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The article focuses on the social and economic factors as the causes of fertility decline in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union II. Firstly, the article examines the inter-relations between fertility and various economic and social characteristics. Secondly, it makes an attempt to reveal the motivations underlying the attitudes responsible for the observed fertility differentials. Thirdly, the differentials are discussed in relation to changes in the structure of these populations during the period under review. Factors such as urbanization and regional divergences, socio-occupational differentials, levels of education and income, employment of women, and housing conditions are given special attention. The broad conclusion is that the fertility differentials usually found in western societies are also relevant to the socialist countries of eastern Europe, and that the dramatic falls in fertility in the 1950s and the 1960s have largely been the outcome of the deep and rapid structural changes, particularly those associated with urbanization, educational attainment and the incidence of female employment.