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Relationships between men´s gender attitudes and fertility

Author

Listed:
  • Charles F. Westoff

    (Princeton University)

  • Jenny Higgins

    (Princeton University)

Abstract

An analysis published in a recent edition of this journal (Puur, Olah, Tazi-Preve, and Dorbritz 2008) reported that, in eight European countries, men with egalitarian gender attitudes both desired and had more children than men with more traditional gender attitudes. These unexpected findings led us to explore a similar research question with an alternate dataset--the European/World Value Surveys. But we found--without exception--a negative association between men’s egalitarian attitudes and fertility, not only in the selected eight European countries but also in a considerable number of other developed countries. We explore possible reasons for and implications of these divergent findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles F. Westoff & Jenny Higgins, 2009. "Relationships between men´s gender attitudes and fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 21(3), pages 65-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:21:y:2009:i:3
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2009.21.3
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter McDonald, 2000. "Gender Equity in Theories of Fertility Transition," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 26(3), pages 427-439, September.
    2. Allan Puur & Livia Sz. Oláh & Mariam Irene Tazi-Preve & Jürgen Dorbritz, 2008. "Men's childbearing desires and views of the male role in Europe at the dawn of the 21st century," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(56), pages 1883-1912.
    3. Larsen, Ulla & Hollos, Marida, 2003. "Women's empowerment and fertility decline among the Pare of Kilimanjaro region, Northern Tanzania," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(6), pages 1099-1115, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility; men; gender roles; gender egalitarian attitudes; European fertility; World Values Survey; European Values Study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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