IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/dem/wpaper/wp-2004-013.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Family formation in times of social and economic change: an analysis of the 1971 East German cohort

Author

Listed:
  • Johannes Huinink
  • Michaela R. Kreyenfeld

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

The birth cohort 1971 entered transition to adulthood at the onset of societal transformation in East Germany. Their marriage and fertility behavior therefore was expected to be severely affected by the upheavals following unification. And indeed, compared to their predecessors, there is a drastic increase in the age at marriage, age at first birth and a decline in second birth risks. In this paper, we adopt a life course perspective to investigate the factors that have contributed to the postponement of family formation after unification. The empirical analysis suggests that highly educated women in particular are postponing fertility. Women with a relatively low education, by contrast, are accelerating family formation. Contrary to standard views on East German fertility, we do not find evidence for the hypothesis that unemployment generally lead to a postponement of first birth.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Huinink & Michaela R. Kreyenfeld, 2004. "Family formation in times of social and economic change: an analysis of the 1971 East German cohort," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2004-013, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2004-013
    DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2004-013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2004-013.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2004-013?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. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Jeffrey B. Nugent, 2002. "Does Economic Uncertainty Have an Impact on Decisions to Bear Children? Evidence from Eastern Germany," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 491, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    2. Debra Friedman & Michael Hechter & Satoshi Kanazawa, 1994. "A theory of the value of children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(3), pages 375-401, August.
    3. Aart C. Liefbroer & Martine Corijn, 1999. "Who, What, Where, and When? Specifying the Impact of Educational Attainment and Labour Force Participation on Family Formation," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 45-75, March.
    4. Siv Gustafsson, 2001. "Optimal age at motherhood. Theoretical and empirical considerations on postponement of maternity in Europe," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 225-247.
    5. Witte, James C. & Wagner, Gert G., 1995. "Declining Fertility in East Germany After Unification: A Demographic Response to Socioeconomic Change," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 21(2), pages 387-397.
    6. Holger von der Lippe & Francesco C. Billari & Olaf Reis, 2002. "Bearing children in unstable times: psychological traits and early parenthood in a lowest-low fertility context, Rostock 1990 - 1995," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2002-014, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    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. Tomáš Sobotka & Anna Šťastná & Kryštof Zeman & Dana Hamplová & Vladimíra Kantorová, 2008. "Czech Republic: A rapid transformation of fertility and family behaviour after the collapse of state socialism," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(14), pages 403-454.
    2. Joshua R. Goldstein & Michaela R. Kreyenfeld, 2010. "East Germany overtakes West Germany: recent trends in order-specific fertility dynamics," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2010-033, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Laura Bernardi & Andreas Klärner & Holger von der Lippe, 2006. "Perceptions of job instability and the prospects of parenthood. A comparison between Eastern and Western Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-017, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

    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. Michaela R. Kreyenfeld, 2005. "Economic uncertainty and fertility postponement: evidence from German panel data," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2005-034, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Hande Inanc, 2015. "Unemployment and the timing of parenthood," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(7), pages 219-250.
    3. Michaela Kreyenfeld, 2004. "Fertility Decisions in the FRG and GDR: An Analysis with Data from the German Fertility and Family Survey," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 3(11), pages 275-318.
    4. Michaela R. Kreyenfeld, 2004. "Fertility decisions in the FRG and GDR," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2004-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Hans-Peter Kohler & Iliana Kohler, 2002. "Fertility Decline in Russia in the Early and Mid 1990s: The Role of Economic Uncertainty and Labour Market Crises," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 233-262, September.
    6. Dimiter Philipov & Zsolt Spéder & Francesco C. Billari, 2005. "Now or Later? Fertility Intentions in Bulgaria and Hungary and the Impact of Anomie and Social Capital," VID Working Papers 0507, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    7. Aart C. Liefbroer & Dimiter Philipov & Francesco C. Billari, 2006. "The Postponement of Childbearing in Europe: Driving Forces and Implications," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17.
    8. Francesca Fiori & Francesca Rinesi & Antonella Pinnelli & Sabrina Prati, 2013. "Economic Insecurity and the Fertility Intentions of Italian Women with One Child," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(3), pages 373-413, June.
    9. Hans-Peter Kohler & Iliana Kohler, 2001. "Fertility decline in Russia after 1990: the role of economic uncertainty and labor market crises," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2001-013, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    10. David De Wachter & Karel Neels, 2011. "Educational differentials in fertility intentions and outcomes: family formation in Flanders in the early 1990s," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 9(1), pages 227-258.
    11. Sunnee Billingsley, 2010. "The Post-Communist Fertility Puzzle," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(2), pages 193-231, April.
    12. Bernhard, Sarah & Kurz, Karin, 2007. "Familie und Arbeitsmarkt : eine Längsschnittstudie zum Einfluss beruflicher Unsicherheiten auf die Familienerweiterung," IAB-Discussion Paper 200710, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    13. Gunnar Andersson, 2000. "The Impact of Labour-Force Participation on Childbearing Behaviour: Pro-Cyclical Fertility in Sweden during the 1980s and the 1990s," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 293-333, December.
    14. 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.
    15. Andreas Klärner, 2015. "The low importance of marriage in eastern Germany - social norms and the role of peoples’ perceptions of the past," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(9), pages 239-272.
    16. Francesca Modena & Concetta Rondinelli & Fabio Sabatini, 2014. "Economic Insecurity and Fertility Intentions: The Case of Italy," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S1), pages 233-255, May.
    17. Kind, Michael & Kleibrink, Jan, 2013. "Sooner or Later – Economic Insecurity and the Timing of First Birth," Ruhr Economic Papers 422, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    18. Doris Hanappi & Valérie-Anne Ryser & Laura Bernardi & Jean-Marie Le Goff, 2017. "Changes in Employment Uncertainty and the Fertility Intention–Realization Link: An Analysis Based on the Swiss Household Panel," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 381-407, July.
    19. Karel Neels & Zita Theunynck & Jonas Wood, 2013. "Economic recession and first births in Europe: recession-induced postponement and recuperation of fertility in 14 European countries between 1970 and 2005," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(1), pages 43-55, February.
    20. Laura Bernardi & Andreas Klärner & Holger Lippe, 2008. "Job Insecurity and the Timing of Parenthood: A Comparison between Eastern and Western Germany," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 24(3), pages 287-313, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Germany; fertility;

    JEL classification:

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

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:wpaper:wp-2004-013. 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: Peter Wilhelm (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.