Abstract
The goal of this poster is to analyse the mean age of women at first childbirth and the mean age of women at first marriage in the European Union from 1970 till 2005. The issue is introduced by describing the changes in the reproductive and marriage behavior in the context of the second demographic transition and societal changes.
The main part deals with the development of the timing indicators and their relation to the intensity of fertility and nuptiality. While the level of both mean age at first childbearing and mean age at first marriage still vary in the EU regions, the trend towards high mean ages is the same in all countries.
According to the shift to delayed motherhood and matrimony the rise of non-marital childbearing is discussed.