Fertility in Finland in the 1980s and 1990s: Analysis of Fertility Trend by Age and ParityAge and ParityFertility in Finland in the 1980s and 1990s: Analysis of Fertility Trend byAge and ParityFamilial, Situational, and Attitudinal Determinants of Third-Birth Intentions and Their Uncertainty

Vikat Anders

doi:10.23979/fypr.44975

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the fertility trend in Finland from 1982 to1999 by age and parity, using age- and parity-specific birth intensities and syntheticcohort measures of period fertility. The findings are discussed in the light of theconcurrent changes in family policy and macroeconomic environment, and in thecontext of fertility developments in other Nordic countries. From 1982 to 1987,first-birth rates decreased while second and higher order birth rates changed little.From 1987, there was a rise in womens fertility at all parities throughout thereproductive age span. In first births, this increase reverted to a decrease in 1991.Second and higher order birth rates continued to increase until 1994. Third andhigher order births have somewhat decreased thereafter. First-birth rates of womenover 35 have risen throughout the study period, and the mean age at first birth hasincreased.

Highlights

In the last two decades of the 20th century, the level of period fertility in Finland has been relatively stable when compared to the 1960s and 1970s
Since 1974, the total period fertility rate has fluctuated between 1.6 and 1.8, and for the last 25 years as a whole, there is no systematic tendency toward an increase or decrease
Fertility in 1999 was again slightly higher compared to 1998 in all birth orders, but since this is the last year observed in this analysis, it would be premature to consider this as another turning point in the trend. It has been on the surface throughout this article that there was an ongoing postponement of fertility in Finland, like in most European countries, in the 1980s and 1990s

Summary

Introduction

In the last two decades of the 20th century, the level of period fertility in Finland has been relatively stable when compared to the 1960s and 1970s. Since 1974, the total period fertility rate has fluctuated between 1.6 and 1.8, and for the last 25 years as a whole, there is no systematic tendency toward an increase or decrease This pattern of fertility trend over the last 35 years – a rapid and sizable decline followed by a period of smaller fluctuations – is shared by most other West and North European countries, and has received much attention from demographers. This has been accompanied by an increase in the mean age at childbearing, another trend that has been observed in most West and North European countries for more than 30 years. Together with the parallel changes in family dynamics, contraception, and value orientations, the fertility decline is interpreted as one of the manifestations of the second demographic transition, an empirical generalization frequently used as a general framework for studies on fertility and family dynamics from the 1960s onward (Lesthaeghe 1995)

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