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Having Children in Europe: The Role of Social Capital

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  • Alessandra De Rose
  • Giuseppina Guagnano

Abstract

We explore the role of social capital in explaining reproductive behaviour and its differences among the European countries. We adopt a comprehensive concept of social capital that combines several elementary indicators and estimate its impact on the probability of having a first or a further child among reproductive-age women currently in a partnership union. We cluster countries in four groups and discuss the results in terms of different welfare state regimes. Data come from the 2014 EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey (N=15,735) which we analysed through a generalized ordered logit model. Our findings support the hypothesis that women who can count on higher level of social capital show higher chance to give birth to a baby and this holds both for each country group and for Europe as a whole. By showing the importance of operationalize a complex and multivariate definition of social capital we contributed to the debate about its relationship with individual reproductive behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandra De Rose & Giuseppina Guagnano, 2025. "Having Children in Europe: The Role of Social Capital," Review of European Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(1), pages 1-24, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:resjnl:v:15:y:2025:i:1:p:24
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nasir Saukani & Noor Azina Ismail, 2019. "Identifying the Components of Social Capital by Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 631-655, January.
    2. Hans‐Peter Kohler & Francesco C. Billari & José Antonio Ortega, 2002. "The Emergence of Lowest‐Low Fertility in Europe During the 1990s," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(4), pages 641-680, December.
    3. Barrett Lee & R. Oropesa & James Kanan, 1994. "Neighborhood Context and Residential Mobility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(2), pages 249-270, May.
    4. Richard Williams, 2006. "Generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds models for ordinal dependent variables," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 6(1), pages 58-82, March.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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