Sociologie Românească, Vol. VIII, no. 4/2010, pp. 67-77.
România, într-un stadiu atipic al celei de a doua tranziţii demografice
Romania, in an Atypical Stage of the Second Demographic Transition
Cornelia Mureşan*
*University Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca
Abstract: The last two decades of socioeconomic transition, started in Romania with the fall of the authoritarian communist regime and with the end of the centrally planned economy at the end of 1989, have been decades of important demographic changes, as well. This study tries to overview the onset of the Second Demographic Transition in the country, using The Netherlands as benchmark. We found that most of the “threshold levels” were surpassed in the period 1990-1996, even if some evolutions were onset much earlier and interrupted by the pro-natalist policies during the so-called “golden age” of communist times. Passed thresholds levels concern especially fall and long-lasting low fertility, postponement of childbearing and marriage (more marriage than childbearing), drop in marriage rates. However, a few other threshold levels have not yet been surpassed: marriage is still stable, ultimate celibacy is still rare, and modern contraception yet is not a current practice.
Keywords: Second Demographic Transition, low fertility, postponement of childbearing and marriage, weakening of marriage as an institution, contraceptive behavior, Romania.
Cuvinte cheie: a doua tranziţie demografică, nivel scăzut al fertilităţii, amânarea naşterii şi a căsătoriei, slăbirea instituţiei familiei, comportament contraceptiv, România.