Volume 32 - Article 7 | Pages 219–250
Unemployment and the timing of parenthood: Implications of partnership status and partner’s employment
By Hande Inanc
Abstract
Background: In many countries, including the UK, unemployment is associated with earlier entries into motherhood. However, the implications of male unemployment are not straightforward.
Objective: The paper addresses this issue by investigating transition to first births in relation to unemployment experience as moderated by partnership status. It also examines the effects of both partners‟ employment statuses on transition into parenthood, focusing on the joint labour market status of cohabiting and married couples.
Methods: The impact of unemployment experience on the timing of parenthood is predicted using discrete time event history analysis. Data from the British Household Panel Study provide complete family and work histories. Unobserved heterogeneity is controlled for.
Results: Unemployment leads to earlier entries into parenthood for both men and women. However, its impact differs according to the relationship status in which it is experienced. Unemployed men who cohabit and unemployed women who are single have a higher probability of becoming parents. Among married individuals the timing of parenthood is determined largely by the labour market status of the female partner. Irrespective of the male‟s employment status, couples with employed female spouses have a substantially lower probability of becoming parents. Yet among women who are not in employment there is a delaying effect of unemployment compared to being economically inactive.
Conclusions: Different mechanisms explain the relationship between unemployment and fertility timing for non-married and married individuals. Neoclassical family models seem to determine parenthood timing among married individuals, whereas early parenthood among non-married individuals can be explained by an uncertainty reduction strategy or discouragement from marriage.
Author's Affiliation
- Hande Inanc - Mathematica Policy Research, United States of America EMAIL
Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research
Between money and intimacy: Brideprice, marriage, and women’s position in contemporary China
Volume 50 - Article 46
| Keywords:
brideprice,
China,
divorce,
family,
family law,
gender inequalities,
marriage
Pathways and obstacles to parenthood among women in same-sex couples in Spain
Volume 50 - Article 35
| Keywords:
assisted reproduction,
family,
fertility desires,
LGBTQ,
parenthood,
same-sex couples
Age-heterogamous partnerships: Prevalence and partner differences by marital status and gender composition
Volume 50 - Article 23
| Keywords:
age heterogamy,
assortative mating,
cohabitation,
marriage,
same-sex couples,
unions
Ultra-Orthodox fertility and marriage in the United States: Evidence from the American Community Survey
Volume 49 - Article 29
| Keywords:
age at first marriage,
American Community Survey (ACS),
fertility,
Judaism,
marriage,
religion,
total fertility rate (TFR),
Ultra-Orthodox Judaism
An alternative version of the second demographic transition? Changing pathways to first marriage in Japan
Volume 49 - Article 16
| Keywords:
cohabitation,
first marriages,
pattern of disadvantage,
premarital children,
second demographic transition,
transition
Cited References: 47
Download to Citation Manager
PubMed
Google Scholar