From ZfB to CPoS: A Dynamic Development in a Challenging Environment

This editorial, written by Norbert F. Schneider, who served as Director of the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) and publisher of Comparative Population Studies (CPoS) from 2009 to 2021, outlines the journal’s transformation during his tenure. Reflecting on the challenges the predecessor Zeitschrift für Bevölkerungswissenschaft (ZfB) faced, the strategic decisions made to reimagine the journal are discussed. Key milestones include the rebranding to CPoS, the transition to open access, the shift to an entirely English-language publication, and the adoption of a rolling publication model. Despite challenges, the journal has grown significantly, with increased international recognition and a solid ranking. On its 50th anniversary, the journal’s established position in the academic community of population research and demography is highlighted, emphasizing its commitment to high-quality publications and an efficient editorial process. * This article belongs to a series celebrating the journal's 50th anniversary

Comparative Population Studies at Fifty: Views on the Past, Present, and Future

 The 50th volume of Comparative Population Studies (CPoS) is a significant milestone in the journal’s history, offering us the opportunity to reflect on its development into a key platform for population research, major achievements, and future aspirations. Besides a retrospective, we present a forward-looking perspective, outlining our vision for the journal’s trajectory in an ever-changing scientific landscape. Furthermore, we offer insights from 50 years of CPoS, including the total number of submissions, the geographic origins of our authors, and an analysis of the journal’s most downloaded articles. This editorial is the first in a series accompanying CPoS volume 50 in our anniversary year. Further editorials by former CPoS editors, publishers, and authors will follow, giving an overview of the editorial processes, guiding principles, and strategic considerations that have and will continue to shape the journal’s identity and impact. * This article belongs to a series celebrating the journal's 50th anniversary

Changes in Birth Seasonality in East and West Germany, 1946-2017

Seasonal trends in fertility are found in several contexts and are affected by societal and environmental factors. This paper documents how birth seasonality in East and West Germany changed over time and, in particular, after 1989 and the onset of Reunification. We use birth counts by month from the Human Fertility Database, broken down into East and West Germany, from 1946 to 2017. We observe similar birth seasonality in East and West Germany in the years from 1946 to the 1970s, with an initial peak occurring in the first months of the year followed by a second peak in September. In the 1970s, West Germany starts to diverge, with the emergence of a single peak in births in late summer. Shortly after Reunification, the seasonal fertility trends found in West Germany are mirrored in East Germany. Consequently, it appears that the socioeconomic, cultural and institutional differences in the two areas have potentially influenced the intra-annual distribution of births, as well as the timing and number of children as described in previous studies

Fertility Intentions Across Five Decades in Norway

Fertility intentions are strong predictors of future childbearing at both individual and aggregate levels, reflecting cultural norms and values around family formation and childbearing. Given the recent decline in fertility across Western industrialized societies, research on fertility intentions has become increasingly important. In particular, falling birth rates in the Nordic countries − traditionally held up as exemplars of modern family policies that balance work and parenthood − raise the question of whether women of childbearing age have experienced a shift in values related to family and childbearing. Using comparable survey data on Norwegian women aged 18 to 44 over five decades (1977, 1988, 2003, 2007, and 2020), we examine trends in fertility intentions. We consider short-term fertility intentions, defined as positive intentions to have a(nother) child within the next three to four years, as well as general fertility intentions, defined as positive intentions to have a(nother) child regardless of timing. We compare changes over the study period across demographic (age, parenthood, and partnership statuses) and socioeconomic (employment and education) groups. Our results reveal a gradual shift in short-term fertility intentions toward older age groups, reflecting changes in age-specific fertility rates and rising levels of childlessness. By 2020, both short-term and general fertility intentions had declined to their lowest levels over the study period − a trend that persisted even after controlling for key background characteristics. From 2007 to 2020, we observe a consistent decline in both types of fertility intentions across all sociodemographic groups. The decline in short-term fertility intentions began earlier among young women, childless women, women in education, and women without a co-residential partner − groups previously identified as experiencing sharper fertility declines after 2010 in the Nordic countries. The early and uniform downturn across key subgroups suggests that changing family values and life-course expectations may be driving the recent fertility decline

A Practitioner-Oriented Evaluation of Mortality Forecasting Methods: The Case of Australia

Practitioners seeking a suitable mortality model for forecasting population by age and sex are presented with many possible choices from the large and growing academic literature on mortality forecasting. Despite this abundance, there is relatively little practical guidance on selecting the most appropriate models for their needs. This study evaluates the accuracy of mortality forecasting methods and provides guidance on model selection. The evaluation includes eight methods from the StMoMo and demography R packages, and a benchmark extrapolative method based on the Ediev (2008) model. We also consider the accuracy of simple combinations of individual methods. We evaluate models by preparing mortality ‘forecasts’ for Australia for past periods using data obtained from the Human Mortality Database. For each method, we created five sets of 30-year retrospective forecasts and evaluated the accuracy of the forecast mortality rates, life expectancies at birth, and life expectancy at age 65. We also evaluated the accuracy of mortality forecasts in terms of projected total deaths calculated using a pseudo-projection method. The Age-Period-Cohort model from the StMoMo R package, based on the Cairns et al. (2009) implementation, was the standout performer in our evaluation, followed by the benchmark extrapolative method. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of mortality forecasting methods using a variety of metrics, including a new way to evaluate mortality forecasts using a pseudo-projection method. We hope that this evaluation proves useful for practitioners looking to select a mortality forecasting method

How to Write an Article for Comparative Population Studies

This editorial is written by Philip Rees, Professor Emeritus in Population Geography at the University of Leeds, UK, drawing on his experience as external editor for Comparative Population Studies (CPoS) in 2019 and as a writer of research papers for 6 decades. He spent a busy year of emails and reviews at his desk in Leeds as part of the CPoS editorial team, with visits to Wiesbaden for editorial meetings. This experience was good preparation for the necessity of home working in 2020 and 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic. This article provides guidance for aspiring authors of CPoS articles in preparing and revising a submission. The advice includes sticking precisely to the CPoS guidance, writing clear and concise prose, being selective in your citations, focusing on originality and relevance, and responding in full to all issues raised by the reviewers of your paper. Then you will be able to benefit from the online publication of your paper, avoiding the article charges levied by commercial publishers, rapid turnround, meticulous sub-editing, assistance if English is not your native language and wise advice from a succession of external guest editors. * This article belongs to a series celebrating the journal's 50th anniversary

Cross-border Reproductive Care in Czechia: Insights from National Registry Data

Cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) represents a growing component of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), particularly in Europe. This article presents a descriptive, register-based analysis of CBRC in Czechia, focusing on the volume of ART cycles, the countries of origin of patients, and treatment types in comparison with domestic patients. We analysed 176,588 ART cycles recorded in the Czech National Registry of Assisted Reproduction (NRAR) between 2016 and 2019. Patients were classified by country of residence, nationality, and insurance status. Descriptive statistics were used to identify patterns in terms of patient characteristics and treatment choices. The analysis was contextualised with reference to national ART legislation in selected source countries. The findings revealed that nearly 40 percent of ART cycles in Czechia are attributable to CBRC, making the country one of Europe’s leading destinations for cross-border fertility treatment. The largest groups of CBRC patients are from Germany, Italy, Slovakia, the UK, France, Serbia, Ireland, and Hungary. Women who seek CBRC in Czechia are significantly older than their Czech counterparts, with a modal age of 41 years compared to 38 years, respectively, for IVF/ICSI cycles and 43 years compared to 38 years, respectively, for cycles in which a woman receives donated eggs. Moreover, the treatment preferences of CBRC patients differ markedly: they are more likely to undergo frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles (37 percent vs. 30 percent among Czech patients) and egg receipt (OoR) cycles (32 percent vs. 3 percent among Czech patients). The study provides a unique, data-driven perspective on the dynamics of cross-border reproductive care in Czechia, drawing on comprehensive national registry data. By identifying key source countries and differences in treatment preferences, it highlights Czechia’s growing role in the European reproductive care landscape and sheds light on how legal, demographic, and economic conditions shape cross-border patient mobility in Europe

Transitions to Motherhood in a Low-Fertility Country: Timing, Type, and Order of Life Course Events

This study analyses the key transitions over the course of a woman’s life: forming a first union, leaving home, economic independence, and employment. It assesses their association with the probability of motherhood in Spain, a low-fertility country. The study focuses on the timing of these transitions and their particular conditions, as well as the order in which they occur. Data for the analysis are taken from the 2018 Fertility Survey (N = 7,819) conducted by the Spanish National Statistics Institute. We have applied event history models, specifically discrete-time logistic regression models. The study reveals varying relationships between life transitions and motherhood, emphasizing the relevance of both the order and specific characteristics of each transition. Forming a union is the main transition associated with motherhood, being moderated by the type of union, its stability, and by economic and employment circumstances. Leaving the parental home also shows a strong association with the likelihood of motherhood, although it also appears to be mediated by the woman’s economic, union, and employment status. Finally, access to employment favours motherhood, albeit to a lesser extent than the other life transitions

Reflections on CPoS: A Journey Across Five Decades

In this editorial, Michaela Kreyenfeld, former board member, author and reviewer, reflects on her own experiences with and the evolution and significance of Comparative Population Studies (CPoS), formerly Zeitschrift für Bevölkerungswissenschaft (ZfB), highlighting its role as a dedicated, rigorous platform for demographic and population research. CPoS embraces core demographic topics as well as interdisciplinary approaches, exemplified for example by seminal works on fertility, demographic transitions, and sociological theory. Valued for fairness, accessibility, and intellectual integrity, CPoS offers a respected venue for both emerging and established scholars. * This article belongs to a series celebrating the journal's 50th anniversary

50 Years of Communicating Demographic and Population Research in Germany

In his editorial, former CPoS editor Johannes Huinink reflects on his personal experiences with the journal as author, advisory board member and editor. He emphasizes the importance of scholarly debates, efforts to include contributions from the Global South, and shares his perspectives for the journal’s continued development and success. He focuses on both the ZfB and CPoS years. The ZfB played a key role in re-establishing demography as a scientific discipline in Germany. Since its relaunch in 2010 as CPoS, the journal has become an internationally recognized, English-language open-access platform with a strong focus on thematic Special Issues. * This article belongs to a series celebrating the journal's 50th anniversary