Volume 19 - Article 14 | Pages 403–454
Czech Republic: A rapid transformation of fertility and family behaviour after the collapse of state socialism
By Tomáš Sobotka, Anna Šťastná, Kryštof Zeman, Dana Hamplová, Vladimíra Kantorová
This article is part of the Special Collection 7 "Childbearing Trends and Policies in Europe"
Abstract
Following the swift demise of the state-socialist regime in 1989, a profound transformation of family and fertility patterns has taken place in the Czech Republic. Family formation has been postponed and period fertility rates have fallen to very low levels, especially among young adults. Unmarried cohabitation has become relatively widespread and marriages have been progressively delayed or even foregone. These rapid shifts in family-related behaviour were primarily driven by a period change and resulted in a sharp discontinuity in cohort patterns of union formation and childbearing. We argue that the rapid change in family-related behaviour after 1990 was driven by a fundamental shift in the constraints and incentives for childbearing, which was conducive to later and more carefully planned family formation. The rapidity of observed changes can be explained as the outcome of a simultaneous occurrence of several factors, especially the expansion of higher education, the emergence of new opportunities competing with family life, increasing job competition, rising economic uncertainty in young adulthood, and changing partnership behaviour.
Author's Affiliation
- Tomáš Sobotka - Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Austria EMAIL
- Anna Šťastná - Univerzita Karlova, Czech Republic EMAIL
- Kryštof Zeman - Vienna Institute of Demography (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Austria EMAIL
- Dana Hamplová - Akademie věd České Republiky, Czech Republic EMAIL
- Vladimíra Kantorová - United Nations, United States of America EMAIL
Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research
Cohort fertility decline in low fertility countries: Decomposition using parity progression ratios
Volume 38 - Article 25
Childlessness in Korea: Role of education, marriage postponement, and marital childlessness
Volume 51 - Article 21
A new look at contraceptive prevalence plateaus in sub-Saharan Africa: A probabilistic approach
Volume 50 - Article 31
Delayed first births and completed fertility across the 1940–1969 birth cohorts
Volume 48 - Article 15
Contraceptive use and fertility transitions: The distinctive experience of sub-Saharan Africa
Volume 46 - Article 4
Cohort fertility and educational expansion in the Czech Republic during the 20th century
Volume 38 - Article 56
Ultra-low fertility in South Korea: The role of the tempo effect
Volume 38 - Article 22
Non-standard work schedules, gender, and parental stress
Volume 34 - Article 9
Children’s union status and contact with mothers: A cross-national study
Volume 30 - Article 51
Austria: Persistent low fertility since the mid-1980s
Volume 19 - Article 12
Overview Chapter 7: The rising importance of migrants for childbearing in Europe
Volume 19 - Article 9
Overview Chapter 6: The diverse faces of the Second Demographic Transition in Europe
Volume 19 - Article 8
Overview Chapter 4: Changing family and partnership behaviour: Common trends and persistent diversity across Europe
Volume 19 - Article 6
Overview Chapter 1: Fertility in Europe: Diverse, delayed and below replacement
Volume 19 - Article 3
Summary and general conclusions: Childbearing Trends and Policies in Europe
Volume 19 - Article 2
Tempo-quantum and period-cohort interplay in fertility changes in Europe: Evidence from the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden
Volume 8 - Article 6
Education and Entry into Motherhood: The Czech Republic during State Socialism and the Transition Period (1970-1997)
Special Collection 3 - Article 10
Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research
Higher incomes are increasingly associated with higher fertility: Evidence from the Netherlands, 2008–2022
Volume 51 - Article 26
| Keywords:
fertility,
income,
inequalities,
Netherlands,
parenthood
KINMATRIX: A new data resource for studies of families and kinship
Volume 51 - Article 25
| Keywords:
family,
networks,
solidarity,
survey methodology,
transmission
The transition to adulthood in Europe at the intersection of gender and parental socioeconomic status
Volume 51 - Article 23
| Keywords:
Europe,
Europe,
event history,
event history,
gender,
multilevel analysis,
parental socio-economic status,
stratification,
transition to adulthood
The short- and long-term determinants of fertility in Uruguay
Volume 51 - Article 10
| Keywords:
fertility,
panel data,
stages of female reproductive life,
time series,
Uruguay
Between money and intimacy: Brideprice, marriage, and women’s position in contemporary China
Volume 50 - Article 46
| Keywords:
brideprice,
China,
divorce,
family,
family law,
gender inequalities,
marriage
Cited References: 102
Download to Citation Manager
PubMed
Google Scholar