Fertility rates and the postponement of first births: a descriptive study with Finnish population data

OBJECTIVES: We described the trend of fertility rates, age-specific fertility rates and associated factors in Finland over a 30-year period. DESIGN: A descriptive population-based register study. SETTING: Fertility data, including age at first birth, childlessness and educational levels were gathered from the Finnish Medical Birth Register and Statistics Finland. PARTICIPANTS: All 1 792 792 live births from 1987 to 2016 in Finland. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Completed fertility rate, total fertility rate and age-specific fertility rate. RESULTS: The total fertility rate of Finnish women fluctuated substantially from 1987 to 2016. Since 2010, the total fertility rate has gradually declined and reached the lowest during the study period in 2016: 1.57 children per woman. The mean maternal age at first birth rose by 2.5 years from 26.5 years in 1987 to 29 years in 2016. The proportion of childless women at the age of 50 years increased from 13.6% in 1989 to 19.6% in 2016. By considering the impact of postponement and childlessness, the effect on total fertility rates was between −0.01 and −0.12 points. Since 1987, the distribution of birth has declined for women under the age of 29 and increased for women aged 30 or more. However, start of childbearing after the age of 30 years was related to the completed fertility rate of less than two children per woman. The difference in completed fertility rate across educational groups was small. CONCLUSIONS: Postponement of first births was followed by decline in completed fertility rate. Increasing rate of childlessness, besides the mean age at first birth, was an important determinant for declined fertility rates, but the relation between women’s educational levels and the completed fertility rate was relatively weak.