Volume 19 - Article 22 | Pages 795–854  

Poland: Fertility decline as a response to profound societal and labour market changes?

By Irena Kotowska, Janina Jóźwiak, Anna Matysiak, Anna Baranowska-Rataj

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

Abstract

This article opens with a review of the main trends in family-related behaviour, i.e. fertility decline and changes in fertility patterns, a decreasing propensity to marry, postponement of marriage, and a slowly increasing frequency of divorces and separations. The analysis takes into account urban and rural differences. We then aim to identify the main determinants of family changes within the general conceptual framework of the Second Democratic Transition (SDT) in Poland. However, contrary to mainstream interpretations of the SDT, the main emphasis of this study is on the structural components of change, which need to be reformulated to account for processes specific to the transition to a market economy. The focus is, therefore, on labour market developments and family policy, and to a lesser extent on ideational change.

Author's Affiliation

• Irena Kotowska - Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, Poland EMAIL
• Janina Jóźwiak - Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, Poland EMAIL
• Anna Matysiak - Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie, Poland EMAIL
• Anna Baranowska-Rataj - Umeå Universitet, Sweden EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Free to stay, free to leave: Insights from Poland into the meaning of cohabitation
Volume 31 - Article 36

Introduction to the Special Collection on The new roles of women and men and implications for families and societies
Volume 48 - Article 29

The positive impact of women’s employment on divorce: Context, selection, or anticipation?
Volume 38 - Article 37

Does the number of siblings affect health in midlife? Evidence from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register
Volume 35 - Article 43

Levels of recent union formation : Six European countries compared
Volume 22 - Article 9

Is Poland really 'immune' to the spread of cohabitation?
Volume 21 - Article 8

Stochastic forecast of the population of Poland, 2005-2050
Volume 17 - Article 11

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Measuring the educational gradient of period fertility in 28 European countries: A new approach based on parity-specific fertility estimates
Volume 49 - Article 34    | Keywords: education, Europe, period fertility, quantum, tempo, total fertility rate (TFR)

Ultra-Orthodox fertility and marriage in the United States: Evidence from the American Community Survey
Volume 49 - Article 29    | Keywords: age at first marriage, American Community Survey (ACS), fertility, Judaism, marriage, religion, total fertility rate (TFR), Ultra-Orthodox Judaism

Advanced or postponed motherhood? Migrants’ and natives’ gap between ideal and actual age at first birth in Spain
Volume 49 - Article 22    | Keywords: actual age at first birth, age at arrival, fertility, ideal age at first birth, international migration, motherhood, Spain

Calculating contraceptive prevalence and unmet need for family planning in low-fertility countries with the Generations and Gender Survey
Volume 49 - Article 21    | Keywords: cross-national study, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Europe, family planning, Fertility and Family Survey (FFS), Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), longitudinal data, panel data, unplanned births, World Fertility Survey

Describing the Dutch Social Networks and Fertility Study and how to process it
Volume 49 - Article 19    | Keywords: fertility, Netherlands, personal networks, social influence