Partnerships that postpone childbearing. a cohort study based on FFS Data

Francesca Galizia, Dipartimento per lo Studio delle Società Mediterranee
Daniel Devolder, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

In one formulation of the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) scheme, Lesthaeghe (2000) proposed a clever way to differentiate it from the classical or First Demographic Transition (FDT). The big difference is that the FDT was a process of diffusion of the use of contraceptive means after the birth of children, when the SDT is mainly a diffusion process of the use of contraception before the birth of the first child. There are various ways to measure the results of the FDT: looking at the fertility rates by age, by parity or by duration since the beginning of the current partnership. This is the last one that will interest us in the present work for the SDT: what are the consequences of the use of contraceptive means before the birth of the first child on the fertility rates by duration. Is there a 'child-free' phase in the partnership life cycle, and is that phase significantly increasing for younger cohorts? Are there differences between partnerships depending on whether one or the two partners are studying or working? What differences are there between cohabitants and married partners? We will have results for nearly all the countries that participated in the Family and Fertility Surveys, with more details for those countries for which there is information on the use of contraception during the partnerships.