Partners’ relationship quality and childbearing

Rijken, Arieke J.; Thomson, Elizabeth

doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.10.001

Cited by 34 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…This latter argument has also been supported by additional empirical studies (Wu 1996; Myers 1997). Rijken and Thomson (2011) find a non-linear relationship between relationship quality and fertility: women who experience a medium-quality relationship are the most likely to have a(nother) child, because they are the ones that are the most eager to invest in their relationship. Rijken and Liefbroer (2009) also investigate the impact of partnership quality on the timing of childbearing.…”

Section: Micro-level Determinants Of Fertilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research

2012

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This paper provides a review of fertility research in advanced societies, societies in which birth control is the default option. The central aim is to provide a comprehensive review that summarizes how contemporary research has explained ongoing and expected fertility changes across time and space (i.e., cross- and within-country heterogeneity). A secondary aim is to provide an analytical synthesis of the core determinants of fertility, grouping them within the analytical level in which they operate. Determinants are positioned at the individual and/or couple level (micro-level), social relationships and social networks (meso-level); and, by cultural and institutional settings (macro-level). The focus is both on the quantum and on the tempo of fertility, with a particular focus on the postponement of childbearing. The review incorporates both theoretical and empirical contributions, with attention placed on empirically tested research and whether results support or falsify existing theoretical expectations. Attention is also devoted to causality and endogeneity issues. The paper concludes with an outline of the current challenges and opportunities for future research.

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Section: Micro-level Determinants Of Fertilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research

2012

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“…A number of studies indicate that relationship quality between a woman and her partner predicts feelings regarding progression to birth [12,[107][108][109]. Wilson & Koo [107] surveyed low-income USA women and found that being in an established relationship, not having had a previous child with their partner, and having high expectations of emotional or financial support from their partner predicted higher desire for a child with him.…”

Section: (H) Relationship With Partnermentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolved psychological mechanisms of fertility motivation: hunting for causation in a sea of correlation

McAllister

Pepper

Virgo

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Cultural, ecological, familial and physiological factors consistently influence fertility behaviours, however, the proximate psychological mechanisms underlying fertility decisions in humans are poorly understood. Understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying human fertility may illuminate the final processes by which some of these known predictors have their influence. To date, research into the psychological mechanisms underlying fertility has been fragmented. Aspects of reproductive psychology have been examined by researchers in a range of fields, but the findings have not been systematically integrated in one review. We provide such a review, examining current theories and research on psychological mechanisms of fertility. We examine the methods and populations used in the research, as well as the disciplines and theoretical perspectives from which the work has come. Much of the work that has been done to date is methodologically limited to examining correlations between ecological, social and economic factors and fertility. We propose, and support with examples, the use of experimental methods to differentiate causal factors from correlates. We also discuss weaknesses in the experimental research, including limited work with non-WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) populations.

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“…Children are hypothesized to increase stability by increasing commitment to the relationship, by increasing relationship-specific investment, and by increasing the normative pressures against dissolution (Becker 1981; Coleman 1988; Friedman, Hechter, and Kanazawa 1994; Thornton 1977). Some of the positive association between fertility and marital stability can also be attributed to selection, since less stable couples are likely to avoid childbearing, and relationship quality influences fertility behaviors (Lawrence et al 2008; Rijken and Thomson 2011). However, the stabilizing effect of childbearing has been found to persist even when selection is accounted for (Lillard and Waite 1993).…”

Section: Fertility Intentionality and Union Dissolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unintended fertility and the stability of coresidential relationships

Guzzo

Hayford

2012

Social Science Research

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Having an unintended birth is associated with maternal and child health outcomes, the mother-child relationship, and subsequent fertility. Unintended fertility likely also increases the risk of union dissolution for parents, but it is unclear whether this association derives from a causal effect or selection processes and whether it differs by union type. This article uses data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth to compare union stability after intended and unintended births in coresidential relationships. Results show that coresidential couples are more likely to break up after an unintended first or higher-order birth than after an intended first or higher-order birth, even when accounting for stable unobserved characteristics using fixed-effects models. The negative association is stronger for marriages than cohabitations, despite the overall higher dissolution rate of cohabiting unions. We conclude that unintended fertility at any parity is disruptive for coresidential couples in ways that increase the risk of union dissolution.

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Partners’ relationship quality and childbearing

Cited by 34 publications

References 42 publications

Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research

Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research

The evolved psychological mechanisms of fertility motivation: hunting for causation in a sea of correlation

Unintended fertility and the stability of coresidential relationships

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