The Born and Unborn Children of the 1989 Hungarian Transition: Analysing Childbearing Intentions on a Three Waves Family Panel Research

In 1989 the Sociological Institute initiated a longitudinal panel study among parents expecting their first child in 8 settlements in Hungary. In the first phase of the study 300 women in the last trimester of their pregnancy were asked to fill out standardized questionnaires. In the second phase, the families were revisited 3-13 months after giving birth. Then altogether 194 families (both mothers and fathers) filled the questionnaires plus 50 in-depth mother interviews were made.  

From 2011 a 3 year research is funded to (re)continue the study of this special family panel data, to follow up the life history of the families taking part in the research 20 years ago. This data collection aims not only to find and ask the parents but to involve their children born then,  and grown up adults by now. In the 3^rd wave 110 families were interviewed.

Our presentation is a journey in time with an interesting account of the societal and demographic changes 20 years after the transition. We give a thorough and detailed picture of the childbearing intentions of both, the parents’ as well as the young adult’s generation. What are the causes, explanations how the parents’ generation realized their childbearing intention, and what are the reasons behind the postponement or abandonment of childbearing intentions of the young generation.