"The article presents a statistical study of the starting age and the speed of transitions in the process of family formation in Flanders. It contrasts two sets of generations, three groups according to educational achievement and three groups with differing religious practice. The methodology of shifted proportional hazard models is used and transition probabilities are fed into a semi-Markovian chain. Higher educational achievement results in later starting points, but not in a differing pace once started. By contrast, lower religious involvement speeds up the transitions to first sexual contact and premarital cohabitation, while it considerably retards the transition to parenthood among the generations born after 1950." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)
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