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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 July 2008
The method of decomposition is applied to evaluate the role played by fertility and changing nuptiality patterns in the number of legitimate live births in Ireland, 1962–77. In recent years there has been a demographic ‘transformation’ in Ireland with increasing proportions marrying and at younger ages than previously while the crude birth rate has remained one of the highest in Western Europe.
The analysis shows that the upward trend in births between 1962 and 1977 was due to more women marrying than in previous years and marrying at younger ages, but that age-specific birth rates have declined dramatically.
It is postulated that both the increasing nuptiality and the decreasing marital fertility have been occasioned by the increasing use of ‘artificial’ contraception in Ireland.
