Vienna Yearbook of Population Research / Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 2020, Vol. 18

The 2020 volume brings together many perspectives on the past, present and future of fertility. It covers both countries with very high fertility (research on high-fertility countries in Sub-Saharan Africa by D. Shapiro and A. Hinde) and countries with “ultra-low fertility”, especially in East Asia (S. Fukuda). East Asia is also covered in a review article by Y. A. Cheng, who discusses the impact of the lasting influence of Confucian culture on extreme low fertility in the region. The journal includes contributions on historical fertility declines (work by M. Poulain et al. on Sardinia), as well as articles dealing with recent trends and research presenting fertility projections (article on the European Union by M. Potančoková and G. Marois). While many of the articles are empirically oriented, some have a strong methodological (contribution on first birth trends by R. Mogi and D. del Mundo) or theoretical focus (e.g., research on future orientation and fertility by N. Cavalli). Most of the contributions focus on fertility level, but several shed light on changes in fertility timing (e.g., work by K. Kazenin and V. Kozlov). The authors of the Debate (A. Adsera, A. Esteve et al., S. Gietel-Basten, T. Lappegård, A. Rotkirch, W. Lutz and S. Fukuda) discuss the most important factors likely to influence future fertility trends. Finally, the Data &Trends section (K. Zeman and T. Sobotka) gives a brief overview of selected Wittgenstein Centre databases on fertility across time and space.