The purpose of the present study is to examine third birth dynamics by mother tongue
group in Turkey, a country that has reached the advanced stage of its fertility transition.
Third-birth intensities of Turkish speaking mothers are lower than Kurdish speaking
mothers and the decline in fertility started much later for the latter group. Kurdish
speaking women who cannot read and who live in more customary marriages have the
highest third birth risk. We demonstrate that to understand contemporary fertility
change in Turkey, it is necessary to consider a combination of individual socioeconomic and cultural factors.