Research focus

The research group "Fertility and Population Change" studies fertility preferences, childlessness, union formation and dissolution, family changes and couple relations and their interconnections. It combines research based on individual- and aggregate-level data and puts a strong focus on education differences in family behaviours. The group also actively collects and disseminates data through several databases, including  the Human Fertility Database (HFD, a collaboration with MPIDR in Rostock) and the Cohort Fertility and Education (CFE) database.

Top publications

Pandemic Roller-Coaster? Birth Trends in Higher-Income Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sobotka, Tomáš,  Zeman, Kryštof , Jasilioniene, Aiva,  Winkler-Dworak, Maria, Brzozowska, Zuzanna, Alustiza-Galarza, Ainhoa,  Németh, László,  Jdanov, Dmitri
Population and Development Review, 2023, Vol. 15 Issue 11: 23-58

Impact of family policies and economic situation on low fertility in Tehran, Iran: A multi-agent-based modelling
Esmaeili, Nasibeh, Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal
Demographic Research, 2024, Vol.51/5: 107-154

Birth rate decline in the later phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of policy interventions, vaccination programmes, and economic uncertainty
Winkler-Dworak, Maria, Zeman, Kryštof,  Sobotka, Tomáš
Human Reproduction Open, 2024, No. 3