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://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/e49c3fe3-5535-4ad7-afdb-e1dc66483152