Aspects of gender mainstreaming of family and work in Austria

OECD regularly carries out surveys in its member states to assess their recent economicperformance. For the preparation of the 2015 survey focusing on gender mainstreaming of family and work arrangements in challenging times, an OECD team conducted a "factfinding mission" at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna. The mission team approached several researchers and policy makers in order to discuss the recent situation in Austria. The team circulated a strategy note, including a detailed outline of the planned survey, aiming at stimulating scientific and policy-relevant exchanges. In order to discuss the outline of the mission document concerning fertility, migration and the triangular interaction between labour market participation, well-being and parenthood/fertility, I summarized insights from empirical research for Austria based a review of the existing literature. This summary was provided to the OECD team and constituted the major input for discussion

Attrition in the Austrian Generations and Gender Survey

BACKGROUND In longitudinal research the loss of sample members between waves is a possible source of bias. It is therefore crucial to analyse attrition. OBJECTIVE This paper analyses attrition in a longitudinal study on family and fertility, by distinguishing between attrition due to non-contact and attrition due to non-cooperation. METHODS Based on the first two waves of the Austrian Generations and Gender Survey, the two components of attrition are studied separately by using bivariate as well as multivariate methods. Moreover, overall dropout - the combination of both components - is analysed. Apart from various socio-economic characteristics and data collection information, the study focuses on fertility-relevant variables such as fecundity, fertility intentions, sexual orientation, and traditional attitudes. RESULTS Fecundity, fertility intentions, and homosexual relationships are associated with higher attrition due to non-cooperation in bivariate analyses, but have no explanatory power in the multivariate model. Pregnancy and traditional attitudes towards marriage are associated with significantly lower attrition due to non-cooperation in the multivariate context. Overall dropout is significantly lower only among persons with traditional attitudes towards marriage, although small in size and statistical significance. Moreover, various individual and regional characteristics are significantly associated with dropout, with differences between attrition due to non-contact and attrition due to non-cooperation

Attitudes towards parental employment across Europe, in Australia and in Japan

Based on the Generations and Gender Survey this paper studies attitudes towards parental employment in 14 European countries - among them ten located in central and eastern Europe, Australia and Japan. In a multivariate framework we examine how the acceptance of the employment of mothers of pre-school children differs. Our aim is to find out how attitudes vary across countries and sex. Since the role of fathers in the process of socialisation of their children has been underestimated and underinvestigated for a long time, we take the challenge of studying attitude towards fathers' concentration on work. The country-specific ranking in terms of traditional attitudes towards employment of mothers with pre-school children is in tune with the expectations derived from the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) theory, with the exception of Romania. Australia holds a medium position, Japan an ambivalent one. We find a large diversity in the level of traditionalism among the central and eastern European countries. Variation in gender differences is substantial; differences are largest where SDT is at an advanced level. Regarding fathers' concentration on work, the majority presumes negative consequences for children, but the answering pattern shows no clear relation with advancement in the SDT

Realisation of Fertility Intentions in Austria and Hungary: Are Capitals Different?

The study of fertility intentions has gained importance in the literature during the last decades. Nevertheless, research focussing on their realisation is still scarce due to limited availability of longitudinal data. Although a bulk of existing studies demonstrated regional variation and rural-urban differences in fertility, respective differences in the realisation of fertility intentions have not been addressed in prior research. We address this shortcoming by analysing the realisation of short-term fertility intentions in Vienna and Budapest as opposed to the remaining parts of Austria and Hungary, using two waves of the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS). Results clearly demonstrate that those two capitals are different: Although short-term childbearing intentions are very similar in capitals and other parts of the countries, probabilities of realisation are lower in capitals. These differences in realisation are at least partly explained by individual characteristics of inhabitants. There are, however, also factors that affect realisation differently in metropolitan than in less populated regions

When Paid Work Matters for Fertility Intentions and Subsequent Behavior: Evidence from Two Waves of the Austrian Gender and Generation Survey

"The anticipated risk of job loss and material insecurity are related to fertility postponement in the same way as unemployment is. Given the sequential nature of fertility and occupational decisions, unfavorable working conditions should be resolved before having children, and result in an increase in people's assignment of importance to paid work when developing their childbearing plans. We aim to demonstrate this link, focusing on perceived employment and material insecurity, the importance assigned to paid work in forming fertility intentions, the construction of fertility intentions, and their realization. Using two waves of the Austrian Generations and Gender Survey, we apply probit regressions to analyze gender variations in the associations between uncertainty conditions, the importance of paid work, fertility intentions and behavior. Results reveal that work and related benefits become salient when they are insecure, and that material insecurity among men discourages childbearing. For women, we find support for the hypothesis that the anticipated risk of job loss inhibits the realization of fertility intentions - intentions which are less likely to be constructed under such conditions from the onset of family planning processes." (author's abstract

How socio-cultural factors and opportunity costs shape the transition to a third child

Objective: Why do parents decide to have more than two children? Background: This study explores how opportunity costs and socio-cultural factors such as value of children, perceived social pressure and intergenerational fertility transmission influence the transition to higher order fertility in seven European countries. Method: Using panel data for Austria, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Hungary, Poland and Russia, stemming from the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), we aim to identify the driving mechanisms behind the birth of a third child and draw attention to socio-cultural factors and opportunity costs. We estimate average marginal effects in binomial logistic regressions. Results: Multivariate analyses demonstrate that lower opportunity costs and perceived social pressure positively influence the transition to the third child – for both sexes. In contrast, emotional and social values of children are not relevant and intergenerational transmission is associated with the birth of the third child for men and women differently. Perceived social pressure turns out to matter in all countries, although the social groups likely to have large families differ across countries. Conclusion: Overall, this study provides insights into the link between socio-cultural factors, perceived cost and the formation of large families in life course, revealing the reasons why women and men may deviate from the widespread two child norm. Therefore, it brings new contribution regarding the motivation for a third child

Education and Intended Number of Children in Germany, Moldova and Norway: An International Comparison Using FReDA and GGS-II-data

In this study, we compare the intended number of children in Germany, Moldova and Norway in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a first step, we compare the intended number of children (including children born) in the newly available Generations and Gender Survey round 2 (GGS-II) and the German FReDA-GGS data. In a second step, we estimate the number of further intended children with multinomial logistic regression models. The results reveal considerable differences across the three countries. Respondents in Moldova plan to have rather large families (on average 3.3 children, including children born), whereas individuals in Norway and Germany intend to have 2.0 and 1.8 children, respectively. In the multinomial logistic regression analyses, we find differences in the association of educational level and fertility plans by gender and country. In Germany, education is positively related to the intention to have further children. This pattern is more pronounced for women than for men. Furthermore, this association is also found among Norwegian men. In Moldova, we find only weak evidence for this association. For Norwegian women, education and the intention to have further children also seem to be unrelated. While most data about the intended number of children refer to the 2000s or earlier, we contribute to the literature by providing recent insights on the intended number of children in three European countries, including Moldova, a country that is understudied in demographic research

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

Austria: Persistent low fertility since the mid-1980s

This chapter offers an in-depth analysis of fertility in Austria, a country which has experienced a low and relatively stable fertility level and a gradual postponement of childbearing since the mid-1980s. We begin by summarising Austrian population trends in the post-World War II period and highlighting recent relatively high migration levels. We outline the long history of sub-replacement fertility and high childlessness in Austria and look in detail at recent parity-specific developments, trends in family size, delayed childbearing and persistent fertility differences by education level, country of origin and religious affiliation. The chapter then summarises main trends in family-related behaviour, including the changing patterns of leaving parental home, the rise in cohabitation, the decline in marriage and the rise of divorce and the diversity in non-marital childbearing, which has a long tradition in many parts of the country. We discuss the development of family policies in Austria and their relationship to fertility during the past decades. Social policies in Austria provide only a limited support for a reconciliation of childrearing and employment among mothers with children below the age of three. A combination of one of the highest family spending rates among the OECD countries and the low fertility rates indicate that structural constraints (such as the availability of childcare) constitute part of the explanation of low fertility.Austria, childbearing, Europe, fertility