Housing context and childbearing in Sweden: a cohort study

Abstract

Previous research has established the link between individuals' housing characteristics and their childbearing behavior. This study contributes to this literature by examining the association between first, second and third parity transitions and housing tenure and type. The study design distinguishes between owner-occupied apartments, rental apartments and owner-occupied detached houses. This study also uniquely takes into account individual housing histories in relation to later life fertility outcomes. The data used are an extract from Swedish registers covering 25% of the population. Housing information is available from 1986 to 2006, and the study follows four birth cohorts of women who are aged 15-18 when the study starts, until ages 35-38. Descriptive results on housing and childbearing transitions over the life course are complemented by event-history models to model the parity transitions. Women living in detached housing have the highest likelihood of parity transitions, while women living in rental apartments have the lowest likelihood. Although women from different housing backgrounds have similar outcomes in terms of parity and timing, housing of origin is related to housing context during childbearing transitions, and thus, serves as a good insight to individual housing norms and constraints.

Fertility intentions of having a second child among the floating population in China: Effects of socioeconomic factors and home ownership

“…In future research, it would be interesting to further investigate how the effects of the socioeconomic factors on the second-child fertility intention differ between migrants and other social groups in China. For instance, unlike the positive effect of home ownership on fertility intentions observed in many other countries (Chudnovskaya, 2019;Felson & Solaún, 1975;Mulder & Billari, 2010;Palen, 1986;Sobotka et al, 2011), the revealed negative effect of home ownership in China's floating population is worth further exploration. In particular, we should examine whether the competing effect between home ownership and childbearing is peculiar to China's floating population.…”

“…Individuals have housing preferences and constraints, which they balance with their fertility intentions, childbearing, and family formation (Chudnovskaya, 2019). Several housing characteristics have been identified as important factors underlying fertility intentions, including housing security and housing tenure (i.e., rented or owner-occupied; Mulder & Wagner, 2001;Vignoli, Rinesi, & Mussino, 2013), type of housing (i.e., multifamily vs. single-family dwelling; Chudnovskaya, 2019;Kulu & Steele, 2013), affordability of housing (Clark et al, 1994), access to the housing market (Mulder & Billari, 2010), and housing conditions such as size and location (Kulu & Boyle, 2009;Ström, 2010). Housing type refers to a residence being a detached home (also known as a villa, a single-family house, or a one-family residence) or an apartment (or an alternative multifamily dwelling such as a townhouse or terrace housing) in the western context (Kulu & Vikat, 2007).…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that home ownership is an important predictor of childbearing (Clark & Huang, 2003;Ström, 2010) and have generally found a significantly positive correlation between fertility intentions and home ownership (Chudnovskaya, 2019). In many countries, young couples need to accumulate considerable savings and achieve a stable income before purchasing their own home, which is often seen as a key precondition for having children (Mulder & Billari, 2010;Sobotka, Skirbekk, & Philipov, 2011).…”

“…In many countries, young couples need to accumulate considerable savings and achieve a stable income before purchasing their own home, which is often seen as a key precondition for having children (Mulder & Billari, 2010;Sobotka, Skirbekk, & Philipov, 2011). Home ownership provides housing security and has symbolic values and thus may be seen as an essential step prior to childbearing (Chudnovskaya, 2019). It has long been considered a fertility incentive (Felson & Solaún, 1975;Palen, 1986).…”

“…Due to the lack of nationally representative data, it has long been difficult for researchers to examine how var- Moreover, this paper pays special attention to the impact of home ownership on the fertility intention of having a second child. Housing and fertility intentions are interlinked over the life course (Chudnovskaya, 2019). Many studies on western societies have identified several housing characteristics as important factors for fertility intentions (Clark, Deurloo, & Dieleman, 1994;Kulu & Steele, 2013;Mulder & Billari, 2010).…”