Abstract
Few studies consider fertility variations on a detailed spatial scale. By considering both the intensity (the number of children born) and the timing of fertility (the age of the mother when she gives birth), the analysis presented here provides an overview of reproductive trends in Brussels. As individual factors such as income level influence fertility patterns, the geography of these patterns points to major intra-urban socio-spatial contrasts, and also tends to show the influence of contextual factors which remain to be studied.
Highlights
82 % of women who have had a child before the age of 20 live in a household with an income below the median
The highest income groups are very under-represented among women who have given birth at an early age: the last three deciles account for only 3 % of them
The areas where women are childless for a long time are those characterised by a high proportion of young adults and a fairly international and educated population
Summary
The TFR is only 1,35 children per woman, while the average childbearing age (all birth ranks combined) is over 32,5 (compared with an average of 29,6 in Belgium) This profile stands out in particular due to the very low fertility of women between the ages of 20 and 34. Relative over-fertility after age 35 is not sufficient to make up for the low fertility at an early age, which explains why the TFR remains well below the Belgian average of 1,81 These areas correspond roughly to the city centre (pentagon) and the southeast inner ring of the Brussels region (Ixelles, Etterbeek, the upper part of SaintGilles and the most central parts of Uccle and both Woluwes). Outside the Brussels Region, such profiles are mainly found in Louvain-la-Neuve and certain neighbourhoods of Waterloo
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