Social networks and fertility

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThe fields of demography, sociology, and socio-psychology have been increasingly drawing on social network theories, which posit that individual fertility decisionmaking depends in part on the fertility behavior of other members of the population, and on the structure of the interactions between individuals. After reviewing this literature, we highlight the benefits of taking a social network perspective on fertility and family research. OBJECTIVEWe review the literature that addresses the extent to which social mechanisms, such as social learning, social pressure, social contagion, and social support, influence childbearing decisions. CONCLUSIONSWe find that all of the social mechanisms reviewed influence the beliefs and norms individuals hold regarding childbearing, their perceptions of having children, and the context of opportunities and constraints in which childbearing choices are made. The actual impact of these mechanisms on fertility tempo and quantum strongly depends on the structure of social interaction.

The Interplay of Family Systems, Social Networks and Fertility in Europe Cohorts Born Between 1920 and 1960

“…In these, and particularly in the influential study by Reher (1998), family systems are framed particularly in terms of geographical variation in strong ties (with family and kin) and weak ties (with friends and relatives). Recent research on fertility emphasizes social networks containing strong and weak ties that affect demographic behaviour (Chen 2006;Bühler & Fratczak 2007;Bernardi & White 2010, 181;Sear & Coall 2011;Keim 2011;Balbo 2012;Bernardi & Klärner 2014). These studies do not take family systems into account but focus rather on kin relations (for instance sibling ties) or are restricted to one region or country, limiting the possibility of comparing spatial variations in family systems (Ettrich et al 1999, Kohler et al 2001Madhavan et al 2003;Sear et al 2003;Bühler 2004;Bühler & Philipov 2005;Bühler & Fratczak 2007;see Balbo 2012, 9).…”

Family systems and fertility : fertility behaviour in Europe from a network perspective

“…Moreover, empirical studies based on qualitative or quantitative approaches that analysed kin effects mainly focused on the effects of specific kin relationships, such as grandparents and siblings, on fertility, without taking the underlying regional pattern of family organisation into account (for an overview see Bernardi and Klärner 2014).…”

“…In how far is this topic relevant for researchers and policy makers? There is a growing number of studies which chart the effects of kin and non-kin relationships on fertility (Bernardi 2003;Rijken and Liefbroer 2009;Lyngstad and Prskawetz 2010;Sear and Coall 2011;Keim 2011;Balbo 2012;Bernardi and Klärner 2014). Most of this research demonstrates that relationships to kin (and non-kin) play an important role in determining our fertility behaviour (for a literature overview see Bernardi and Klärner 2014).…”

“…This evidence is frequently based on macro-indicators, such as total fertility rates (TFR) (Davis 1955;Burch and Gendell 1970;Hajnal 1982;Das Gupta 1997: 181;Veleti 2001;Micheli 2005). However, there is a growing body of literature which studies the effects of social relationships on demographic outcomes (for an overview see Bernardi and Klärner 2014). Since also research on family systems increasingly uses indicators of social relatedness to differentiate between regional family organization principles (Yorburg 1975;Reher 1998;Heady and Kohli 2010: 21;Viazzo 2010b: 144-148;Micheli 2012: 19), I use these earlier studies to theorize about the effects of family systems on people's fertility intentions, via different pathways (Figure 3.1).…”

“…While there is a lot of empirical evidence charting the effects of family and social relationships on fertility (for an overview see Bernardi and Klärner 2014), contextual factors framing social relationships, such as family systems, have received little attention (Davis 1955;Hajnal 1982;Das Gupta 1997Skinner 1997;Micheli 2000;Veleti 2001). Instead, many empirical studies address the importance of certain kin relationships, such as grandparents (Kaptijn et al 2010), parents (Schaffnit and Sear 2014) or siblings (Lyngstad and Prskawetz 2010), for people's fertility behaviour, without including underlying patterns that structured these kinship ties and provide them with a certain meaning.…”