harmonized couple-level data for the years 2004–2017, … Read more
The end of lowest-low as we knew it: one threshold, many futures
“Lowest-low fertility” has become widespread but is now less informative, Stuart Gietel-Basten and Ignacio Pardo argue. Countries sharing very low fertility levels increasingly follow divergent demographic trajectories. A single threshold … Read more
On Türkiye’s recent rapid fertility decline
In the last decade, Türkiye has recorded the steepest fertility decline in Europe. Period indicators, however, reveal only part of the story. With a birth-order analysis Sutay Yavuz shows that … Read more
The role of polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa’s fertility decline
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
Fertility postponement is not a universal correlate of fertility decline
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
The growing importance of donor eggs in assisted reproductive technologies in UK
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
The role of mortality in fertility transition studies
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
Ten years of emergency contraception in Italy (2012-21)
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
Mental disorder and (reduced) fertility in Norway
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
The growing role of ART in fertility rates in Norway
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
Caring for ageing parents reduces fertility intentions in Australia
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
Today’s high paternal ages at childbirth are not exceptionally high
Recently, mean paternal ages at childbirth have risen sharply. This has alarmed researchers from a wide range of fields as offspring of older fathers have higher health risks. However, existing … Read more
Intimate partner violence and low birth weight in Colombia
Stefania Molina’s research reveals that, in Colombia, separated and cohabiting mothers experience higher levels of intimate partner violence during pregnancy than married mothers. Disparities in low birth weight across partnership … Read more
Heterogeneity in realization of short-term fertility intentions across Europe
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
Lessons from Poland’s pro-natalist “Family 500+” program
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
Concentration of reproduction in developing countries
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
A new method for measuring the educational gradient of period fertility in Europe
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
Future fears: societal pessimism and fertility choices
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: more children than migrants, fewer than nonmigrants
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
Female education and fertility stalls in sub-Saharan Africa
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
Age structure changes and the potential for demographic dividends
The demographic dividend describes the economic growth potential based on shifts towards a larger share of working-age population when fertility declines in the course of the demographic transition. Markus Dörflinger … Read more
Plummeting fertility in Uruguay, 2016-2021
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
Religion and fertility in Finland
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
Leisure and fertility nexus among first-time mothers in Australia
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
Fertility and nuptiality of Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the United States
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
Earnings-related parental leave and continued childbearing in Estonia
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
Fertility differentials in the USA: the interplay of ethnicity and education
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
Replacement fertility with immigration in Europe
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
The fertility effect of medically assisted reproduction in Australia
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
Income and fertility – a positive relationship?
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
Adolescent fertility hampers education. The case of Chile
How does adolescent fertility affect high school completion for boys and girls in Chile? Controlling for socioeconomic and academic selectivity, Viviana Salinas and Valentina Jorquera-Samter find that a teenage mother … Read more
Did you know?
Contributions to total population change of the balance of births over deaths and of immigration over emigration, by income group, from 1950-60 to 2040-50. Over the next few decades, migration … Read more
The old and the new natalism are not at odds
Religion has historically been a pronatalist force, but because it fosters traditional gender role attitudes, it could impede a fertility recovery stimulated by gender equity. Instead, Laurie DeRose explains how … Read more
Fewer and later births in South Korea, especially among more educated women
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
Sex-selective abortion in India: an ongoing problem
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
Cognition-driven demographic transition
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
Increasing childlessness driven by higher female education in India
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
Unpacking the mortality-fertility link in Malawi: the role of unintended fertility
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
The contribution of the foreign-born population to demographic change in Europe
What drives demographic change in Europe? Christos Bagavos shows that between 2014 and 2019 this change was due more to foreign-born than native-born populations, through both a direct effect (net … Read more
International migration from Africa to France and contraception use
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
Can policies halt the fertility decline?
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
Gravitas Plus: The world’s fertility rate is falling. Here’s why
Is motherhood a moral imperative for women? Today, couples around the world are choosing to stay child-free. Fertility rates have dropped. Governments are offering inducements to couples to have children. … Read more
Fertility decline in Jordan resumes after nearly 15 years of stall
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
Unintended and sooner-than-intended childbearing in Eastern and Western Europe
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
Late mothers and late fathers have a first birth with younger partners
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
Average length of life spent childless. Cross-sectionally speaking
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
Accelerating fertility decline through education and family planning
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
COVID-19 pandemic: demographic highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has resulted in enormous consequences worldwide. Joseph Chamie highlights the pandemic’s impact on the components of population change: mortality, fertility and migration. … Read more
Are demographic indicators really converging in post transitional countries?
After the demographic transition, convergence in all demographic behaviours (moderate fertility, low mortality and very low migration) is the guiding assumption of the UN World Population Prospects Revisions. Maria Castiglioni, … Read more
Trends in age at menarche in low- and middle-income countries
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
Religion as a moderating factor in the education-fertility relationship
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
Internet: a tool for promoting contraceptive uptake in sub-Saharan African countries
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
Fertility inequality can slow down global poverty reduction in developing countries
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
How cash support and tax relief may matter for third births in Hungary
Well targeted policy measures can influence fertility even in times of intensive social and economic change. Analysing data from the Hungarian Generations and Gender Survey, Zsolt Spéder, Lívia Murinkó and … Read more
Migrants’ fertility in Italy: a comparison between origin and destination
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
Why has migrant fertility in Norway declined?
Fertility among immigrants has declined in many Western countries. In Norway, Marianne Tønnessen finds that the successful integration of immigrants is not the main driver of the decline since 2000, … Read more
In Switzerland, fertility does not rhyme with happiness
Parenthood typically improves people’s life satisfaction, even if only in the short run. Surprisingly, instead, Malgorzata Mikucka finds that a second birth has a negative, albeit temporary, effect on Swiss … Read more
Is the traditional gender-specialised division of labour still associated with higher fertility?
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
The impact of migration on the fertility of receiving countries
How much does immigration really contribute to fertility in more developed regions? Christos Bagavos shows that, between 2009 and 2015, in the United States, Australia and 13 European countries, the … Read more
In Australia fertility is falling only for low educated women
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
Another reason why the fertility-contraceptive relationship has weakened*
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
Does broadband Internet affect fertility in Germany?
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
Longer and shifted reproductive lives amongst adolescent mothers
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
Socioeconomic disparities in Finnish children’s family life
Increasing attention is directed towards the ‘diverging destinies’ of children born in different family contexts. One might expect disparities to be small in Nordic welfare states, yet in Finland, as … Read more
Where, in India, is hospital birth safer for babies than home birth?
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
Persistence and reversals in Nordic fertility
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
Gender equality and fertility: is there a connection?
In the last decades, researchers have suggested that gender equality may have a positive effect on fertility in high-income countries. While this conjecture appears to be true cross-sectionally, it does … Read more
The rural-urban fertility gradient in the global South
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
Fertility preferences and reproductive outcomes in the developing world
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
Ageing without children in Thailand: bad for mental health?
Declining fertility and increasing migration are contributing to growing shares of older Thais who will age with few children, or none at all, or whose children live far away.Quashie and … Read more
Adolescent contraceptive use and its effects on fertility
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
Fertility decisions in Poland: looking beyond national boundaries
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
Birth spacing and long-term health and mortality
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
Women, demography and politics
Demographic variables, female-related predictors in particular, have an independent effect on political structure. Comparing different countries over time, when fertility rates decline, we observe a growth in democracy.Due to changes … Read more
Effects of first birth postponement and assisted reproductive technology on completed fertility
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
30 years of experience of the two-child policy in Yicheng, China
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
The pace of fertility decline in Sub-Saharan Africa
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
Half the world’s population reaching below replacement fertility
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
The Icelandic Saga. Fertility in the midst of delayed family formation
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
Fertility in the time of economic crisis
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
Persistent high fertility in rural Africa
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
Surrogacy: a multi-faceted phenomenon
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
Family planning in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya
In Kenya, rapid population growth has occurred amidst poor urban governance and limited employment opportunities, leading to widespread urban poverty that is concentrated in informal settlements or slums. In Nairobi, … Read more
Recent fertility changes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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
Did you know?
Italy, Spain and Germany have reported the largest increase in childlessness in Europe. Source: http://www.fertilitydatasheet.org/
Past fertility and living alone in later life in Spain
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
First birth postponement and fertility in Europe
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
Will international adoption be replaced by surrogacy?
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
Are population policies effective?
Let us look at four types of objective that can legitimize population policies in a given context: reducing mortality (Vallin et Meslé, 2006), limiting fertility if the population is growing … Read more
How women in South Korea juggle work and family life
Employment and childbearing are important stages in a woman’s life course. Their relationship is influenced not only by individual characteristics, but also by the socio-economic and institutional context. Availability of … Read more
Fertility in Western Europe: the role of religion
The religious landscape in Western Europe is characterised by contrasting trends; while attendance rates at religious services have declined dramatically, over half of the population in this region still identify … Read more
Son preference as a new twist in China’s low fertility
China is now facing the challenge of low fertility. Its total fertility rate first fell below replacement level in the early 1990s, and had dropped to only 1.18 children per … Read more