Reproductive heterogeneity in Uruguay: from the first to the second demographic transition

Carmen Varela, Programa Población Facultad de Ciencias Sociales
Raquel Pollero, Programa de Población- Facultad de Ciencias Sociales- Universidad de la República
Ana Fostik, Programa Población Facultad de Ciencias Sociales

This paper aims to contribute to the study of fertility change in Uruguay in the period 1996-2006, with regard to the existence of differential reproductive patterns according generations, regions, education and socioeconomic status. Differentials regarding the age of entry to motherhood are also studied. The research shows that the decline of fertility below replacement level is due to the important reduction of fertility in the extremes of the social scale. This, together with an increase in the age at motherhood can be seen as a process where, at a slow pace, women from the lower social strata are beginning to reduce their fertility, and those from the upper strata are experiencing the deepening of the same process, that had started earlier in their case. The analysis of retrospective fertility sheds light on the co-existence of three demographic reproductive models, corresponding to different stages of the First and Second Demographic Transition.