IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nki/journl/v55y2012i5p5-36.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparing Desired Fertility And Perceptions Of Motherhood In Germany And France

Author

Listed:
  • Kerstin Ruckdeschel

Abstract

There are marked differences between France and Germany in terms of fertility levels, which may be traced back to differences in family policy frameworks and to a diversity of normative expectations as to the role of women and mothers. The influence on desired fertility in both countries exerted by these structural and cultural differences is examined using data from the German and French Generations and Gender Surveys (GGS) of 2005, with western and eastern Germany analysed separately. The results show that attitudinal differences between western Germany and France are less pronounced than those between western and eastern Germany. When it comes to childless persons, cultural factors exert a significant influence on desired fertility. Affirma-tion of the traditional housewife role has a positive effect on desired fertility in both countries, while there are indications that a negative attitude towards working mothers has a negative effect in western Germany. Structural factors such as labour force participation of both partners also exert a negative influence on desired fertility among western German mothers, but only when their children are young.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerstin Ruckdeschel, 2012. "Comparing Desired Fertility And Perceptions Of Motherhood In Germany And France," Demográfia English Edition, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, vol. 55(5), pages 5-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:nki:journl:v:55:y:2012:i:5:p:5-36
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://demografia.hu/en/publicationsonline/index.php/demografiaenglishedition/article/download/209/627/209-630-1-PB.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francesco C. Billari & Dimiter Philipov & Maria Rita Testa, 2009. "Attitudes, Norms and Perceived Behavioural Control: Explaining Fertility Intentions in Bulgaria [Attitudes, normes et contrôle perçu du comportement: Une explication des intentions de fécondité en ," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 25(4), pages 439-465, November.
    2. Angela Luci, 2011. "Frauen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt in Deutschland und Frankreich. Warum es Französinnen besser gelingt, Familie und Beruf zu vereinbaren," Working Papers hal-01298941, HAL.
    3. Anne Salles & Clémentine Rossier & Sara Brachet, 2010. "Understanding the long term effects of family policies on fertility: The diffusion of different family models in France and Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(34), pages 1057-1096.
    4. I. Jönsson & Marie-Thérèse Letablier, 2005. "Caring for children: the logics of public action," Post-Print halshs-00310525, HAL.
    5. Esping-Andersen, Gosta, 1999. "Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198742005.
    6. Reuter, Silke, 2002. "Frankreichs Wohlfahrtsstaatsregime im Wandel? Erwerbsintegration von Französinnen und familienpolitische Reformen der 90er Jahre," Working papers of the ZeS 13/2002, University of Bremen, Centre for Social Policy Research (ZeS).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    2. Olivier Thévenon & Angela Luci, 2012. "Reconciling Work, Family and Child Outcomes: What Implications for Family Support Policies?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(6), pages 855-882, December.
    3. Monika Mynarska & Anna Matysiak, 2010. "Women's determination to combine childbearing and paid employment: How can a qualitative approach help us understand quantitative evidence?," Working Papers 26, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    4. Roberto Impicciatore, 2015. "The Transition to Adulthood of the Italian Second Generation in France," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 529-560, December.
    5. Uta Brehm & Henriette Engelhardt, 2015. "On the age-specific correlation between fertility and female employment," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(23), pages 691-722.
    6. Arnstein Aassve & Alice Goisis & Maria Sironi, 2012. "Happiness and Childbearing Across Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 65-86, August.
    7. Daniele Vignoli & Alessandra Minello & Giacomo Bazzani & Camilla Matera & Chiara Rapallini, 2022. "Narratives of the Future Affect Fertility: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(1), pages 93-124, March.
    8. Katja Köppen, 2006. "Second births in western Germany and France," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 14(14), pages 295-330.
    9. Susanne Fahlén & Livia Sz. Oláh, 2018. "Economic uncertainty and first-birth intentions in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(28), pages 795-834.
    10. Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2015. "Family Benefits and Family Policy in Selected European Countries," WIFO Bulletin, WIFO, vol. 20(15), pages 166-179, September.
    11. Arnstein Aassve & Bruno Arpino & Alice Goisis, 2012. "Grandparenting and mothers’ labour force participation: A comparative analysis using the Generations and Gender Survey," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 27(3), pages 53-84.
    12. Giulia Ferrari & Alessandro Rosina & Emiliano Sironi, 2014. "Beyond Good Intentions: The Decision-Making Process of Leaving the Family of Origin in Italy," Working Papers 060, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    13. Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2014. "Familienpolitik in ausgewählten europäischen Ländern im Vergleich," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 50840, April.
    14. Daniele Vignoli & Raffaele Guetto & Giacomo Bazzani & Elena Pirani & Alessandra Minello, 2020. "Economic Uncertainty and Fertility in Europe: Narratives of the Future," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2020_01, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    15. Maria Rita Testa & Valeria Bordone & Beata Osiewalska & Vegard Skirbekk, 2016. "Are daughters’ childbearing intentions related to their mothers’ socio-economic status?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(21), pages 581-616.
    16. Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2015. "Familienleistungen und familienpolitische Instrumente in ausgewählten europäischen Ländern," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 88(3), pages 195-209, March.
    17. Daniele Vignoli & Alessandra Minello & Giacomo Bazzani & Camilla Matera & Chiara Rapallini, 2021. "Economic Uncertainty and Fertility Intentions: The Causal Effect of Narratives of the Future," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_05, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    18. Den Dulk, Laura & Groeneveld, Sandra & Ollier-Malaterre, Ariane & Valcour, Monique, 2013. "National context in work-life research: A multi-level cross-national analysis of the adoption of workplace work-life arrangements in Europe," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 478-494.
    19. Isabella Buber-Ennser & Ralina Panova & Jürgen Dorbritz, 2013. "Fertility Intentions Of University Graduates," Demográfia English Edition, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, vol. 56(5), pages 5-34.
    20. Pawe³ Strzelecki, 2010. "Projekcja liczby pracuj¹cych w rolnictwie indywidulanym w Polsce w latach 2008-2035," Working Papers 31, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Birth; Motherhood; Fertility; Birthrate; Family policy; Woman's employment; Fertility; Sociology of families; Cultural models; Role of woman and mothers; France; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

    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:nki:journl:v:55:y:2012:i:5:p:5-36. 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: Andrea Fekete-Csiszar (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.