Trends in fertility and population ageing in multiethnic Transylvania (Romania)

Valér Veres, Babes-Bolyai University

The paper analyses the changes in fertility and natural increase in Transylvania. Two tendencies are analyzed in the period between 1980 and 2004. The first one is the role of natal and abortion policies during the communist period in Romania, then, following the regime change in 1989, the social-economic transition in the variations of natural increase in Transylvania. The second tendency refers to the differences regarding fertility in the Transylvanian regions, which may be noticed since the end of the 19th century in Transylvania. In close connection with this tendency, we analyzed the role of ethnic composition on fertility patterns, and the quality of vital statistical data according to ethnicity and the correction methods. Results: Similarly to the Romanian fertility tendencies, in the last part of the Communist period, the number of births was also kept high in Romania due to governmental pressure. The changes that had occurred as a consequence of the political change in December 1989 ceased the above mentioned population policies and the regress of fertility and natural increase was spectacular from one year to the other. As regarding the reasons of the fertility decline after 1989, we can only partially agree with J. Rychtarikova, who considers that the fertility decline in Eastern Europe after 1989 may be attributed to the social-economic crisis. In the Western counties of Romania, this decline is due to conscious choices because in 1990 the change did not have so spectacular negative effects, although fertility rates declined the most during the entire period.