TY  - JOUR
A1  - Testa, Maria Rita
A1  - Skirbekk, Vegard
A1  - Bordone, Valeria
A1  - Osiewalska, Beata
T1  - Are daughters’ childbearing intentions related to their mothers’ socio-economic status?
Y1  - 2016/09/01
JF  - Demographic Research
JO  - Demographic Research
SN  - 1435-9871
SP  - 581
EP  - 616
DO  - 10.4054/DemRes.2016.35.21
VL  - 35
IS  - 21
UR  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol35/21/
L1  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol35/21/35-21.pdf
L2  - https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol35/21/35-21.pdf
N2  - Background: Unlike actual fertility, fertility intentions are often found to be positively correlated with education. The literature explaining this paradox is scarce. 

Objective: We aim to fill the gap in the existing scientific literature by searching for the main factors that influence highly educated women to plan a larger family size. 

Methods: Using the first wave of the Generations and Gender Survey for four countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, and Norway), we analyse the relationship between mother’s socio-economic status and daughter’s fertility intentions, controlling for daughter’s socio-economic status and sibship size. Zero-inflated Poisson regression models are employed to estimate the predictors of women’s additionally intended number of children. 

Results: We find that the effect of family of origin is exerted mainly through sibship size among childless daughters: Daughters with more siblings intend to have more children. After the transition to parenthood, the effect of family of origin is exerted mainly through the mother’s level of education: Daughters with highly educated mothers intend to have more children. 

Conclusions: The empirical results suggest that the positive link between births intentions and level of education might not merely be an artefact generated by the design of cross-sectional surveys but the outcome of a better socio-economic status that allows forming positive reproductive plans. 

Contribution: The positive role of mother’s socio-economic status on daughter’s fertility decision-making offers a valuable interpretation of the positive link between education and fertility intentions which goes beyond the alternative explanations referring to self-selection, partner effect, or time squeeze, and needs to be confirmed by further research. 

ER  -