Spatial differentiation and fertility postponement transition in Czechia =Prostorová diferenciace transformace plodnosti Česku v důsledku procesu odkládání

Abstract

Over the last quarter of a century female fertility in Czechia has undergone dynamic and dramatic change. One of the main indications of this is the postponement of births and associated fertility ageing. This article analyses the spatial differences in the character and intensity of fertility in the early 1990s and the current era and attempts to highlight any stability or change in the spatial patterns resulting from the changes in reproductive behaviour. The authors use a number of indicators to analyse the rate, timing and distribution of fertility by woman’s age at the district level (LAU1). Additional indicators are also used to assess the level of birth postponement in young people and recuperation during the second half of the reproductive life span. Since the results suggested that there were some areas which exhibited similarities in the characteristics and trajectory of the fertility postponement transition, cluster analysis was used to produce a spatial classification. Although all Czech districts are undergoing a fertility postponement transition, the tendency is for it to deepen the spatial pluralisation of reproductive behaviour, particularly the timing and internal structure of fertility by woman’s age, which is the main spatial differentiation factor affecting fertility.