Childbearing preferences and family issues in Europe: evidence from the Eurobarometer 2006 survey

This article provides an overview of major findings described in the report on 'Childbearing Preferences and Family Issues in Europe' written at the request of the European Commission, Directorate-General Communication, Opinion Polls (Testa 2006). The report confirms the emergence of below-replacement family size ideals in Europe: Austrian women aged 25-39 show indeed a mean value of 1.7 children. As expected, ideals are higher than actual or intended fertility, and when we add up the number of children already born with those people still intend to have in the future, several other countries show an average ultimately intended family size of less than two children. The presence of a supportive partner is the most important circumstance in childbearing decisions, and consistently, the lack of the right partner for raising children is the most frequent reason given for not meeting the fertility desires formulated at the beginning of the reproductive career. The contribution of both partners is considered necessary for a good family life, but the role of mothers is judged to be the more crucial one. Countries more liberal in terms of gender roles in family life also show preferences for larger families.

Family Formation in France: Individual Preferences and Subsequent Outcomes

In France, as in all European countries, the birth of a first child has been increasingly delayed over time, but the reasons why individuals decide to postpone the time to become a parent still remain to be deeply investigated at the micro level. In this prospective study we analyse fertility preferences and subsequent reproductive behaviour of childless people, and implement a model that uses desires, or intentions, with their related timing, as key covariates. Results show that desired and intended fertility are a strong predictor of subsequent family formation, even after controlling for the effects of other relevant variables, and people become more realistic about their short-term childbearing plans when asked to assess their personal chance to have a future birth. Moreover, highly educated people anticipate their own transition to parenthood more precisely, as compared to low educated people. Age is the most crucial factor determining the probability to remain involuntarily childless in the interval between the surveys, while persistent childlessness is mostly associated with the lack of a partner if it is a consequence of a deliberate choice to postpone childbearing.

On the positive correlation between education and fertility intentions in Europe: Individual- and country-level evidence

Increasing shares of European women are making large investments in their human capital. Whether and to what extent these investments are in conflict with reproductive behaviour are issues that have repercussions for fertility levels. Using two Eurobarometer survey data (2006 and 2011) on individuals clustered in the 27 EU countries, I investigate the relationship between women's education and lifetime fertility intentions. Results suggest that a positive association between women's level of education and lifetime fertility intentions exists at both the individual and country levels, as well as in a micro-macro integrated framework. The main explanation for these findings - which remains to be proven by future research - is that, in institutional contexts allowing highly educated women to have large families, women of reproductive ages are more prone to make investments in both human capital and family size, because these choices are not seen as incompatible alternatives. (author's abstract

Will highly educated women have more children in the future?

"Will highly educated women have more children in the future?" In this contribution, I address this question by looking at both fertility and fertility intentions; i.e., the number of children people plan to have over their reproductive lives. Intended births are highly correlated with actual births, and in low-fertility settings, childbearing has become associated with the couple's agency. On the other hand, education, which is a marker of income and social status, has remained an important driver of fertility choices. Hence, understanding the reproductive decision-making of women and men with low, medium, and high levels of education is crucial when seeking to determine whether - and if so, to what extent - there is scope for additional policy interventions aimed at raising fertility levels

Between landscape and fortified architecture: traces and memory of rural civilization in the territory of Pesche in Molise

The small village of Pesche in Molise extends along the slopes of Monte San Marco, in a perfect symbiosis between architecture and nature. Pesche’s origins date back already between the 5th and 6th centuries, when the steep natural slope was chosen as a place for the construction of a safe village, consisting of many small houses side by side and built using local limestone. Its position, guarding the Isernia valley, charac terized at the top by the ruins of the castle-enclosure, supports the idea that Pesche may have played a dominant role in the passage along the ancient Pescasseroli-Candela sheep track. The castle-enclosure itself is evidence of the traditional medieval building site, but also of a rural civilization which until the beginning of the 20th century probably continued to live in these places, used as houses, stables and barns. This contribution focuses on the architectural and material characteristics of the buildings in the territory of Pesche, which, despite the current state of decay and neglect, are evidence of the use of local materials and the use of construction techniques that have characterized the traditional Molise building site

Between landscape and fortified architecture: traces and memory of rural civilization in the territory of Pesche in Molise

[EN] The small village of Pesche in Molise extends along the slopes of Monte San Marco, in a perfect symbiosis between architecture and nature. Pesche’s origins date back already between the 5th and 6th century, when the steep natural slope was chosen as a place for the construction of a safe village, consisting of many small houses side by side and built using local limestone. Its position, guarding the Isernia valley, characterized at the top by the ruins of the castle-enclosure, supports the idea that Pesche may have played a dominant role in the passage along the ancient Pescasseroli-Candela sheep track. The castle-enclosure itself is evidence of the traditional medieval building site, but also of a rural civilization which until the beginning of the 20th century probably continued to live in these places, used as houses, stables and barns. This contribution focuses on the architectural and material characteristics of the buildings in the territory of Pesche, which, despite the current state of decay and neglect, are evidence of the use of local materials and the use of construction techniques that have characterized the traditional Molise building site.Testa, MP. (2022). Between landscape and fortified architecture: traces and memory of rural civilization in the territory of Pesche in Molise. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 301-308. https://doi.org/10.4995/HERITAGE2022.2022.1431430130

Childless future? An insight from the analysis of childbearing preferences in Europe

'The relatively low levels of ideal and ultimately intended family size manifested in some European countries (Goldstein et al. 2003; Testa, 2006) inspired a careful analysis of the childless preference in Europe based on the Eurobarometer surveys in 2001 and 2006. The aim of the current paper is to investigate the childlessness ideal, or the intention to stay without children, and their contribution to the current levels of ideal and intended fertility in Europe. The analysis is complemented by a comparison between childless women and women with children in respect to two relevant aspects related to childbearing and childrearing: the circumstances perceived as most important in the fertility decisions and the opinion on gender roles in family life. Findings show that young Austrian women hold the record for the lowest fertility ideals and intentions, which are on average definitely below replacement levels. Austria is also the country with the largest diffusion of the childless preference. However, the childless option only plays a secondary role in explaining the cross-national differences and childlessness - although quite high in some countries - is still very rare as an enduring or a lifetime choice. Interestingly, childless women are not significantly different from women with children in their opinion on the relevant childbearing decision- making factors and do not show different views on issues related to gender roles in family life.' (author's abstract)

Bermanne - when there is no room for all

This project introduces the real case of the family business Bermanne,in 2012,along with real decisions regarding the future of the firmas its trugglesto survive past second generation and hasa third generation eager to join. From the founder and CEO’s perspective, the case illustrates the dilemma in which hefinds himself in. Needing to take the best decision for the company’s survival but not wanting to hurt his family’s feelings. The case will guide through the family and firm’s history and reasons why the business became an important asset to all family member

Preference Theory and Low Fertility: A Comparative Perspective

The discussion on the causes of the most recent fertility decline in Europe, and in particular on the emergence of lowest low fertility, emphasises the relevance of cultural factors in addition to economic ones. Being part of such a cultural framework, the heterogeneity of preferences concerning the "career vs. family" dichotomy has been systematised in the "Preference Theory" approach developed by Catherine Hakim. So far, however, this heterogeneity in preferences has been underinvestigated in a comparative framework. This paper makes use of new comparative data from the 2004/05 Round of the European Social Survey to test the links between individual-level preferences and both fertility outcomes and intentions in a variety of social settings. Results confirm a link between work-family lifestyle preferences and realised fertility in a variety of European countries, while they do not support the relevance of lifestyle preferences for fertility intentions.Preference Theory, low and lowest low fertility, Europe, European Social Survey, welfare regime.

The educational gradient of fertility intentions: a meta-analysis of European studies.

Unlike achieved fertility, fertility intentions are often positively correlated with education. However, the conditions under which such a positive relationship exists are not yet well known. Using 86 pieces of research covering 13 European countries that were published between 1990 and 2011, we assess in a quantitative manner the temporal and cross-country variation in the relationship between educational attainment and reproductive intentions. Because of the sequential nature of reproductive decisions and the gendered nature of each individual's life course, we look separately at childless women and women with one child, and compare women with men. Our findings show that both first and second birth intentions and educational attainment are positively correlated, but that this relationship - which is stronger for men than for women - tends to disappear when the normative value of a two-child family is reached. Structural labour market characteristics explain a good portion of the cross-country variance: the educational slope of first and second birth intentions is steeper in countries with large shares of women in vulnerable employment situations or in part-time employment, and is flatter in countries with gender-equal labour force participation and large shares of women in highly qualified employment