Table I.
Fertility parameters (median with interquartile range) of the oldest birth year quartiles split by categories of age at marriage.
| Age at marriage (years) | France | Old Quebec | Germany | Netherlands | Utah | Quebec/SLSJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at last childbirth (years)a | ||||||
| (15,20) | 38.7 (34.3–41.9) | 41.4 (38.8–43.3) | 39.4 (36.2–42.4) | 39.4 (33.7–42.3) | 41.8 (38.8–43.8) | 41.1 (37.9–43.2) |
| (20,25) | 39.9 (36.0–42.4) | 41.4 (38.7–43.3) | 39.2 (34.3–42.4) | 40.2 (35.0–42.8) | 42.1 (39.2–44.2) | 41.3 (37.7–43.3) |
| (25,30) | 40.1 (36.2–42.7) | 41.3 (38.4–43.2) | 40.1 (36.4–42.8) | 40.3 (36.0–42.7) | 42.1 (39.3–44.2) | 41.4 (38.3–43.4) |
| (30,35) | 40.7 (37.4–43.1) | 41.0 (38.0–42.9) | 39.8 (36.2–42.5) | 40.5 (37.5–42.7) | 42.0 (39.8–44.0) | 41.0 (38.0–43.1) |
| (35,60) | 40.8 (38.2–43.6) | 40.8 (37.3–42.6) | 40.9 (38.3–43.0) | 41.9 (39.9–43.5) | 42.6 (41.5–45.4) | 40.4 (38.9–42.4) |
| Number of children | ||||||
| (15,20) | 8.0 (5.0–9.25) | 12.0 (9.0–14.0) | 9.0 (6.0–10.0) | 9.0 (5.0–12.0) | 10.0 (8.0–12.0) | 12.0 (9.0–14.0) |
| (20,25) | 7.0 (5.0–9.0) | 10.0 (8.0–12.0) | 7.0 (4.0–9.0) | 7.0 (5.0–10.0) | 8.0 (6.0–10.0) | 10.0 (8.0–12.0) |
| (25,30) | 5.0 (3.5–7.0) | 7.0 (5.0–9.0) | 6.0 (4.0–8.0) | 6.0 (3.0–8.0) | 6.0 (5.0–8.0) | 7.0 (6.0–9.0) |
| (30,35) | 4.0 (2.0–6.0) | 5.0 (3.0–6.0) | 4.0 (2.0–5.0) | 4.0 (2.0–6.0) | 4.0 (3.0–6.0) | 5.0 (3.0–7.0) |
| (35,60) | 1.0 (0.0–3.0) | 1.0 (0.0–2.25) | 1.0 (0.0–3.0) | 2.0 (1.0–3.0) | 3.0 (2.0–4.0) | 0.0 (0.0–2.0) |
| Average spacing between children (years) | ||||||
| (15,20) | 2.57 (2.21–3.21) | 1.92 (1.67–2.21) | 2.33 (1.98–2.74) | 2.03 (1.63–2.54) | 2.32 (2.06–2.66) | 1.88 (1.63–2.15) |
| (20,25) | 2.29 (1.9–2.79) | 1.86 (1.62–2.18) | 2.18 (1.82–2.65) | 2.07 (1.66–2.63) | 2.27 (1.99–2.65) | 1.84 (1.61–2.12) |
| (25,30) | 2.17 (1.81–2.7) | 1.84 (1.59–2.16) | 2.13 (1.76–2.54) | 2.03 (1.6–2.56) | 2.19 (1.89–2.67) | 1.84 (1.56–2.11) |
| (30,35) | 2.02 (1.63–2.61) | 1.76 (1.49–2.09) | 1.94 (1.56–2.4) | 1.88 (1.47–2.4) | 2.19 (1.77–2.7) | 1.79 (1.53–2.09) |
| (35,60) | 1.8 (1.33–2.38) | 1.66 (1.37–2.18) | 1.71 (1.21–2.29) | 1.61 (1.2–2.14) | 1.85 (1.23–2.63) | 1.55 (1.32–2.02) |
| Childlessness (%) | ||||||
| (15,20) | 3.0 (1.7–5.0) | 3.2 (2.7–3.9) | 5.2 (2.1–11.5) | 5.0 (3.9–6.3) | 2.4 (1.9–2.9) | 3.6 (2.6–4.9) |
| (20,25) | 4.1 (3.1–5.4) | 4.5 (3.9–5.2) | 4.3 (3.0–6.3) | 4.4 (4.1–4.8) | 1.5 (1.1–2.1) | 3.5 (2.5–4.9) |
| (25,30) | 4.8 (3.6–6.4) | 5.9 (4.9–7.1) | 6.0 (4.2–8.6) | 4.5 (4.1–4.9) | 0.85 (0.34–1.9) | 5.0 (2.9–8.4) |
| (30,35) | 8.8 (6.3–12.0) | 10.8 (8.6–13.4) | 11.8 (7.3–18.2) | 5.7 (5.0–6.4) | 1.2 (0.21–4.7) | 11.3 (6.2–19.3) |
| (35,60) | 37.8 (32.1–43.8) | 48.6 (44.1–53.1) | 29.5 (21.9–38.2) | 8.7 (7.6–10.0) | 2.4 (0.13–14.4) | 53.3 (43.4–62.9) |
SLSJ, Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec
aEstimates for age at last childbirth derived from Kaplan–Meier analysis with left censoring for age at marriage (see Methods)