Polarized adult fertility patterns following early parental death

Autor(en)
Éva Beaujouan, Anne Solaz
Abstrakt

Death of a parent during childhood has become rare in developed countries but remains an important life course event that may have consequences for family formation. This paper describes the link between parental death before age 18 and fertility outcomes in adulthood. Using the large national 2011 French Family Survey (INSEE–INED), we focus on the 1946–66 birth cohorts, for whom we observe entire fertility histories. The sample includes 11,854 respondents who have lost at least one parent before age 18. We find a strong polarization of fertility behaviours among orphaned males, more pronounced for those coming from a disadvantaged background. More often childless, particularly when parental death occurred in adolescence, some seem to retreat from parenthood. But orphaned men and women who do become parents seem to embrace family life, by beginning childbearing earlier and having more children, especially when the deceased parent is of the same sex.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Demografie
Externe Organisation(en)
INED - Institut national d'études démographiques, Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital
Journal
Population Studies
Band
77
Seiten
217-239
Anzahl der Seiten
23
ISSN
0032-4728
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2022.2069848
Publikationsdatum
07-2022
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
504006 Demographie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Demography
Link zum Portal
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/polarized-adult-fertility-patterns-following-early-parental-death(e49c3fe3-5535-4ad7-afdb-e1dc66483152).html