摘要：We analyse the socio-economic and cultural factors that influence the timing of thefirst birth in Kyrgyzstan. As in several other developing countries in Central Asia,no trend towards the postponement of fertility has been observed in Kyrgyzstan.This contrasts not only with the current trend towards later parenthood that hasbeen documented in highly developed countries, but with an incipient trend towardsa delay in the timing of the first birth that has been reported in many developingcountries. Our study is based on the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey – 2014(MICS2014), with complementary data drawn from the Demography and HealthSurvey – 2012 (DHS2012). Our analysis of the first union and of the first birth ina union for cohorts of women born between 1965 and 1998 showed that the ratesof union formation and motherhood have increased among the younger cohorts. Wealso found that a woman’s education, labour market experience, and the genderrelations in her family influenced her likelihood of transitioning to a first unionand to motherhood. In addition, we uncovered significant differences in the timingof motherhood and union formation between women of different ethnicities, andlooked at the factors that may have contributed to these differences. The factors thatsupport a stable age pattern of fertility in Kyrgyzstan are of interest when conductingbroader comparative research on fertility timing in developing countries, as thesefactors may help explain the current diversity in these patterns.
关键词：fertility timing;fertility postponement;age at first birth;developing countries;Central Asia
