The Gap Between Lifetime Fertility Intentions and Completed Fertility in Europe and the United States: A Cohort Approach

We study the aggregate gap between intended and actual fertility in 19 European countries and the US based on a cohort approach. This complements prior research that had mainly used a period approach. We compare the mean intended number of children among young women aged 20 to 24 (born in the early 1970s), meas ured during the 1990s in the Fertility and Family Surveys, with data on completed fertility in the same cohorts around age 40. In a similar manner, we compare the share who state that they do not want a child with actual cohort childlessness. Our exploration is informed by the cognitive-social model of fertility intentions devel- oped by Bachrach and Morgan (Popul Dev Rev 39(3):459-485, 2013). In all coun- tries, women eventually had, on average, fewer children than the earlier expectations in their birth cohort, and more often than intended, they remained childless. The results reveal distinct regional patterns, which are most apparent for childlessness. The gap between intended and actual childlessness is widest in the Southern Euro- pean and the German-speaking countries and smallest in the Central and Eastern European countries. Additionally, we analyze the aggregate intentions-fertility gap among women with different levels of education. The gap is largest among highly educated women in most countries studied and the educational gradient varies by region, most distinctively for childlessness. Differences between countries suggest that contextual factors-norms about parenthood, work-family policies, unemployment-shape women's fertility goals, total family size, and the gap between them

Religion and fertility ideals, intentions and behaviour: a comparative study of European countries

European demographers rarely study religion as a determinant of contemporary demographic behaviour. One reason could be the secularisation observed in European countries, implying that the effect of religiosity has been diminishing. This paper aims to show that religion can have an important impact on ideals, intentions and behaviour related to fertility. First we discuss recent trends in religiosity. We base our ensuing hypotheses on three deliberations why religion may have a bearing on fertility: importance of religious teaching, effect of social capital and function of religion to decrease uncertainty. Using FFS data we examine the influence of several measures of religiosity on the ideal number of children and intentions to have a second and third child, as well as on the expected and actual number of children. We find that all measures of religiosity are in general related to a higher ideal number of children, higher odds to intend another child and higher expected and actual number of children. Participation in religious services turns out to be slightly more salient than affiliation and self-assessed religiosity. We also discover that the effect of religion on ideals is more pronounced than its effect on intentions. Ideals stay further away from behaviour than intentions do and hence the influence of religion is intermediated by other social systems.

Childcare and housework during the first lockdown in Austria: Traditional division or new roles?

Objective: This study analyses how much time mothers and fathers spent on childcare and housework during and after the first COVID-19 lockdown in Austria (starting in mid-March 2020) and how they distributed that time between themselves. Background: Parents needed to reallocate care work between themselves as, on the one hand, kindergartens and schools closed for two months and, on the other hand, employment-related changes arose, e.g., working from home. The results are discussed in light of major theories that address the division of care work: the time availability approach and gender role theory. Method: This study employs data from the Austrian Corona Panel Project 2020/21, a web-based survey using quota sampling, which started in the second week of the first lockdown (n=372 for respondents in couples with children below age 15). Altogether, seven waves contain information about time spent on childcare and housework; three were conducted during or right after the first lockdown (April and May 2020) and four between June 2020 and February 2021. Linear and logistic regression models were used. Results: Within the whole study period, parents' total workload (care work and employment) was highest during the first lockdown. The workload was greatest - an average of 15 hours on weekdays - among mothers with children below age six. While mothers shouldered more care work in most families, partners shared tasks equally in around one third of them. Care time depended on employment hours, especially for fathers. Yet, it was higher for mothers with the same level of employment as fathers. Conclusion: The COVID-19-related employment changes led to a rise in arrangements that rarely existed before in Austria, e.g., fathers working part-time. Consequently, some fathers took on new roles, especially when they worked from home (mostly among the higher educated), were non-employed (mostly among the lower educated) or worked part-time. The paper concludes by discussing whether those experiences may permanently result in more egalitarian gender roles.Fragestellung: Diese Studie untersucht, wie viel Zeit Mütter und Väter während und nach dem ersten COVID-19 Lockdown in Österreich (welcher Mitte März 2020 begann) für Kinderbetreuung und Hausarbeit aufwendeten und wie sie diese Zeit untereinander aufteilten. Hintergrund: Eltern mussten Kinderbetreuungs- und Hausarbeitszeit (Care-Arbeit) neu verteilen, da einerseits Kindergärten und Schulen zwei Monate lang geschlossen blieben, und es andererseits erwerbsbezogene Veränderungen gab, z.B. Homeoffice. Die Ergebnisse werden vor dem Hintergrund zentraler Theorien zur Aufteilung von Care-Arbeit diskutiert: dem "time availability approach" und Geschlechterrollentheorie. Methode: Die Studie verwendet die Daten des Austrian Corona Panel Projects 2020/21, eine webbasierte Umfrage auf Grundlage einer Quotenstichprobe, welche in der zweiten Woche des ersten Lockdowns begann (n=372 Befragte in Paaren mit Kindern unter 15 Jahre). Insgesamt beinhalten sieben Wellen Informationen zu der mit Kinderbetreuung und Hausarbeit verwendeten Zeit; drei davon wurden im oder unmittelbar nach dem ersten Lockdown durchgeführt (April und Mai 2020) und vier zwischen Juni 2020 und Februar 2021. Die Datenauswertung erfolgte mittels linearer und logistischer Regressionsmodelle. Ergebnisse: Innerhalb der gesamten Untersuchungsperiode war die Arbeitsbelastung (Care- und Erwerbsarbeit) der Eltern am höchsten während des ersten Lockdowns. Die Arbeitsbelastung war am größten - im Durchschnitt 15 Stunden pro Wochentag - unter Müttern mit Kindern unter sechs Jahren. Während in der Mehrheit der Familien Mütter mehr Care-Arbeit verrichteten, war die Aufteilung in rund einem Drittel ausgeglichen. Care-Arbeit war abhängig von den Erwerbsarbeitsstunden, vor allem für Väter. Gleichzeitig war sie beim selben Erwerbsausmaß höher für Mütter. Schlussfolgerung: Die COVID-19-bedingten Änderungen in der Erwerbstätigkeit führten zu einem Anstieg in Arrangements, die davor in Österreich kaum existiert hatten, z.B. Teilzeitarbeit von Vätern. Daher nahmen manche Väter neue Rollen ein, vor allem, wenn sie im Homeoffice arbeiteten (vor allem höher gebildete), nicht erwerbstätig waren (vor allem niedriger gebildete) oder in Teilzeit waren. Es wird diskutiert, ob diese Erfahrungen längerfristig zu egalitäreren Geschlechterrollen führen werden

The Part-Time Revolution: Changes in the Parenthood Effect on Women’s Employment in Austria across the Birth Cohorts from 1940 to 1979

Comparing employment rates of mothers and childless women over the life course across the birth cohorts from 1940 to 1979 in Austria, we address the question of whether the parenthood effect on employment has declined. By following synthetic cohorts of mothers and childless women up to retirement age, we can study both the short-term and long-term consequences of having a child. We consider employment participation as well as working time and also perform analyses by educational level. Our study is based on the Austrian microcensus, conducted between 1986 and 2016, and uses descriptive methods, logistic regression models, and decomposition analysis. The results show that the increase in the proportion of part-time work has led to a declining work volume of mothers with young children, despite employment rates of mothers having increased across cohorts. Return to the workplace is progressively concentrated when the child is 3–5 years old, but the parenthood effect has become weaker only from the time children enter school. Part-time employment is primarily adopted (at least with younger children) by highly educated mothers and often remains a long-term arrangement

Felt deficits in time with children: Individual and contextual factors across 27 European countries

A sizeable portion of parents say they lack time with children—an important social problem given that time strains link to parental well-being. Extending perspectives on the demands and rewards of parenting beyond the individual level, we provide a contextual-level window onto mothers' and fathers' time strains. Based on data from the European Quality of Life Survey 2016/17 (n = 5,898), we analyze whether parents feel they spend enough time caring for their children using multilevel models. We first observe that country context matters in that perceptions of time only moderately or weakly relate to hours with children across countries, especially for fathers, suggesting varying social expectations across Europe. Second, in multivariate analyses examining micro- and macro-level factors, we show that at the individual level, feeling too little time with children is more frequent among fathers and those who work more hours, even when controlling for estimated weekly hours spent caring for children. At the country level, parents' time strain is higher in countries where employees have less time and place flexibility, typically in Central and Eastern as well as Southern Europe. Gender norms matter as well. Extending contextual perspectives, we argue that how gender-work-family regimes color felt time strain is a promising future research direction

Keine Zeit für Kinder? Veränderungen in der Kinderbetreuungszeit von Eltern in Deutschland und Österreich

Based on time-use data for Germany (1991/92–2001/02) and Austria (1992–2008/09) this contribution depicts trends in the amount of time parents of children under age six spend on child care. Using a decomposition technique, the article analyzes whether these trends are due to real changes in the time parents set aside for being with their children (behavioral changes) or to changes in the composition of the population. The findings show that the time devoted to child care has remained constant in Germany but has increased in Austria (as in many other western countries). While both components have only weak effects in Germany, behavioral changes are the main force behind the trend in Austria. In particular, three group, fathers employed full-time who have non-employed partners, housewives, and parents with medium education spend more time with their children in Austria. In both countries, the rising number of mothers working part-time has a positive effect on care time; the decreasing number of housewives, a negative one.Dieser Beitrag verwendet Daten der Zeitbudgetstudien aus Deutschland (1991/92 und 2001/02) und Österreich (1992 und 2008/09), um Trends in der Kinderbetreuungszeit von Eltern mit Kindern unter sechs Jahren darzustellen. Mittels Dekompositionsanalysen wird bestimmt, welche Prozesse für diese Trends verantwortlich sind, nämlich entweder reale Änderungen in der Zeit, die Eltern sich für ihre Kinder nehmen (Verhaltensänderungen), oder strukturelle Verschiebungen in der Bevçlkerungskomposition. Die Studie kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass die Kinderbetreuungszeit in Deutschland weitgehend konstant geblieben ist und sich in Österreich – wie in vielen anderen westlichen Ländern – deutlich erhöht hat. In Österreich lassen sich die Trends in der Kinderbetreuungszeit in erster Linie durch Verhaltensänderungen und weniger durch eine geänderte Bevölkerungszusammensetzung erklären, während beide Komponenten in Deutschland nur schwache Effekte zeigen. In Österreich verbringen insbesondere vollzeitbeschäftigte Väter mit nicht erwerbstätigen Partnerinnen, Hausfrauen und Eltern mit mittlerer Bildung mehr Zeit mit ihren Kindern. Für beide Länder gilt, dass sich der gestiegene Anteil von Müttern in Teilzeitarbeit positiv auf die Kinderbetreuungszeit auswirkt, die rückläufige Zahl der Hausfrauen negativ

Cohabitation and marriage in Austria

BACKGROUND Although cohabitation has spread rapidly in Austria during the past decades, it is more a prelude than an alternative to marriage. The individualization thesis serves as a conceptual framework for explaining the rise of cohabiting unions. OBJECTIVE Our aim is to understand what motivates people to cohabit and marry from an individualization perspective. The present study was designed to investigate in which ways key notions of the individualization thesis such as commitment, romantic love and risk are reflected in discourses on cohabitation and marriage. METHODS Research is based on data from eight focus group discussions (71 participants) conducted in Vienna, Austria, in 2012. This data was analyzed with the help of qualitative methods. RESULTS The focus group participants regarded cohabitation and marriage as different life course strategies. They felt that young adulthood is a period characterized by uncertain external circumstances, in which people build up commitment in cohabitation without feeling limited in terms of opportunities. As dissolving a cohabiting union entails lower costs, the risk posed by this type of union was considered low. The respondents associated marriage with security and long-term commitment and saw it as an ideal for a later stage in life. They argued that romantic love and individual satisfaction should prevail throughout the entire marriage. Core terms of the individualization thesis - commitment, romantic love, and risk - were perceived differently between cohabitation and marriage. We conclude that the individualization thesis best fits young adulthood and is less relevant for later life stages

Childlessness intentions of young female researchers in Austria

"According to prior studies, female researchers in Austria exhibit a very high level of childlessness and, consequentially, a low mean number of children. Following up on these studies, we analyse childlessness intentions of young female researchers and compare them to those of other highly educated women in other occupations. We examine factors that are related to female researchers’ intent to stay childless. The analysis is based on a survey of 196 female researchers between the ages of 25 and 45 (with the majority being between age 25 and 34). Results indicate that few young, childless researchers plan a life without children: Only 7% intend to stay childless and most of them want to have two children (66%). Their intentions are strikingly close to those of their highly educated peers in other occupations. We discuss three factors that play a role for childlessness intentions of female researchers: work-related conditions (employment uncertainty and work-family reconciliation), personal career orientation, and partnership context." (author's abstract)"Bisherige Studien haben nachgewiesen, dass Wissenschaftlerinnen in Österreich sehr häufig kinderlos bleiben und dass daher ihre mittlere Kinderzahl sehr niedrig liegt. Ausgehend von diesen Studien untersuchen wir intendierte Kinderlosigkeit unter jungen Wissenschaftlerinnen im Vergleich zu ebenfalls höher gebildeten Frauen in anderen Berufen. Des Weiteren analysieren wir Faktoren, die mit gewünschter Kinderlosigkeit von Wissenschaftlerinnen in Zusammenhang stehen. Die Studie basiert auf einer Befragung von 196 Wissenschaftlerinnen im Alter von 25 bis 45 Jahren (die Mehrheit ist 25 bis 34 Jahre alt). Die Ergebnisse verweisen darauf, dass nur wenige junge, kinderlose Wissenschaftlerinnen ein Leben ohne Kinder planen: Nur 7% wollen kinderlos bleiben und die meisten wünschen sich zwei Kinder (66%). Ihre gewünschte Kinderzahl ähnelt in hohem Maß jener ihrer hoch gebildeten Vergleichsgruppe außerhalb der Wissenschaft. Wir diskutieren drei Faktoren, die wesentlich für gewünschte Kinderlosigkeit von Wissenschaftlerinnen sind: berufliche Bedingungen (prekäre Arbeitsverhältnisse, Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf), persönliche Karriereorientierung und Partnerschaftssituation." (Autorenreferat

Turbulenzen im Kinderleben: mütterliche Partnerschaftsbiographien und multiple Übergänge nach elterlicher Trennung

"Nach einer elterlichen Trennung gilt das Erleben multipler Übergänge als Risikofaktor für Kinder. Wir analysieren erstmals für Österreich im Zeitverlauf, wie viele Übergänge, definiert als neuerliche mütterliche Partnerbeziehungen oder Trennungen, Kinder erleben und von welchen Determinanten dies beeinflusst wird. Die Analysen erfolgen mittels multinomialer logistischer Regression auf Basis der österreichischen Daten des Fertility and Family Survey 1995/96 und des Generations and Gender Survey 2008/09. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass innerhalb von acht Jahren nach der elterlichen Trennung jeweils rund 50% der Kinder keine und rund 40% genau eine neue Kohabitation (Lebensgemeinschaft oder Ehe) der Mutter erleben, zumeist in den ersten vier Jahren nach der elterlichen Trennung. Fast jedes siebte Kind mit getrennten Eltern (13%) macht die Erfahrung multipler Übergänge. Erklärende Faktoren sind niedriges Alter der Mutter zum Zeitpunkt der Trennung, geringes mütterliches Bildungsniveau sowie niedriges Alter des jüngsten Kindes. Des Weiteren zeigt sich ein deutlicher Effekt des Trennungsjahres: die Wahrscheinlichkeit für das Erleben multipler Übergänge ist im Zeitverlauf markant angestiegen." (Autorenreferat)"Experiencing multiple transitions after a parental separation was identified as an important risk factor for children. We investigate for the first time for Austria, how many transitions (i.e. changes in maternal partnership arrangements) children experience and what determines their number. The analyses are based on the Austrian Fertility and Family Survey 1995/96 and the Generations and Gender Survey 2008/09 using a multinomial logistic regression model. The results show that within eight years after parental separation, about 50% of children experience no new cohabitation or marriage of their mother and about 40% experience exactly one. For the majority of children, these changes happen within four years after their parents’ separation. Almost every seventh child with separated parents (13%) experiences multiple transitions. Children with a low-level educated mother and those whose mother is young at the time of separation face a particularly high risk, as well as those living in families with a low age of the youngest child. Moreover, a strong effect of the year of separation could be detected: the probability of experiencing multiple transitions increases strongly over time." (author's abstract

Towards a deeper understanding of cohabitation: insights from focus group research across Europe and Australia

BACKGROUND Across the industrialized world, more people are living together without marrying. Although researchers have compared cohabitation cross-nationally using quantitative data, few have compared union formation using qualitative data.OBJECTIVE We use focus group research to compare social norms of cohabitation and marriage in Australia and nine countries in Europe. We explore questions such as: what is the meaning of cohabitation? Is cohabitation indistinguishable from marriage, a prelude to marriage, or an alternative to being single? Are the meanings of cohabitation similar across countries? METHODS Collaborators conducted 7-8 focus groups in each country using a standardized guideline. They analysed the discussions by performing bottom-up coding within each thematic area. They then presented the data in a standardized report. The first and second authors systematically coded and analysed the reports, with direct input from collaborators.RESULTS The results from each country describe a specific picture of union formation. However, three themes emerge repeatedly in all focus groups: commitment, testing, and freedom. The pervasiveness of these concepts suggests that marriage and cohabitation have distinct meanings, with marriage representing a stronger level of commitment. Cohabitation is a way to test the relationship and represents freedom. Nonetheless, other discourses emerged in the focus groups suggesting that cohabitation has multiple meanings.CONCLUSIONS This study illuminates how context shapes partnership formation, but also presents underlying reasons for the development of cohabitation. We find that the increase in cohabitation has not devalued the concept of marriage, but has become a way to preserve marriage as an ideal for long-term commitment. ?<br/