The Netherlands: Childbearing within the context of a "Poldermodel" society

Tineke Fokkema, Joop de Beer, Helga de Valk and Coen van Duin
Additional contact information
Tineke Fokkema: Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI)
Joop de Beer: Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI)
Helga de Valk: Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI)
Coen van Duin: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS)

Demographic Research, 2008, vol. 19, issue 21, 743-794

Abstract: The Netherlands has seen a considerable decline of the period total fertility rate and delayed childbearing, just like all other European countries. The drop in fertility, however, has not been as sharp as in many other regions of Europe. The period total fertility rate in the Netherlands has stabilized since the late 1970s at around 1.6 children per woman, and it has even risen slightly since 1995. In addition, although the Netherlands has one of the oldest first-time mothers, completed fertility is still rather high compared to other European countries, suggesting a strong “catching up” of births by women in their thirties. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the main driving forces behind specific fertility trends in the Netherlands. Among other factors, it focuses on changing patterns of home leaving and union formation, declining partnership stability, and the growing acceptability and use of contraception. The chapter also looks at prolonged education, rising labor-force participation of women, economic uncertainties, the growing migrant population, and family policies. Data allowing, and to the extent possible, we examine the effects of these factors on decision-making about parenthood and the timing of childbearing.

Keywords: fertility; childbearing; Europe; Netherlands (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol19/21/19-21.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:19:y:2008:i:21

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.21

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Demographic Research from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Editorial Office ().