Late-Entry-Into-Motherhood Women Are Responsible for Fertility Recuperation

Summary In countries where age at parenthood has shifted to older ages, a necessary precondition for fertility recuperation is that women having their first child later in life (after age 30) will also eventually achieve a higher completed fertility, compared with the previous cohorts. This study analysed the changes in age-at-first-child-conditional fertility rates in Western Europe through three birth cohorts (1936–1940, 1946–1950 and 1956–1960). It was found that generations where recuperation is first evident (1956–1960 cohort) are characterized by comparatively higher fertility of late age-at-first-child women. This characteristic is not found in Eastern Europe, where ages at first birth and cohort fertility remained fairly constant across the cohorts analysed.