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Abstract
The age at which a woman has her first birth has implications for subsequent childbearing. This study examines the pattern and trends in early fertility (before age 20) in Costa Rica during the last 30 years, a period of fertility decline. The data come from the Costa Rican National Fertility Survey which was taken in 1976 as a part of the World Fertility Survey. To examine the trends from this cross-sectional data, cohort analysis is utilized.
Time trends are minimal in the age at which the first birth occurs and in the legitimacy status of the first birth. The timing of first births and first unions remains relatively unchanged although the number of women who become mothers early (before age 20) may be declining. At least 65 percent of first births are conceived and born in union with a minority (less than 25 percent) being illegitimate and about 10 percent legitimized at birth.
The dramatic fertility decline that has occurred in Costa Rica is related to the substantial changes in later childbearing illustrated in this study. The age at the first birth and the legitimacy status at the first birth influence subsequent fertility levels. Regardless of the age at first birth, change is least in the five years following the first birth compared with the later period. However, it is during these subsequent years that a difference is apparent based on the legitimacy status at the first birth, and which diminishes in the subsequent period.
Women's education and residence at the first birth are used in both sections of this study and help to identify specific areas of interest to policy makers. Norms about family formation and initiation of childbearing seem to be stable in an environment of declining fertility and social and economic development in Costa Rica. However, if women can be encouraged to postpone the first birth this will facilitate even lower levels of fertility.
