Determinanty spadku płodności w Polsce – próba syntezy [Determinants of the fertility decline in Poland - a synthesis]

This paper presents a theoretic synthesis of determinants of fertility decline in Poland in the post-war period. The differences in fertility determinants between the communist and post-communist periods are of particular interest. First, we present the changes in the number of births and their direct determinants: the number of women in reproductive age, forming lasting heterosexual relationships and the quantum and timing of fertility. The births’ decline in Poland is attributed to both quantum and timing effects and changes of union formation. In the second part, we discuss indirect determinants of fertility change by referring to main theoretical approaches to nuptiality and fertility, and by making use of research conducted in Poland. In the last section, we present a conceptual model distinguishing fertility determinants operating on the interconnected levels of production and reproduction system (the macro level), labour market and family (the meso level), and work and family social roles (the micro level). By showing how different factors operated differently in the Polish People’s Republic (until 1989) and during the post-communist transition, we analyse links between these determinants and importance of each of them.