Causes and consequences of increasing age at first marriage in Turkey: An econometric analysis on fertility

Many reasons such as socio-economic developments, cultural transformation, individualistic attitudes, modernization, are effective in changing the perspective on the concepts of family and marriage. The increase in individuals who have never married and the increase in the age at first marriage should also be evaluated in the context of this change. In this context, there are many reasons and consequences of the increase in the age at first marriage. Within the scope of the thesis, the reasons and consequences of the increase in the age at first marriage in Turkey are examined. With the increase in the age at marriage, there are results such as low marital adjustment, increased risk of divorce and biological risks (similar to early marriages) at the micro level. On the other hand, with the increase in the age at first marriage, fertility rates decrease at macro level, and accordingly, the elderly population increases and the young population decreases. In this framework, the relationship between the increase in the age at first marriage and the fertility rate is explained. For this purpose, the effect of the increase in the mean age at first marriage of women on the total fertility rate was measured using the panel data analysis method. The analysis was made based on the data of 81 provinces between the years 2009-2020. As a result, it was determined that the increase in the mean age at first marriage decreases the total fertility rate.