Delayed childbearing in contemporary Spain: trends and differentials.

Data from the 1985 Spanish Survey of Fertility including 8789 women aged 18-49 years is used to examine the timing of 1st births from marriage. Premarital births are excluded. Life table estimates are used to describe trends and differentials. A piecewise constant hazard model, which assumes a constant transition rate within each duration segment (0-7, 8-12, 13-18, 19-24, 25-36, and 37-48 months), and discrete-time hazard models are used in the analysis. Analysis is devoted to the trends in the timing of 1st birth, differentials in the timing of transition to 1st birth as affected by age at marriage, education, labor force participation before marriage, religiosity, number of siblings, place of residence, and region. Fertility has declined from 2.7 in 1975 to 1.3 in 1990 while the country adapted to a democratic political process, legalization of contraceptives, and relaxation of gender roles. There was rapid family formation during the 1960s and 1970s. Recent marriage cohorts have been delaying the birth of a 1st child and birth control has increased. Premarital conceptions have increased. Differentials in timing of 1st birth did not affect fertility because delayers still had children. Postponement of childbearing is new to Spain and may reflect unstable economic conditions or security of women's position in the labor market. Cultural norms have also changed to define an appropriate time for childbearing as not immediately after marriage. Life table estimates show the median age of women at 1st birth as 25.6 years in the early 1980s compared to 24.6 years in the later 1970s. The interquartile timing of 1st births ranged from 14 months for the 1970-74 birth cohort to 26 months for the 1980-83 cohort. Women who married in the 1960s and early 1970s had their 1st child within the 1st year of marriage. Observations are that motherhood remains unchanged, timing reflects intercohort differences, postponement occurs after 1975, and differentials are not constant across marriage duration. Marriage cohort composition has changed to women with higher education, lower religiosity, smaller families of origin, and increasing labor participation before marriage, which shows in the life table estimates to postponement. The rate differentials between 1965-69 and 1970-74 cohorts are statistically significant in the multivariate model.