The timing and partnership context of becoming a parent: Cohort and gender commonalities and differences in childhood antecedents

John Hobcraft

Volume 19 - Article 34 | Pages 1281–1322

The timing and partnership context of becoming a parent: Cohort and gender commonalities and differences in childhood antecedents

By John Hobcraft

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Date received:	01 Apr 2008
Date published:	22 Jul 2008
Word count:	13263
Keywords:	birth cohorts, childhood antecedents, gender, parenthood, partnership context
DOI:	10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.34

Abstract

This paper uses two British birth cohorts, born in 1958 and 1970. There are substantial inter-cohort shifts in timing and context of becoming a parent and gender differences in timing. We use common childhood measures for the two cohorts, pool the two data sets and fit common models. We then ask whether explicit terms for gender or for cohort are required. These can be an unexplained gender or cohort differential or specific differential pathways through measured childhood antecedents. There is considerable support for elements of a common model, but some interpretable gender and cohort terms are also necessary.