Social class and fertility: A long-run analysis of Southern Sweden, 1922–2015

Abstract

This paper examines social class differences in fertility, using longitudinal micro-level data for a regional sample in Sweden, 1922Sweden, -2015. Using discrete-time event history models, we estimated the association between social class and parity-specific duration to next birth, adjusting for household income in separate models. Social class was associated with fertility quite independently from income and the association was both parity-dependent and sex-specific. For transitions to parenthood, higher class position was associated with higher fertility for men and lower fertility for women before 1970, but then converged into a positive association for both sexes after 1990. For continued childbearing, a weak U-shaped relationship before 1947 turned into a positive relationship for second births and a negative relationship for higherorder births in the period after 1990. These patterns likely reflect broader changes in work-family compatibility and are connected to profound shifts in labour markets and institutional arrangements in twentieth-century Sweden.

Convergence and persistent contrasts in the determinants of working-age women in Sweden and Japan living alone since the 1990s

“…In Sweden, the income and education gradient of several family outcomes for women born in the 1970s and 1980s has shifted from negative to positive. Specifically, high education/income has been shown to be negatively related to childlessness (Jalovaara et al, 2018) and divorce (Esping-Andersen, 2016), which is the opposite of the positive association found for these outcomes during the 1990s and earlier (Dribe & Smith, 2021;Sandström et al, 2014). Unlike Sweden, the positive income gradient in contemporary Japan remains strong, with the highest probabilities of living alone found among women in the highest income tertile in 2016.…”

Second Birth Fertility in Germany: Social Class, Gender, and the Role of Economic Uncertainty

“…More recent research has also emphasised the importance of incorporating a gender perspective into explanations of relationships between social class and fertility (Szreter, 2015 ). It has been reported that since the 1990s in Sweden, women’s occupational class has had a U-shaped relationship with the transition to parenthood, with women in low-skilled and high-skilled occupations having higher birth risks than women in medium-skilled occupations (Dribe & Smith, 2021 ). Research on Austria has found that women whose educational levels typically lead them to have lower-class occupations are less likely to remain childless than women whose educational levels lead them to have higher-class occupations (Neyer et al, 2017 ).…”

The Long Road to Health and Prosperity, Southern Sweden, 1765-2015. Research Contributions From the Scanian Economic-Demographic Database (SEDD)

“…The relationship between social class and fertility in Scania (Landskrona and the five parishes) changed over the 20th century (Dribe & Smith, 2020). Pronounced changes occurred in the associations between social class and fertility over time, which during some periods, depended on parity.…”