IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v30y2014i2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sex composition of children, parental separation, and parity progression: Is Finland a Nordic outlier?

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Saarela

    (Åbo Akademi)

  • Fjalar Finnäs

    (Åbo Akademi)

Abstract

Background: Previous studies that have studied parental gender preferences for children have analysed either divorce or parity progression. We use Finnish register data that make it possible to study both events simultaneously by following the same couples with children over time. Objective: Our aim is to study how the sex composition of children relates to parental separation and continued childbearing, considering that within the same institutional context both aspects likely reflect gender preferences for children. Methods: We perform parity-specific Cox regressions where parity progression and separation (divorce or split up) are treated as two competing events. Results: Our results suggest that, in the 1970s and early 1980s, there was a parental boy preference in Finland, which makes the country different from its Nordic neighbours. Both the risks of divorce and continued childbearing were higher among couples with only girls than among those with only boys. This difference had attenuated considerably since the 1970s, and was practically non-existent in the 1990s. Complementary analyses of married and cohabiting couples’ risk of split up and continued childbearing support the conclusion. Conclusions: As compared with the other Nordic countries, Finland seems to have experienced a later development of implementing modern family roles and a more egalitarian distribution of parents’ attention to sons and daughters. The lag might be due to a relatively late and fast industrialisation and urbanisation process. Comments: Like in the United States, the boy preference seems to have attenuated over time, which would be in correspondence with an increased secularisation and gender equalisation of society.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Saarela & Fjalar Finnäs, 2014. "Sex composition of children, parental separation, and parity progression: Is Finland a Nordic outlier?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(2), pages 49-70.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:30:y:2014:i:2
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol30/2/30-2.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shelly Lundberg, 2005. "Sons, Daughters, and Parental Behaviour," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 340-356, Autumn.
    2. Michael Baker & Kevin Milligan, 2016. "Boy-Girl Differences in Parental Time Investments: Evidence from Three Countries," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 399-441.
    3. Kelly Bedard & Olivier Deschênes, 2005. "Sex Preferences, Marital Dissolution, and the Economic Status of Women," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    4. Gunnar Andersson & Karsten Hank & Andres Vikat, 2007. "Understanding parental gender preferences in advanced societies: Lessons from Sweden and Finland," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 17(6), pages 135-156.
    5. Gordon B. Dahl & Enrico Moretti, 2008. "The Demand for Sons," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(4), pages 1085-1120.
    6. Gunnar Andersson & Karsten Hank & Marit Rønsen & Andres Vikat, 2006. "Gendering family composition: Sex preferences for children and childbearing behavior in the Nordic countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 255-267, May.
    7. Jan Saarela & Fjalar Finnäs, 2009. "Forced migration and mortality in the very long term: Did perestroika affect death rates also in Finland?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(3), pages 575-587, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ari Klængur Jónsson, 2017. "Childbearing trends in Iceland, 1982–2013: Fertility timing, quantum, and gender preferences for children in a Nordic context," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(7), pages 147-188.
    2. Sehar Ezdi & Ahmet Melik Baş, 2020. "Gender preferences and fertility: Investigating the case of Turkish immigrants in Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(3), pages 59-96.
    3. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska & Magdalena Grabowska, 2023. "The sex preference for children in Europe: Children’s sex and the probability and timing of births," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(8), pages 203-232.
    4. Vitor Miranda & Johan Dahlberg & Gunnar Andersson, 2018. "Parents’ Preferences for Sex of Children in Sweden: Attitudes and Outcomes," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(3), pages 443-459, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Younghwan Song & Jia Gao, 2023. "Do fathers have son preference in the United States? Evidence from paternal subjective well-being," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1083-1117, September.
    2. Zurab Abramishvili & William Appleman & Sergii Maksymovych, 2019. "Parental Gender Preference in the Balkans and Scandinavia: Gender Bias or Differential Costs?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp643, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    3. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn & Peter Brummund & Jason Cook & Miriam Larson-Koester, 2020. "Is there still son preference in the United States?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 709-750, July.
    4. Takaku, Reo, 2018. "First daughter effects in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 48-59.
    5. Michael Baker & Kevin Milligan, 2016. "Boy-Girl Differences in Parental Time Investments: Evidence from Three Countries," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 399-441.
    6. Briole, Simon & Le Forner, Hélène & Lepinteur, Anthony, 2020. "Children’s socio-emotional skills: Is there a quantity–quality trade-off?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Laura Giuliano, 2007. "The Demand for Sons or the Demand for Fathers? Understanding the Effects of Child Gender on Divorce Rates," Working Papers 0724, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    8. David W Lawson & Arijeta Makoli & Anna Goodman, 2013. "Sibling Configuration Predicts Individual and Descendant Socioeconomic Success in a Modern Post-Industrial Society," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-9, September.
    9. Brenøe, Anne Ardila & Lundberg, Shelly, 2018. "Gender gaps in the effects of childhood family environment: Do they persist into adulthood?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 42-62.
    10. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska & Magdalena Grabowska, 2023. "The sex preference for children in Europe: Children’s sex and the probability and timing of births," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(8), pages 203-232.
    11. Moffitt, Robert A. & Ribar, David C., 2018. "Child age and gender differences in food security in a low-income U.S. inner-city population," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 23-41.
    12. Briggs Depew & Joseph Price, 2018. "Marriage and the economic status of women with children," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1049-1061, December.
    13. Rupert, Peter & Zanella, Giulio, 2018. "Grandchildren and their grandparents' labor supply," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 89-103.
    14. Dasgupta, Kabir & Diegmann, André & Kirchmaier, Tom & Plum, Alexander, 2022. "The gender reveal: The effect of sons on young fathers’ criminal behavior and labor market activities," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Krista Riukula, 2024. "Preference for sons: still a trend? Evidence from individual-level data from Finland, 1960–2015," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1579-1601, December.
    16. Ankita Mishra & Jaai Parasnis, 2022. "Intentions for a third child: The role of parental sex composition preferences," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(3), pages 472-487, August.
    17. Michał Myck & Monika Oczkowska & Izabela Wowczko, 2024. "Parental gender preferences in Central and Eastern Europe and differential early life disadvantages," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 237-263, January.
    18. Amar Hamoudi & Jenna Nobles, 2014. "Do Daughters Really Cause Divorce? Stress, Pregnancy, and Family Composition," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1423-1449, August.
    19. Elisabeth Gugl & Linda Welling, 2012. "Time with sons and daughters," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 277-298, June.
    20. Gunnar Andersson & Karsten Hank & Andres Vikat, 2006. "Understanding parental gender preferences in advanced societies: lessons from Sweden and Finland," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-019, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Finland; parity progression; separation; parental boy/girl preference; longitudinal population register data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:30:y:2014:i:2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.