Sobotka Tomáš.- Re-Emerging Diversity: Rapid Fertility Changes in Central and Eastern Europe After the Collapse of the Communist Regimes This article provides a detailed analysis of recent fertility changes in 1 5 countries of central and eastern Europe and in the former East Germany. It focuses on the period after 1989, which witnessed a profound transformation in childbearing patterns, including a rapid decline in fertility rates, the postponement of childbearing, and an upsurge in the proportion of extramarital births. These shifts went hand in hand with changes in union formation, abortion and contraceptive prevalence. While the intensive decline of the total fertility rates seems to indicate a uniform reaction of former Communist societies to the ongoing social and economic changes, the analysis reveals that there was increasing diversity in fertility patterns across the region. The article pays particular attention to the interplay between postponement of childbearing and period fertility levels. The progression of the postponement — indicated by an increase in the mean age of women at first birth — has varied widely between countries. We hypothesize that the more rapid postponement of parenthood was related to the success of the transition period, and to the extent it brought new opportunities and choices for young people and shifted the institutional structure of many societies considerably closer to the structure of western European countries.
Sobotka Tomáš.- Re-Emerging Diversity: Rapid Fertility Changes in Central and Eastern Europe After the Collapse of the Communist Regimes This article provides a detailed analysis of recent fertility changes in 1 5 countries of central and eastern Europe and in the former East Germany. It focuses on the period after 1989, which witnessed a profound transformation in childbearing patterns, including a rapid decline in fertility rates, the postponement of childbearing, and an upsurge in the proportion of extramarital births. These shifts went hand in hand with changes in union formation, abortion and contraceptive prevalence. While the intensive decline of the total fertility rates seems to indicate a uniform reaction of former Communist societies to the ongoing social and economic changes, the analysis reveals that there was increasing diversity in fertility patterns across the region. The article pays particular attention to the interplay between postponement of childbearing and period fertility levels. The progression of the postponement — indicated by an increase in the mean age of women at first birth — has varied widely between countries. We hypothesize that the more rapid postponement of parenthood was related to the success of the transition period, and to the extent it brought new opportunities and choices for young people and shifted the institutional structure of many societies considerably closer to the structure of western European countries.
Sobotka Tomáš.- El retorno de la diversidad: la brusca evolución de la fecundidad en Europa Central y del Este desde la caida de los regímenes comunistas Este articulo présenta un análisis detallado de la evolución reciente de la fecundidad en 15 paises de Europa Central y del Este, y también en la ex-RDA. El análisis se basa esen- cialmente en el periodo posterior a 1989, marcado por una transformación profunda de las es- tructuras de la fecundidad, es decir, por una disminución rápida de las tasas de fecundidad, un retraso de los nacimientos y un aumento de la proporción de nacimientos fuera del matrimo- nio. Paralelamente a estos cambios se han producido otros relativos a la formación de parejas, al recurso al aborto y al uso de anticonceptivos. La fuerte disminución de los indices sintéticos de fecundidad recuerda las reacciones uniformes tipicas de los antiguos regímenes comunistas ante transformaciones económicas y sociales de los que fueron protagonistas, pero el análisis révéla una diversificación creciente de los modelos de fecundidad en toda la región. El articulo hace hincapié en la interacción entre la postergación de los nacimientos y el nivel de fecundidad del momento. El nivel de tal postergación -que se manifiesta a través del aumento de la edad de las mujeres al primer nacimiento- ha variado considerablemente de un pais a otro. La hipótesis que avanzamos sugiere que la postergación de los nacimientos ha sido más rápida en aquellos paises que han superado mejor las dificultades de la transición, en aquellos paises donde esta ha abierto nuevas perspectivas de futuro y nuevas opciones para los jóvenes, y donde las estructuras institucionales de la sociedad se asemejan más a las de los paises de Europa Occidental.
