The association between parity, CVD mortality, and CVD risk factors among Norwegian women and men

Background Several studies have shown that women and men with two children have lower mortality than the childless, but there is less certainty about mortality, including CVD mortality, at higher parities and meagre knowledge about factors underlying the parity–mortality relationship. Methods The association between parity and CVD mortality was analyzed by estimating discrete-time hazard models for women and men aged 40–80 in 1975–2015. Register data covering the entire Norwegian population were used, and the models included a larger number of relevant sociodemographic control variables than in many previous studies. To analyze the relationship between parity and seven CVD risk factors, logistic models including the same variables as the mortality models were estimated from the CONOR collection of health surveys, linked to the register data. Results Men (but not women) who had four or more children had higher mortality from CVD than those with two, although this excess mortality was not observed for the heart disease sub-group. Overweight, possibly in part a result of less physical activity, seems to play a role in this. All CVD risk factors except smoking and alcohol may contribute to the relatively high CVD mortality among childless. Conclusions Childbearing is related to a number of well-known CVD risk factors, and becoming a parent or having an additional child is, on the whole, associated with lower—or at least not higher—CVD mortality in Norway. However, for men family sizes beyond three children are associated with increased CVD mortality, with risks of overweight one possible pathway

Family life courses and later life health

Life course influences are recognized to be important, but most attention paid to socio-economic (and early life) factors Largely separate literature has shown differences by marital and household status and social support, more recent attention to partnership and parenting histories This literature has examined associations between the fertility histories of women (and less usually men) and mortality or health measured at one point in time Several, but not all, studies show worse health/higher mortality for nulliparous and high parity women (and men). Early parenthood is associated with poorer later health/mortality (women) and poorer later mental health (women and men) Late fertility associated better health/lower mortality in both women and men (but some studies the reverse

A New Color in the Picture: The Impact of Educational Fields on Fertility in Western Germany

The extensive research on the impact of educational attainment on fertility behavior has been expanded by a new dimension. According to these recent findings, not only the level but also the field of education has to be taken into account. The field of education determines a great deal about labor market options and influences opportunities to combine employment and family life. The question this paper aims to answer is: How does the educational field influence the transition to parenthood of women and men in Western Germany? The German Socio Economic Panel (1984-2010) provides the data. Discrete time event history models are applied to examine the impact of the field of education on the transition to parenthood, looking at the time after graduation until a first child is born. Educational fields are grouped according to their most salient characteristic with regard to the share of women, the occupational specificity, the share of public-sector employment, and the share of part-time employment among people educated in the field. The models take the educational level into account and control for marital status, episodes of educational enrollment, and migration background. The results show that educational fields matter for the transition to a first birth only for women. For men, the results do not show a significant impact of educational fields on the transition rates to parenthood. However, they point at the importance of the educational level for the probability of men to become fathers. High transition rates are found among women educated in both female-dominated and male-dominated fields. The finding of low transition rates among women educated in public-sector fields come as a surprise, since, given the high workplace security in the public sector, they were expected to be among the women with high transition rates

Gender-Specific Effects of Unemployment on Family Formation: A Cross-National Perspective

This paper investigates the impact of unemployment on the propensity to start a family. Unemployment is accompanied by bad occupational prospects and impending economic deprivation, placing the well-being of a future family at risk. I analyze unemployment at the intersection of state-dependence and the reduced opportunity costs of parenthood, distinguishing between men and women across a set of welfare states. Using micro-data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), I apply event history methods to analyze longitudinal samples of first-birth transitions in France, Finland, Germany, and the UK (1994-2001). The results highlight spurious negative effects of unemployment on family formation among men, which can be attributed to the lack of breadwinner capabilities in the inability to financially support a family. Women, in contrast, show positive effects of unemployment on the propensity to have a first child in all countries except France. These effects prevail even after ontrolling for labour market and income-related factors. The findings are pronounced in Germany and the UK where work-family conflicts are the cause of high opportunity costs of motherhood, and the gender-specific division of labour is still highly traditional. Particularly among women with a moderate and low level of education, unemployment clearly increases the likelihood to have a first child

Fertility history and cause-specific mortality: a register-based analysis of complete cohorts of Norwegian women and men.

The relationship between women's reproductive histories and later all-cause mortality has been investigated in several studies, with mixed results. Some studies have also considered cause-specific mortality and some have included men, but none has done both. We analyse associations between parity and age of first birth for women and men across 11 cause-of-death groupings using Norwegian register data for complete cohorts born 1935-1968 whose mortality was observed 1980-2003 (i.e. at ages 45-68). Age, period, educational level, marital status, region of residence and population size of municipality were included as co-variates. In total, there were 63,000 deaths. Results showed that relative to parents of two children, childless men and women and those with one child had higher mortality risks for nearly all cause of death groupings. High parity (4+ children) was associated with raised male mortality from accidents and violence and higher mortality from cancer of the cervix among women. For other cause and gender groupings there was either little difference between those with two children and those of higher parities or an overall negative association between parity and mortality. Among men with the lowest level of education, however, high parity was positively associated with mortality from circulatory diseases. For all causes except female breast cancer, there was an inverse association between age at first birth and mortality risk. Similarities observed across cause groups and for women and men suggest that much of the fertility-mortality relationship is a result of selection or effects of reproductive behaviour on lifestyle. The latter may include both beneficial effects and harmful stress responses. However, physiological mechanisms are most probably important for some causes of death for women. Research on associations between parenting histories, health related behaviours, social support exchanges and reported or measured stress is needed to clarify mechanisms underlying the associations reported here