Fertility Trajectories of Roma Population in Turkey: An Event History Analysis from Menarche to Fifth Birth

Ismet Koç, Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies
Kumru Döne, PhD Candidate, Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies

Turkey, as a country at post-transition stage of fertility transition, is not experiencing this transition in a homogeneous way. With this study, the fertility level and pattern of the Roma population, which constitutes about 2.4 percent of the population of Turkey, are revealed for the first time the timing of fertility trajectories from menarche to fifth birth. The data are from 2023-TRPS which is based on a sample representing the Roma population in Turkey.The results of the study indicate that TFR of Roma women (2.8) is 1.3 births more than TFR of women in Turkey (1.5). Roma women experience each of reproductive events, except for menarche, earlier than women in Turkey. On average, a Roma woman enters her reproductive period at age 14.1; gets married at age 17.6, and has the first, second, third, fourth and fifth births at age 19.7, 23.0, 28.6, 33.9 and 36.2 respectively. The reproductive life span of Roma women is 5 years shorter than that of women in Turkey. These results imply that Roma population is in the late-fertility-transition stage, while the general population of Turkey is in the post-fertility-transition stage, once again pointing to the different fertility regimes experienced in Turkey.

Keywords: Fertility, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

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