Recent marriage and childbearing trends in Croatia and Slovenia: A comparative review

The paper discusses the marriage and childbearing trends in Croatia and Slovenia from 1985 to 2017. We made a comparative review of several indicators related to marriage and childbearing trends: mean ages of women at first marriage and first childbirth, birth rates, births within and outside marriage, total fertility rate, tempo-adjusted fertility rate, age-specific fertility rates, and marriage rate. The analysis is based on the official statistical data provided by the statistical offices of both countries and Human Fertility Database. Many of the indicators, including the birth rate, total fertility rate and age-specific fertility rate, are somewhat more favourable in Slovenia than in Croatia. One of the major differences between the two countries is that in Slovenia the connection between marriage and childbearing is not as nearly significant as in Croatia.