Volume 8 - Article 5 | Pages 107–150  

Pathways to stepfamily formation in Europe: Results from the FFS

By Alexia Prskawetz, Andres Vikat, Dimiter Philipov, Henriette Engelhardt

Abstract

Increasing proportions of couples are making childbearing decisions in stepfamilies but there has been no general comparative picture across European countries on stepfamily formation. The present paper aims to fill this gap and provides a comparison of European countries using macro-level indicators that describe union formation and dissolution and childbearing. We use the individual-level data files (standard recode files) of Fertility and Family Surveys from 19 European countries.
Our results highlight the different pathways to a stepfamily in Europe, and show that in most European countries a considerable proportion of women form a stepfamily in childbearing ages, which needs to be considered in studies of fertility.

Author's Affiliation

• Alexia Prskawetz - Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Austria EMAIL
• Andres Vikat - United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Switzerland EMAIL
• Dimiter Philipov - Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Austria EMAIL
• Henriette Engelhardt - Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Germany EMAIL

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