Age at first child in France: recent trends and new methodology to impute orders in vital events

Isabelle Robert-Bobee, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE)
Sabrina Volant, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE)
Vanessa Bellamy, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE)

Birth orders in France are not on good quality in vital events registrations: first births are overestimated. This is the reason why Insee uses census data (which gives results each year thanks to the new design of the census since 2006) to estimate the breakdown of births by order. The poster will present the methodology implemented, and give results on the changes in first child age at birth and other order births since the 1970s, with a focus on recent evolutions. On overall, age at birth (average including all orders) has continued to increase in recent years following the same trend as the one observed in the past, without any specific increase due to the last economic crisis (a specfific increased has been seen in some countries, such as the United Kingdom after 2008). The aim is to specify if this trend remains the same for all birth orders, and to give details on the situation in France.