Reflections of Familism and Individualism as Social Value Systems upon Fertility

The family in reflexive modern societies has undergone huge changes in terms of its structure, functions and interactions. Therefore, fertility displays a rapid and irreversible downward trend at the global scale. Besides, recent decades are marked by a transition from an altruistic ideational system, in which familism -the tendency in which demands and interests of the community are given high priority- is emphasized, to an individualistic ideational system, in which self-realization is prioritized. In this context, the Second Demographic Transition Theory argues that any analysis towards populations with below replacement level fertility requires to consider the micro level dynamics such as individuals' changing preferences for family-formation and fertility behaviors, in addition to the macro level dynamics such as industrialization, urbanization and migration. The aim of this paper is firstly to stress that the motivations behind low level fertility from the aspects of new value orientations such as the transition from familism to individualism, which is generally under-explored in the literature, should be approached; and secondly to provide a holistic theoretical perspective in which macro and micro explanations are sought together to suggest solutions regarding the problem in question.