The Transition Generation's Entrance to Parenthood: Patterns Across 27 Post - Socialist Countries

The age at which men and women enter parenthood has increasingly become of interest as we witness the postponement of parenthood across a variety of contexts. A large literature has developed on factors related to the age at first birth, both in terms of variation over time within a population and between subgroups of a population. Fewer studies have tried to explain variation across countries in the average age at entering parenthood, despite large and persistent differences in countries sharing contextual similarities and differences. We aim to fill this gap and learn more about how social, cultural and economic forces influence when adults experience one of the most significant life course events.

We use micro-data and contextual indicators to explore differences in the timing of parenthood over a wide range of post-socialist countries. We focus on men and women who entered adulthood during the transition from communism in 27 countries. These countries represent six diverse geo-cultural regions. Using multi-level hazard models, we observe the differences between countries in the average timing of parenthood and how much can be explained by compositional factors, values and attitudes. We also observe the influence of economic context on first conception risks. Our results indicate that later entrance to parenthood in Eastern and Southeastern Europe compared to Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine is related to positive economic developments. Earlier entrance to parenthood in Central Asian Republics is related to religious affiliation. We find no significant differences in the timing of parenthood for the Caucasus, whereas no measures account for the earlier entrance to parenthood in Baltic States.