Volume 24 - Article 20 | Pages 469–496  

Gender equality and fertility intentions revisited: Evidence from Finland

By Anneli Miettinen, Stuart Gietel-Basten, Anna Rotkirch

Abstract

Stimulated by the recent debate on gender roles and men’s fertility behaviour (Puur et al. 2008; Westoff and Higgins 2009; Goldscheider, Oláh and Puur 2010), we present evidence from Finland as a country well into the second phase of the so-called gender revolution. We examine how gender role attitudes relate to childbearing intentions at the onset of family life, intentions to have many (3 or more) children, and high personal fertility ideals among low-parity men and women. Gender equality attitudes are measured for both the public and the domestic sphere and the influence of work and family orientation is controlled for. Finding signs of a U-shaped association among men, we conclude that both traditional and egalitarian attitudes raise men’s expected fertility compared to men with intermediate gender attitudes and independently of family values. Among Finnish women the impact of gender attitudes is smaller and more ambiguous.

Author’s Affiliation

• Anneli Miettinen - Kansaneläkelaitos (Kela), Finland EMAIL
• Stuart Gietel-Basten - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong EMAIL
• Anna Rotkirch - Väestöliitto (Population Research Institute), Finland EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Certainty of meeting fertility intentions declines in Europe during the 'Great Recession'
Volume 31 - Article 23

The impact of grandparental investment on mothers’ fertility intentions in four European countries
Volume 31 - Article 1

Modelling the constraints on consanguineous marriage when fertility declines
Volume 30 - Article 9

Very long range global population scenarios to 2300 and the implications of sustained low fertility
Volume 28 - Article 39

Does his paycheck also matter?: The socioeconomic resources of co-residential partners and entry into parenthood in Finland
Volume 28 - Article 31

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Attitudes toward child well-being in diverse families across Europe
Volume 53 - Article 11    | Keywords: attitudes, children, Europe, European Social Survey, family, gender, same-sex couples, single parenthood, stepfamily

The partnership, fertility, and employment trajectories of immigrants in the United Kingdom: An intersectional life course approach using three-channel sequence analysis
Volume 53 - Article 10    | Keywords: employment, fertility, immigrants, multi-channel sequence analysis, partnership, United Kingdom

Where do we go from here? Partnership-parenthood trajectories of cohabitation as first union during young adulthood in the United States
Volume 53 - Article 9    | Keywords: cohabitation, family inequality, fertility, marriage, race/ethnicity, transition to adulthood, union formation, United States of America

Fertility differences across immigrant generations in the United Kingdom
Volume 52 - Article 33    | Keywords: event history analysis, fertility, immigrant, second generation, United Kingdom

How do fathers and mothers allocate their leisure time? Patterns and inequalities across 13 European countries
Volume 52 - Article 31    | Keywords: Europe, gender inequalities, parents, space-time dynamics, time use