The Human Fertility Database: Aims, Data, Methods and New Research Opportunities

Aiva Jasilioniene, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Tomas Sobotka, Vienna Institute of Demography
Vladimir Shkolnikov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Evgueni Andreev, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Dmitri A. Jdanov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Kryštof Zeman, Vienna Institute of Demography

At present, data on fertility in industrialized countries are fragmented and not easily comparable across countries, time periods, and cohorts. These data limitations represent major obstacle for research and policy-making related to ongoing changes of childbearing patterns, fertility decline, postponement of childbearing, and future fertility prospects. Based on these observations, the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and the Vienna Institute of Demography have initiated the Human Fertility Database project, which aims to fill in the gaps in fertility data availability and comparability. In this paper we describe data processing in the HFD, discuss methodological challenges and provide examples of cohort and period data that it will contain when complete. To show the richness of the HFD and the opportunities that it opens up for fertility research, we provide some illustrations based on Austrian data.