Factors affecting fertility in the multicultural environment of Thrace in Northern Greece

Abstract

Greece is currently characterized by its low fertility levels and a postponement of childbearing toward older ages. Greek Thrace, being a part of Greek territory since the second decade of the 20th century and the study area of this analysis, follows the same national trends, without forgetting the effects of local factors that cause some unique features in its fertility characteristics. Christian and Muslim populations inhabit this area; thus, a multicultural regime prevails. Besides that, Thrace’s ecological and environmental diversity, cultural and social variability, low socioeconomic development, high unemployment, and significant social and economic disparities affect the fertility decisions of the couples solely. This study explores the influence of several factors such as education, occupation, and religion on the fertility outcomes of the population by applying bivariate and multiple regression methods. The results confirm the complex nature of the couples’ fertility decisions under the agency of the cultural and socioeconomic environment. Such findings can outline policy guidelines in addressing population issues in this area. Additionally, they may serve in the interpretation of demographic phenomena of the whole country.

Keywords:

• Fertility differentials
• fertility determinants
• spatial patterns
• minorities
• multiple regression

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Aknowledgments

Authors thank Professor Marie–Noëlle Duquenne of the University of Thessaly for kindly providing them the electronic file of the 2011 census results.

Ethical approval

This research was approved by the “Research Ethics/Research Integrity Committee” of Democritus University of Thrace (DPTh/EIDE/61579/513/28-7-2020). Also, by the ‘Statistical Privacy Committee’ of the National Statistical Authority (ELSTAT; $\Gamma \Pi$-179/28-05-2020; $\Gamma \Pi$-208/17-06-2020).

Note

¹ Greece’s GDP approached zero growth rates in the fourth quarter of 2007 and began having negative growth rates at the end of 2008 (Kondilis et al. 2013). Consequently, the economic crisis seems to start in 2008 (Hardouvelis et al. 2018), in which unemployment increased dramatically (Tapia Granados and Rodriguez 2015). The public debt crisis began at the end of 2009 (Daouli et al. 2017), while a significant fall in salaries is observed after 2009 (Kotzamanis, Baltas, and Kostaki 2017). In 2010 the first Memorandum was signed (Palaskas et al. 2015).

Additional information

Funding

This research was co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund- ESF) through the Operational Program “Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014–2020” in the context of the project “Fertility in Thrace (I gonimotita sti Thraki)”(MIS 5050553).