Regional child care availability and fertility decisions in Spain

In this paper I explore two hypotheses: (1) Formal childcare availability for children under 3 has a positive effect on fertility; and (2) Formal childcare availability has different effects across contexts, according to the degree of adaptation of social institutions to changes in gender roles. Event history models with regional fixed effects are applied to data from the European Community Household Panel (1994-2001). The results show a significant and positive effect of regional day care availability on both first and higher order births, while results are consistent with the second hypothesis only for second or higher order births.care regime, child care, fertility, gender roles, social policy, welfare regimes

Ressenyes

Index de les obres ressenyades: D. R. STODDART, On Geography and its histor

Political Economy and Life Course Patterns

We explore the strong linkages between macro changes and the dynamics of educational, occupational, family, and residential careers of young Spanish adults born between 1945 and 1974. We review theory and evidence on macro factors: changes in the welfare system, centrality of the family as a service provider, and the changing role of women. We outline some hypotheses of how life course trajectories, and their heterogeneity, change across cohorts. We build data on sequences of states using FFS. In our analysis, we find an increase in the discontinuity of careers and of the heterogeneity among cohort members, especially for employment. Women's careers are becoming more similar to those of men. Family and household formation is postponed, with a limited spread of post-nuclear family forms.delayed transition to adulthood, life course, postponement of family formation, sequence analysis, Spain, young adults

The Effect of Gender Policies on Fertility: The Moderating Role of Education and Normative Context

In this paper, we aim to assess the extent to which individual-level completed fertility varies across contexts characterized by policies supporting different gender division of labor models. We examine key labor market and care policies that shape gender relations in households and in the public domain. We also consider the role of gender norms, which can act as both a moderator and a confounding factor for policy effects. We hypothesize that, by facilitating role compatibility and reducing the gendered costs of childrearing, policies that support gender equality lead to an increase in fertility levels and to a reduction in fertility differentials by the level of education. Using individual-level data from the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 16 countries, combined with country-level data, we analyze completed fertility through multilevel Poisson’s models. We find that the national level of childcare coverage is positively associated with fertility. Family allowances, prevalence of women’s part-time employment and length of paid leaves were also found to be positively associated with completed fertility, though the associations were not statistically significant. These variables show a significant positive pattern according to education. A high number of average working hours for men are negatively associated with completed fertility and show a strong negative pattern by educational level. The prevalence of gender-egalitarian norms is highly predictive of fertility levels, yet we found no consistent evidence of a weaker association of gender-equality policies in countries where egalitarian values are less prevalent

Ressenyes

Index de les obres ressenyades: D. R. STODDART, On Geography and its histor

The Impact of the Type of Education and of Educational Enrolment on First Births

In this paper, we re-examine two established findings concerning the effect of education on women's family formation. In addition to considering educational choices as a way of accumulating human capital, we also see them as expressing orientations concerning future roles, and as a place of socialization. This leads us to consider not only the level of education but also the type of education. Furthermore, we investigate whether the timing of departure from education and entering into parenthood are jointly determined. In order to disentangle these issues, we use the Spanish Family and Fertility Survey and apply event history models that take into account the presence of unobserved heterogeneity. Our results show that the type of education is as important as the level of education undertaken by women. More precisely, those academic studies concerned with the care of individuals and/or which emphasize interpersonal skills, in turn have a positive influence on the timing of first birth in Spain, irrespective of the level of education. We also find that both processes are partially determined by common (unmeasured) determinants

A reassessment of family reunification in Europe : the case of Senegalese couples

Contemporary policy makers in most European destination countries express a great concern about reunification of migrants’ families. New restrictions multiply in almost all countries, on the grounds that migrants would take advantage of a too lax system and that it would foster an influx of non-desirable migrants. So far, quantitative evidence is scarce on migrants’ practices in matter of family reunification. Taking advantage of a unique longitudinal dataset that includes Senegalese individuals surveyed both at origin (in Senegal) and in Europe (France, Italy and Spain), we perform event-history analyses to show three things. First, couple separation is very often a long lasting situation. Second, when separated because of international migration, wives and husbands do not only reunify in Europe but quite commonly in Senegal. And third, those who reunify in Europe are those who are the most adapted or adaptable to the European culture and economy