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Hungary: Secular fertility decline with distinct period fluctuations

Author

Listed:
  • Zsolt Spéder

    (Népességtudományi Kutatóintézet (Hungarian Demographic Research Institute))

  • Ferenc Kamarás

    (Központi Statisztikai Hivatal (Hungarian Central Statistical Office))

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate from different angles that Hungarian fertility basically decreased between 1965 and 2005, but also clearly fluctuated, and showed different patterns in the different periods within this epoch. As a result, the clear communist-era family pattern of “early marriage and childbearing with two children” was replaced, but new family model(s) have not yet fully emerged. We could show that profound changes in partnership behaviour –divorce and cohabitation– started before the change of the political regime, but also that changes in partnership relations accelerated after 1990, and that partnerships have become more fragile. In addition, Western-style values of “empty individualism” and consumerism were clearly present under socialism, but their motivating force was tamed by the communist system, in which population policy played a significant role. Of these institutional changes, we ascribe the greatest importance to the expansion in the educational system and the changes in the labour market. We show that, following the changes in the economic system, the conflict between family and work intensified. The synchronic consideration of values, labour market relations, economic development, and population policy; and the relationship of these factors to fertility and nuptiality trends, enabled us to formulate a developmental scheme of four phases concerning the evolution of fertility since 1965.

Suggested Citation

  • Zsolt Spéder & Ferenc Kamarás, 2008. "Hungary: Secular fertility decline with distinct period fluctuations," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(18), pages 599-664.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:19:y:2008:i:18
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.18
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zsolt Spéder, 2005. "The rise of cohabitation as first union and some neglected factors of recent demographic developmnets in Hungary," Demográfia English Edition, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, vol. 49(5), pages 77-103.
    2. Jan M. Hoem & Aiva Jasilioniene & Dora Kostova & Cornelia Mureşan, 2007. "Traces of the Second Demographic Transition in four selected countries in Central and Eastern Europe: union formation as a demographic manifestation," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2007-026, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Zsolt Spéder, 2006. "Rudiments of recent fertility decline in Hungary," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 15(8), pages 253-288.
    4. Tomáš Sobotka & Kryštof Zeman & Vladimíra Kantorová, 2003. "Demographic Shifts in the Czech Republic after 1989: A Second Demographic Transition View," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 249-277, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zuzanna Brzozowska, 2014. "Fertility and education in Poland during state socialism," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(12), pages 319-336.
    2. Nicole Hiekel & Aart Liefbroer & Anne-Rigt Poortman, 2014. "Understanding Diversity in the Meaning of Cohabitation Across Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(4), pages 391-410, November.
    3. Alessandra Trimarchi & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Pathways to marital and non-marital first birth: the role of his and her education," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 15(1), pages 143-179.
    4. Sunnee Billingsley & Livia Oláh, 2022. "Patterns of Co‐Residential Relationships Across Cohorts in Post‐Socialist Countries: Less Time for Childbearing?," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 87-99.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility; childbearing; Hungary;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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