It Takes Two to Tango, Doesn't It? The Influence of Couple Characteristics on the Timing of the Birth of the First Child

Citation: Corijn, M., Liefbroer, A. C., de jong Gierveld, J. It Takes Two to Tango, Doesn't It? The Influence of Couple Characteristics on the Timing of the Birth of the First Child.
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Summary

Notes: Using data from the Netherlands and Flanders, based on a representative sample of 1,438 young couples, this study examines how the timing of the first childbirth is related to characteristics of both partners. The context specificity of the determinants of childbearing is studied by choosing two countries that share a border, history, economic system, and language, but differ in the degree of conservatism (Flanders is more conservative). There are several possible decision making rules, such as patriarchal (timing influenced by characteristics of the male only), sphere-of-interest (timing is controlled by characteristics of spouse whose sphere of interest is fertility, generally believed to be the woman's), and an egalitarian rule (partners solve their disagreement by making a decision somewhere between each one's desires). The authors hypothesize how heterogamous and homogenous (by religion and education) couples will make decisions based upon these rules and use the data from the Netherlands and Flanders to test this. Data are from the Dutch Survey on Social Integration of Young Adults (SI) and the Flemish Family and Fertility Survey (NEGO V). The sample was born in either 1961 or 1965 (SI) or between 1961 and 1965 (NEGO V) and analysis is restricted to those in couples in their first union where the female partner was age 30 or younger at the time of the interview. This resulted in a total of 930 Flemish and 508 Dutch couples. Independent variables used in the analysis are religious commitment (committed couples; uncommitted couples; female committed, male uncommitted; male uncommitted, female committed), education (high school degree or less versus more than high school degree), cohabitation experience (married without premarital cohabitation versus couples who did cohabit together before marriage or are still cohabiting), age, and region (Flanders or the Netherlands). Information for both spouses is included in the models. Hazard-rate models are used to analyze the timing of the first childbirth. Three age periods were distinguished: 16-20, 21-25, and 26-30. Results from hazard models show that in general in Flanders a sphere-of-interest rule of decision making and in the Netherlands an egalitarian rule (except in the case where there is a religiously committed male, then a patriarchal rule tends to be used). are at play in the decision on the timing of the first birth among couples. In the Flemish data, if either both partners or just the female partner is religiously committed, then the rate of first childbirth is 40% higher, implying a sooner birth. A similar result I found for education: if the female partner is highly educated (regardless of male status) the rate of first birth is lower than is the female is not highly educated. In the Dutch data, if the male is religiously committed, regardless of the female's status, the first birth rate is higher than if the male in not religiously committed. However, couples where both partners are highly educated have the lowest first birth rate, while couples where both partners are less educated have the highest and heterogamous couples fall somewhere between these two, implying that both partners are important. Couples who marry directly have higher first rates than those who cohabit and the effects of religion appear to be stronger among couples with cohabitation experience than couples without such experience. The authors conclude that contextual differences show that more specific theories on factors influencing the family formation process are needed.