Volume 19 - Article 21 | Pages 743–794

The Netherlands: Childbearing within the context of a "Poldermodel" society

By Tineke Fokkema, Helga de Valk, Joop de Beer, Coen van Duin

Print this page  Facebook  Twitter

 

 
Date received:24 Aug 2006
Date published:01 Jul 2008
Word count:12020
Keywords:childbearing, Europe, fertility, Netherlands
DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.21
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

The Netherlands has seen a considerable decline of the period total fertility rate and delayed childbearing, just like all other European countries. The drop in fertility, however, has not been as sharp as in many other regions of Europe. The period total fertility rate in the Netherlands has stabilized since the late 1970s at around 1.6 children per woman, and it has even risen slightly since 1995. In addition, although the Netherlands has one of the oldest first-time mothers, completed fertility is still rather high compared to other European countries, suggesting a strong “catching up” of births by women in their thirties. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the main driving forces behind specific fertility trends in the Netherlands. Among other factors, it focuses on changing patterns of home leaving and union formation, declining partnership stability, and the growing acceptability and use of contraception. The chapter also looks at prolonged education, rising labor-force participation of women, economic uncertainties, the growing migrant population, and family policies. Data allowing, and to the extent possible, we examine the effects of these factors on decision-making about parenthood and the timing of childbearing.

Author's Affiliation

Tineke Fokkema - Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI), the Netherlands [Email]
Helga de Valk - Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI), the Netherlands [Email]
Joop de Beer - Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI), the Netherlands [Email]
Coen van Duin - Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS), the Netherlands [Email]

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

» Return intentions over the life course: Evidence on the effects of life events from a longitudinal sample of first- and second-generation Turkish migrants in Germany
Volume 39 - Article 38

» Acculturation style, transnational behaviour, and return-migration intentions of the Turkish second generation: Exploring linkages
Volume 37 - Article 53

» Fertility among descendants of immigrants in Belgium: The role of the partner
Volume 36 - Article 60

» Ethnic differences in family trajectories of young adult women in the Netherlands: Timing and sequencing of events
Volume 35 - Article 24

» Sigma and beta convergence in regional mortality: A case study of the Netherlands
Volume 35 - Article 4

» Social network indices in the Generations and Gender Survey: An appraisal
Volume 34 - Article 35

» Generations and Gender Programme Wave 1 data collection: An overview and assessment of sampling and fieldwork methods, weighting procedures, and cross-sectional representativeness
Volume 34 - Article 18

» The timing of family commitments in the early work career: Work-family trajectories of young adults in Flanders
Volume 32 - Article 22

» A multistate model to project elderly disability in case of limited data
Volume 32 - Article 3

» Estimating the contribution of mothers of foreign origin to total fertility: The recent recovery of period fertility in the Belgian region of Flanders
Volume 30 - Article 12

» Impact of different mortality forecasting methods and explicit assumptions on projected future life expectancy: The case of the Netherlands
Volume 29 - Article 13

» Smoothing and projecting age-specific probabilities of death by TOPALS
Volume 27 - Article 20

» The effects of integration and transnational ties on international return migration intentions
Volume 25 - Article 24

» A new relational method for smoothing and projecting age-specific fertility rates: TOPALS
Volume 24 - Article 18

» Timing of first union among second-generation Turks in Europe: The role of parents, peers and institutional context
Volume 22 - Article 16

» 150 Years of temperature-related excess mortality in the Netherlands
Volume 21 - Article 14

» Trends in living arrangements in Europe: Convergence or divergence?
Volume 19 - Article 36

» Generations and Gender Survey (GGS): Towards a better understanding of relationships and processes in the life course
Volume 17 - Article 14

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

» The Netherlands:Paradigm or Exception in Western Europe’s Demography?
Volume 7 - Article 12    | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, fertility, Netherlands

» 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

» Spain: Short on children and short on family policies
Volume 19 - Article 27    | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, fertility

» Slovenia: Generous family policy without evidence of any fertility impact
Volume 19 - Article 26    | Keywords: childbearing, Europe, fertility