Cohort birth order, parity progression ratio and parity distribution trends in developed countries

Tomas Frejka; Jean-Paul Sardon

Volume 16 - Article 11 | Pages 315–374

Cohort birth order, parity progression ratio and parity distribution trends in developed countries

By Tomas Frejka, Jean-Paul Sardon

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Date received:	21 Nov 2006
Date published:	27 Apr 2007
Word count:	7195
Keywords:	birth order, childbearing postponement, cohort analysis, developed countries, low fertility, parity distribution, parity progression ratios
DOI:	10.4054/DemRes.2007.16.11

Abstract

Major changes in childbearing patterns are continuously taking place in the majority of low-fertility populations with postponement being virtually universal. Almost everywhere the two-child family became dominant. Proportions of childless women and one-child families were increasing recently. Changes in childbearing patterns in Central and Eastern Europe have been profound justifying the label of an historic transformation. Young women are bearing considerably fewer children compared to older cohorts. Especially proportions of women having second births in most CEE countries were declining rapidly and these were lower than in western countries. Postponement of childbearing might be nearing cessation in some western countries.