Convergence on the two-child family norm in Australia

This paper examines childbearing patterns of ever-married women in Australia and establishes that during the process of fertility transition from high to low levels which largely began after 1971, significant changes occurred in the timing of the first birth after marriage, the length of the first and inter-birth intervals and the proportion of women progressing to have a first birth or births beyond the second. The analysis also confirms the predominance of the twochild family norm and shows the emergence of a converging trend on that family norm. The study applies the life tables technique to the marriage and birth history data collected in the Family Formation Survey conducted by the ABS in September 1986.