Beyond the two-child family: Factors affecting second and third birth rates in West Germany

Schröder, Jette; Schmiedeberg, Claudia; Brüderl, Josef

doi:10.3224/zff.v28i1.22918

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Similarly, Brockmann (2001) finds a son preference among German women born before 1910, but no clear sex preference in Western Germany, and a daughter preference in Eastern Germany among women born in 1950 or later. These results are in line with the findings of Schröder, Schmiedeberg, and Brüderl (2016), who examine sex preferences among women born in West Germany in the years 1944-1979. However, Hank and Kohler (2003 report contradictory findings.…”

Section: Theoretical Background and Existing Researchsupporting

confidence: 91%

The sex preference for children in Europe: Children’s sex and the probability and timing of births

Cukrowska‐Torzewska¹,

Grabowska²

2023

DemRes

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BACKGROUNDThe preference for having children of a particular sex may be reflected in fertility behavior. For example, parents who want to have a son may be more likely to have another child if their firstborn child is female or if they have two female children. They may also speed up the conception, resulting in a faster progression to the next child. OBJECTIVEWe examine whether there is a sex preference for children in Europe, which is reflected in an increased/decreased probability of having another child and a shorter/longer time to the next birth given the sex of existing children. We distinguish between progression to the second and the third child and different cohorts. METHODSWe model the impact of children's sex on fertility using event history analysis. We apply mixture cure models, which allow us to distinguish between the probability of experiencing the event of interest and its timing.

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Section: Theoretical Background and Existing Researchsupporting

confidence: 91%

The sex preference for children in Europe: Children’s sex and the probability and timing of births

Cukrowska‐Torzewska¹,

Grabowska²

2023

DemRes

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“…These enhance previously dominant approaches which focus on demographic, socioeconomic and life courserelated factors. By showing how relevant socio-cultural factors are for higher order parities, our complements previous findings highlighting uncertainty (Comolli, 2017), opportunity costs (Schröder et al, 2016) and education (Wood et al, 2014) as well as structural factors such as family policies (Kalwij, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

How socio-cultural factors and opportunity costs shape the transition to a third child

Panova

Buber‐Ennser²,

Bujard

2023

JFamRes

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Objective: Why do parents decide to have more than two children? Background: This study explores how opportunity costs and socio-cultural factors such as value of children, perceived social pressure and intergenerational fertility transmission influence the transition to higher order fertility in seven European countries. Method: Using panel data for Austria, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Hungary, Poland and Russia, stemming from the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), we aim to identify the driving mechanisms behind the birth of a third child and draw attention to socio-cultural factors and opportunity costs. We estimate average marginal effects in binomial logistic regressions. Results: Multivariate analyses demonstrate that lower opportunity costs and perceived social pressure positively influence the transition to the third child – for both sexes. In contrast, emotional and social values of children are not relevant and intergenerational transmission is associated with the birth of the third child for men and women differently. Perceived social pressure turns out to matter in all countries, although the social groups likely to have large families differ across countries. Conclusion: Overall, this study provides insights into the link between socio-cultural factors, perceived cost and the formation of large families in life course, revealing the reasons why women and men may deviate from the widespread two child norm. Therefore, it brings new contribution regarding the motivation for a third child.

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“…Other dimensions might exist, for instance with respect to parity or the preferred circumstances for childbearing. Findings from earlier research (Ruckdeschel et al 2018;Schröder et al 2016) suggest that most respondents will anticipate having two children, because of the strong twochild norm in Germany. Therefore, although it may be different in other countries, including parity into the analysis in Germany does not seem useful.…”

Section: Fertility Orientationsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In comparison with other countries, this fi gure is still low (Eurostat 2018). Furthermore, there is a strong norm prevalent in Germany of two children being the ideal family size (Ruckdeschel et al 2018;Schröder et al 2016). The German context is thus specifi c insofar as the meaning of childbearing is concerned, because this act is tied more strongly to marriage (and thus to the strong institutionalisation of a partnership) than in many other European countries (Nave-Herz 2015; Konietzka Lappegård et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Early Partnership Formation Instrumental for Fertility in Germany?

Zimmermann

2021

CPoS

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Using panel data from childless respondents of the German Family Panel (pairfam, n=3,802 respondents), this paper investigates whether fertility orientations (biographical orientations with respect to fertility) influence the risk of different partnership transitions among German men and women over the age of 18 (for n=14,572 observation periods between two panel waves). Significant influences are found for both gender and partnership transition types, and are generally stronger among men than women and for the transition to a coresidential as opposed to a romantic partnership. Uncertainty about anticipated fertility has a stronger negative impact on transition risks among men than among women. Results strongly suggest that the early stages of the partnership formation process are instrumental in terms of future fertility in Germany, at least to some degree. This indicates that a more comprehensive conceptualisation and analysis of fertility within the life course paradigm (as suggested by Huinink/Kohli 2014) should consider the impacts of fertility orientations on life course events in other dimensions, especially among men. Viewed more broadly, the results also underline two factors: the role of agency in coordinating life course dimensions in time and space in order to maximise individual welfare; and the importance of considering the impacts that anticipation of future life course events will have, as suggested by different theoretical approaches.

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Beyond the two-child family: Factors affecting second and third birth rates in West Germany

Cited by 8 publications

References 29 publications

The sex preference for children in Europe: Children’s sex and the probability and timing of births

The sex preference for children in Europe: Children’s sex and the probability and timing of births

How socio-cultural factors and opportunity costs shape the transition to a third child

Is Early Partnership Formation Instrumental for Fertility in Germany?

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