ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates changes in fertility behaviour related to gender and social class from the midst of the 1960s, a period with extensive economic and social changes in many Western countries. Postponed births, increase in childlessness and more unstable relationships in combination with new union forms are typical for this period. We also recognize that many choices, which in the past were largely decided on the basis of social prescriptions, have now become optional. New stages in the life-course have emerged, resulting in a de-standardization of family formation patterns. The same trends are found in most industrialized countries, but the pattern is far from identical and their strength also varies a lot. The Scandinavian countries are known as forerunners in many of these changes.
