Fewer Women in Fertile Age Bracket, Says Researcher
The number of women in their reproductive age, 15 to 49, has fallen to approximately 316,000 in Estonia, which is 7 percent less than in 2005, according to Allan Puur, senior researcher at the Institute for Population Studies of Tallinn University.
This must be seen as one of the factors why the number of births decreased by 10 percent in the first half of 2011, compared to the same period last year, Puur told ERR radio.
Another important aspect is that less young women of the 15 to 19 age group are having children, said Puur, adding that the average age of women deciding to give birth has been steadily growing in the past 20 years.
Breaking the standard Estonian two-parent and two-child family model by having more kids often depends on the experience the family has had with the first offsprings and the age of the mother, Puura explained.
Ingrid Teesalu