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Spain: Short on children and short on family policies

Author

Listed:
  • Margarita Delgado

    (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC))

  • Gerardo Meil

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

  • Francisco Zamora-López

    (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

Abstract

Spain’s total fertility rate has more than halved since 1975, when it was 2.8, to the present 1.3 (the lowest rate on record, 1.2, was reached in 1995). At the same time, the mean age at first childbirth has grown continually, seriously hindering any sustained recovery of fertility. Cohort fertility, in turn, has declined uninterruptedly since the 1941 cohort, and according to all estimates, this will drop to 1.6 for women born in the 1960s. A downturn in nuptiality, which has not been offset by a rise in consensual unions, along with the prevalence of contraceptives and abortion, have contributed substantially to falling fertility. Underlying this decrease is the profound cultural, social, and economic change that has raised the perceived costs of leaving the parental home and having children. The lack of any explicit family policy or transfers to compensate for such costs has reinforced that perception.

Suggested Citation

  • Margarita Delgado & Gerardo Meil & Francisco Zamora-López, 2008. "Spain: Short on children and short on family policies," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(27), pages 1059-1104.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:19:y:2008:i:27
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.27
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. repec:cai:poeine:pope_203_0417 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kryštof Zeman & Eva Beaujouan & Zuzanna Brzozowska & Tomáš Sobotka, 2018. "Cohort fertility decline in low fertility countries: Decomposition using parity progression ratios," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(25), pages 651-690.
    3. Almudena Moreno Mínguez, 2017. "The Role of Family Policy in Explaining the International Variation in Child Subjective Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 1173-1194, December.
    4. Tomas Frejka, 2008. "Overview Chapter 5: Determinants of family formation and childbearing during the societal transition in Central and Eastern Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(7), pages 139-170.
    5. Jonas Wood & Karel Neels & Tine Kil, 2014. "The educational gradient of childlessness and cohort parity progression in 14 low fertility countries," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(46), pages 1365-1416.
    6. Joshua R. Goldstein & Tomáš Sobotka & Aiva Jasilioniene, 2009. "The end of 'lowest-low' fertility? (with supplementary materials)," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-029, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    7. Tomáš Sobotka, 2008. "Overview Chapter 6: The diverse faces of the Second Demographic Transition in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(8), pages 171-224.
    8. Tomas Frejka, 2016. "The demographic transition revisited: a cohort perspective," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2016-012, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    9. Tomáš Sobotka & Laurent Toulemon, 2008. "Overview Chapter 4: Changing family and partnership behaviour," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(6), pages 85-138.
    10. Ashwin, Sarah & Isupova, Olga, 2014. "“Behind every great man…”: the male marriage wage premium examined qualitatively," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 55689, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Jesús García-Gómez & Emilio Parrado, 2023. "Early Childbearing of Immigrant Women and Their Descendants in Spain," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-26, August.
    12. Tomáš Sobotka, 2009. "Sub-Replacement Fertility Intentions in Austria [Intentions de fécondité inférieures au seuil de remplacement en Autriche]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 25(4), pages 387-412, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility; childbearing; Europe; family policy; Spain;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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