A Bimodal Pattern in Age at First Birth in Southern Cone Countries?

Abstract:Recent evidence confirms that the postponement transition has begun in some Latin American countries. As the mean age at first birth increases, dispersion around the mean value might also increase, reflecting a growing heterogeneity in the timing of transition to motherhood. In fact, in countries from the Southern Cone, recently available data suggest the emergence of a specific pattern that not only reflects heterogeneity, but also a polarization around two "crests;" the first one at the end of adolescence and the second one toward the end of the twenties. Using census data, vital statistics and household surveys from three countries, we study the extent to which this process consolidates a recognizable pattern in the timing of first birth in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, visible through age-specific conditional rates of first births.