Transformácia sobášnosti slobodných v Českej a Slovenskej republike v prierezovom a kohortnom pohľade =The transformation of nuptiality of single persons in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in a transversal and a cohort perspective

Abstract

The apparent decline in first-marriage rates and the dynamic increase in the mean age at first marriage in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic has been described as one of the great reproduction changes in the last quarter century. Despite significant changes in matrimonial behaviour and fertility legitimacy, nuptiality is still very important for the level of demographic reproduction. The transversal approach and the cohort approach in particular point to a historically unprecedented increase in the proportion of permanently single men and women in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. In addition, we are witnessing a continuous extension of the period in which these people remain single thanks to the continuous postponement of marriage. The main aim of this paper is to analyse the transformation of nuptiality in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in a transversal and a cohort perspective with a focus on changes in quantum and tempo in intensity of nuptiality and timing since the early 1990s and therefore particularly among the cohorts born after 1965. The final part of the paper attempts to construct projection scenarios of the possible development of the cohort proportion men and women who have been married and were born between 1965 and 1985 in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.