Volume 19 - Article 14 | Pages 403–454
Czech Republic: A rapid transformation of fertility and family behaviour after the collapse of state socialism
Date received: | 08 Apr 2006 |
Date published: | 01 Jul 2008 |
Word count: | 15259 |
Keywords: | childbearing, Czech Republic, Europe, family, fertility, state socialism |
DOI: | 10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.14 |
Weblink: | You will find all publications in this Special Collection “Childbearing Trends and Policies in Europe” at http://www.demographic-research.org/special/7/ |
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
Anna Šťastná - Univerzita Karlova, Czech Republic
Kryštof Zeman - Vienna Institute of Demography (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Austria
Dana Hamplová - Akademie věd České Republiky, Czech Republic
Vladimíra Kantorová - United Nations Population Division, United States of America
Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research
»
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
»
Cohort fertility decline in low fertility countries: Decomposition using parity progression ratios
Volume 38 - Article 25
»
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
»
Italy: Delayed adaptation of social institutions to changes in family behaviour
Volume 19 - Article 19 | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, family, fertility
»
Overview Chapter 4: Changing family and partnership behaviour: Common trends and persistent diversity across Europe
Volume 19 - Article 6 | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, family, fertility
»
Attitudinal and behavioural indices of the second demographic transition: Evidence from the last three decades in Europe
Volume 44 - Article 46 | Keywords: Europe, family, fertility
»
Understanding low fertility in Poland: Demographic consequences of gendered discrimination in employment and post-socialist neoliberal restructuring
Volume 21 - Article 20 | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, fertility
»
Sweden: Combining childbearing and gender equality
Volume 19 - Article 28 | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, fertility
Articles
Citations
Cited References: 102
»View the references of this article
Download to Citation Manager
Similar Articles
PubMed
»Articles by Vladimíra Kantorová
Google Scholar
»Articles by Vladimíra Kantorová