Differential Patterns of Completing Fertility Transition in Turkey

Sutay Yavuz, Hacettepe University

During the last two decades, social institutional setting of reproduction has experienced intensive transitions in Turkey. The purpose of the present study is to examine social demographic aspects of fertility dynamics by mother tongue groups in Turkey. By applying event-history analysis to retrospective data, the study first illustrates trends of birth intensities (first birth up to fourth) in the context of socioeconomic, cultural and political changes. Secondly, the study examines how the variations between the Turkish and Kurdish speaking women are conditioned by demographic, socioeconomic (structural) and socio-cultural characteristics. The results allowed us to identify different groups in the fertility decline process in Turkey. We demonstrate that to understand contemporary fertility dynamics, it is necessary to consider a combination of individual demographic, socioeconomic and cultural factors.