Volume 19 - Article 13 | Pages 361–402  

Bulgaria: Ethnic differentials in rapidly declining fertility

By Elena Koytcheva, Dimiter Philipov

This article is part of the Special Collection 7 "Childbearing Trends and Policies in Europe"

Abstract

This chapter provides a detailed description of the fertility changes in Bulgaria during recent decades and discusses possible reasons and consequences. It also gives an overview of the steps that the government has undertaken to offset the considerable decline in fertility. Before the fall of communism, fertility trends in Bulgaria were stable and characterized by a nearly universal entry into parenthood, dominance of a two-child family model, an early start and early end of childbearing, stable mean ages at entry into childbearing and marriage, and low percentages of non-marital births. During the 1990s and in the first years of the new century, we observe a marked, rapid change in fertility behaviour. Together with the severe decline in overall fertility rates, demographic data reveal a significant postponement of entry into motherhood and marriage, a decline of the two-child family model, and an emergence of new family forms. Most research attributes these changes to the particular political and social situation in Bulgaria since 1989.

Author's Affiliation

• Elena Koytcheva - Independent researcher, International EMAIL
• Dimiter Philipov - Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Austria EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Differences by union status in health and mortality at older ages: Results for 16 European countries
Volume 35 - Article 19

Ageing dynamics of a human-capital-specific population: A demographic perspective
Volume 31 - Article 44

Should governments in Europe be more aggressive in pushing for gender equality to raise fertility? The first "NO"
Volume 24 - Article 8

Union formation and fertility in Bulgaria and Russia: A life table description of recent trends
Volume 19 - Article 62

Pathways to stepfamily formation in Europe: Results from the FFS
Volume 8 - Article 5

Life-table representations of family dynamics in Sweden, Hungary, and 14 other FFS countries: A project of descriptions of demographic behavior
Volume 7 - Article 4

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Job creation, job destruction, and fertility in Germany
Volume 52 - Article 13    | Keywords: fertility, gender, Germany, job creation, job destruction, labor market, spatial modelling, unemployment

The changing inter-relationship between partnership dynamics and fertility trends in Europe and the United States: A review
Volume 52 - Article 7    | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, family complexity, fertility, fertility, marriage, partnership, United States of America

The demography of sexual identity development and disclosure among LGB people in Europe
Volume 52 - Article 5    | Keywords: coming-out, Europe, LGB identity, self-disclosure, sexual identity development, sexual orientation

Left behind single in the partnering market? Entry into cohabiting unions by women and men with low educational attainment across regions of Europe, cohorts 1960 to 1985
Volume 51 - Article 43    | Keywords: cohabitation, education, Europe, European Social Survey, event history analysis, logistic regression, marginalization, partner selection, singlehood, union formation

Educational trends in cohort fertility by birth order: A comparison of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
Volume 51 - Article 36    | Keywords: birth order, cohort analysis, cross-national study, England, family size, fertility, Northern Ireland, parity, Scotland, Wales