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Background: This article questions the demographic consequences of birth postponement in Europe. Objective: Starting from the fact that there is no obvious link between the timing of first births and fertility levels in Europe, we find that under certain circumstances, birth postponement potentially facilitates rather than impedes starting a family. Methods: We apply a synthetic cohort approach and distinguish between different socioeconomic determinants of the timing of first births by using the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Data is compiled specifically to reduce endogeneity and to eliminate structure effects. Results: We find that the probability of becoming a mother is higher for women who postpone first childbirth due to education and career investment than for women who postpone due to unrealized labour market integration. Conclusions: Educated and economically active women certainly postpone first childbirth in comparison to women who are less educated and who are not working, but they end up with a higher probability of starting a family. Contribution: The article contributes to the academic discussion of circumstances that may lead to birth postponement resulting in higher fertility for younger cohorts in European countries.

SummaryThis paper enquires whether education and age at first birth, both strongly associated with completed fertility, are related to the timing of fertility, in particular the timing of the first three births, among once married white women. Analysis of data from the June 1985 United States Current Population Survey indicates that education is related to the timing of fertility; this relationship has remained relatively constant over time. Age at first birth is associated with the timing of fertility among older but not younger women.

"Decentralised policy formation and implementation is one of the salient features of China's family planning programme that is the most important driving force of China's fertility transition. This paper reviews the differentials in local policy and programmes, and examines their effects on patterns of fertility transition across China. Major consequences of the differential fertility transition, such as varied processes of population ageing and labour force supply etc. at provincial level, are then discussed. The author argues that the success of government population policy to a large extent is determined by socio-economic and cultural factors. On the other hand, regional demographic patterns have profound impact on China's regional and rural-urban differences in terms of socio-economic development. Large scale migration is one of such examples." (author's abstract)

The aim of this paper is to study the quantum, timing and spacing of births in Austria and their changes over time by educational groups and school leaving age. Rather than taking the age as such, we take the school leaving age as reference point in our analysis, as - with the exception of university drop-outs that are partly caused by pregnancy - very few women give birth while being in education. As the analysis shows, the recent overall increase of age at first birth can be observed in all educational groups and is not (only) the result of staying in the education system for a longer time. As expected, parity progression rates vary considerably between different educational groups and follow different patterns of change. Changes of norms - i.e. to and from the two-child norm - seem to be more pronounced in urban areas, were drops in parity progression rates were biggest for higher educated women. As the educational composition of the population changes in the course of time, this will considerably influence overall fertility rates in future, even assuming unchanged individual fertility behavior of women of given educational groups. This paper is also understood as background paper in the context of the ongoing development of the FAMSIM+, family microsimulation model, that shows fertility decisions along with other life careers, such as education, partnership and job careers. Besides other applications, FAMSIM+ will serve to study the impact of various dynamics, like changes of timing and educational changes, on fertility changes.

Changes in the rates of childlessness over time are explored using European, Australian, American, and Japanese data from censuses, national registers, and large-scale surveys. The trends are remarkably similar across the countries for which data are available: a peak in childlessness rates for the 1880-1910 birth cohorts, a more or less continuous drop across the 1910-1945 birth cohorts, and a steady rise across the cohorts born after the Second World War. Thus, contemporary older adults (particularly the "young old") belong to generations for which the proportions childless are near the minimum ever recorded. The article examines the factors associated with the changes in rates of childlessness, and more particularly trends in marriage (e.g., median age at marriage and the proportions marrying), trends in family formation (e.g., median age at the first birth and average family size), and the role of voluntary and involuntary factors.

"Die Zukunft der Familie, ihre Krise oder allgemein Entwicklungstendenzen des familialen Lebens sind immer wieder Thema der veröffentlichten Meinung. 'Ehe light' oder 'Das Ende der bürgerlichen Familie' sind dabei die Schlagworte. Begründet werden diese Thesen dabei nicht nur durch Einzelfälle, sondern auch fast immer mit dem Hinweis auf die sinkenden Heiratszahlen und die zurückgehenden Geburten. Lassen sich diese Thesen aber nun wirklich mit den Entwicklungen des Heiratsverhaltens und der Fertilität untermauern? Um diese Frage wenigstens ansatzweise zu beantworten, sollen im folgenden diese beiden, für das gesamte familiale Handeln zentralen Entscheidungen, in einer längerfristigen historischen Perspektive betrachtet werden, wobei hierzu eine Längsschnitts- und Kohortenperspektive eingenommen wird." (Autorenreferat)

Teenage childbearing has been the subject of long-standing concern among the public and policy makers. Teenagers who give birth are much more likely to deliver a low birthweight or preterm infant than older women, and their babies are at elevated risk of dying in infancy. The annual public costs associated with teen childbearing have been estimated at $9.1 billion. The U.S. teen birth rate fell by more than one-third from 1991 through 2005, but then increased by 5 percent over two consecutive years. Data for 2008 and 2009, however, indicate that the long-term downward trend has resumed. Although the recent declines have been widespread by age, race and ethnicity, and state, large disparities nevertheless persist in these characteristics. The most current data available from the National Vital Statistics System are used to illustrate trends and variations through 2009. ; Stephanie J. Ventura and Brady E. Hamilton. ; "February 2011." ; "CS220043." ; "T38475 (2/2011)." ; Includes bibliographical references (p. [7-8]).

In this study, we examine the effects of the economic uncertainty of partners on the transition to first birth in Greece before and after the onset of the recent economic crisis. After selecting a sample of childless couples, we applied a random effects model to EU-SILC data for the period 2005-2013. Few studies have focused on the association between economic uncertainty and fertility in Greece considering characteristics of both partners. Even fewer studies have examined panel data in the context of the recent crisis. Our findings show that Greek couples in which both partners are employed, have a high income, or are highly educated are in a more favourable position to have a first child. During the Greek Great Recession, corresponding in our study to the period 2010-2013, the odds of having a first child decreased to half the odds in the 2005-2009 period. The recession period also modified the effect of couples' characteristics on first childbearing. During the economic crisis, male breadwinner couples were particularly penalized in their transition to have a first child. Surprisingly, couples with at least one temporary worker, usually the woman, were encouraged to have their first child. Implications in terms of gender and social inequality are discussed in the concluding section, and selection processes at play are also discussed.

Family formation changed dramatically over the 20th century in the United States. The impact of these changes on childbearing has primarily been studied in terms of nonmarital fertility. However, changes in family formation behavior also have implications for fertility within marriage. The authors used data from 10 fertility surveys to describe changes in the timing of marital childbearing from the 1940s through the 21st century for non‐Hispanic White and non‐Hispanic Black women. Based on harmonized data from the Integrated Fertility Survey Series, the results suggest increasing divergence in fertility timing for White women. A growing proportion of marriages begin with a premarital conception; at the same time, an increasing proportion of White women are postponing fertility within marriage. For Black women, marital fertility is increasingly postponed beyond the early years of marriage. Evaluating the sequencing of marriage and parenthood over time is critical to understanding the changing meaning of marriage.