Gøsta Esping-Andersen is currently professor of This book provides a unique combination of fundamental ways of looking at G FAMILY FORMATION Family life in Europe has been revolutionized ø sociology at Pompeu Fabra University family and fertility in Europe. First, it develops a life course approach to the sta AND FAMILY DILEMMAS over the space of just one generation. What was (Barcelona, Spain) and has previously taught at issue, considering simultaneously the links between genders and generations, the E once considered an atypical family is becoming s Harvard University, the European University in importance of individual preconditions for family formation and the key role of pin IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE the norm, partnerships are less stable and, most Florence and the University of Trento. He has the societal context. It also explicitly adopts a comparative perspective and g- dramatically, we end up with far fewer children A also worked extensively with international exploits the European Community Household Panel to the full. Moreover, while n than we actually desire. It is now widely d organizations, including the OECD, World Bank using state-of-the-art analytical approaches and techniques, contributions give a ers recognized that Southern Europe in particular and the EU Presidency. He is a member of the systematic and important weight to the policy relevance of findings. Researchers en faces a severe crisis of the family. This book scientific board of the Juan March Institute, the from different disciplines and interested policy-makers will therefore find in (E takes a new look at the tensions that d Danish National Institute of Social Research Family Formation and Family Dilemmas in Contemporary Europea key reference .) contemporary families face, in particular with (SFI), the Max Planck Institute for Demographic work. regard to fertility. Research and the Innocenzo Gasparini Institute Gøsta Esping-Andersen (Ed.) for Economic Research (IGIER)-Bocconi Francesco C. Billari Any meaningful analysis of family formation University. He was awarded a doctor honoris Bocconi University, Milan, Italy must begin with the new role of women in economic life. When women are more educated causa from Roskilde University in 2002. His and employed, the cost of children rises and it research centres on social inequality, social This book, the result of a remarkable collaborative effort, sets a new standard becomes more difficult to reconcile motherhood policy and family change. His recent for multinational comparative research on family and fertility issues in with career preferences. In this book we focus publications include Why We Need a New contemporary Europe. It addresses the important changes in family formation on some key aspects related to reconciliation: Welfare State (Oxford 2002) and Social and the difficult family dilemmas in various European countries. Rigorous on how social policies can alleviate Foundations of Postindustrial Economies (Oxford methodology applied to straightforward and theoretically central questions incompatibilities between motherhood and 1999), which has been translated into Italian, yields important new evidence on changes in the family and fertility regimes in careers, on how working conditions and, Japanese and Spanish. modern Europe without any loss of sensitivity to the historical and institutional IF NA especially, job precariousness affect fertility, and specificities of the countries considered. The interpretations, while open to CM on how gender inequalities within the family continuing debate, nevertheless set a new standard for policy discussions OI NLY influence decisions to have children. about the modern family in Europe. This volume is a breakthrough in T F comparative family research and will become an indispensable reference. EO The book’s conclusions are of immediate policy M R PM relevance. Our findings indicate that the Hans-Peter Blossfeld OA standard package of mother-friendly policies will University of Bamberg, Germany RATI most likely prove to be insufficient unless it is RO YN combined with labour market policies that E A ensure more security and flexibility for mothers. UN RD The rise in women’s economic autonomy and O F bargaining power is a major source of family PA EM dilemmas, and greater gender equality within IL the family is arguably an increasingly important Y D precondition for motherhood. I L E M M A S ISBN 978-84-96515-35-2 www.fbbva.es family formation and family dilemmas in contemporary europe Family Formation and Family Dilemmas in Contemporary Europe Gøsta Esping-Andersen (ed.) The BBVA Foundation’s decision to publish this book does not imply any responsibility for its content, or for the inclusion therein of any supplementary documents or information facilitated by the authors. No part of this publication, including the cover design, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. cataloguing-in-publication data Family formation and family dilemmas in contempo- rary Europe / Gøsta Esping-Andersen (ed.). — Bilbao : Fundación BBVA, 2007. 289 p. ; 24 cm isbn 978-84-96515-35-2 1. Familia 2. Política familiar 3. Europa I. Esping- Andersen, Gøsta II. Fundación BBVA, ed. 314.6 (4) Family Formation and Family Dilemmas in Contemporary Europe published by: © Fundación BBVA, 2007 Plaza de San Nicolás, 4. 48005 Bilbao cover illustration: © Monir (Monirul Islam), 2007 La espera, 1994 Etching, aquatint and soft varnish, 250 x 405 mm Collection of Contemporary Graphic Art Fundación BBVA – Calcografía Nacional isbn: 978-84-96515-35-2 legal deposit no.: m-23610-2007 printed by: I bersaf Industrial, s.l. Huertas, 47 bis. 28014 Madrid Printed in Spain The books published by the BBVA Foundation are produced with 100% recycled paper made from recovered cellulose fibre (used paper) rather than virgin cellulose, in conformity with the environmental standards required by current legislation. The paper production process complies with European environmental laws and regulations, and has both Nordic Swan and Blue Angel accreditation. C o n t E n t S Acknowledgements ........................................................................... 11 Introduction. The Contemporary Fertility Puzzle Gøsta Esping-Andersen 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 13 2. Theories of fertility ....................................................................... 14 3. Re-examining fertility behaviour ................................................... 20 4. A brief presentation of the book ................................................... 24 5. A brief description of the data ...................................................... 29 References ........................................................................................ 30 1. I s There a Minimum Set of Conditions for Having a Baby? The Experience of the 1955–1982 Female Cohort in West Germany, France, Italy and Spain María José González and teresa Jurado-Guerrero 1.1. Introduction ............................................................................... 33 1.2. A scenario of low fertility in Western European countries ........... 35 1.2.1. The increasing prevalence of childlessness ........................ 38 1.2.2. Decisions around motherhood: Do women face constraint-free choices? ..................................................... 42 1.3. Empirical analysis of the transition to the first child................... 48 1.3.1. The comparative analysis ................................................... 48 1.4. Data and methodology ............................................................... 54 1.5. Results of the multivariate analysis .............................................. 59 1.5.1. The influence of national institutional contexts................. 63 1.5.2. Country specificities in incentives to motherhood ............. 72 1.6. Summary and conclusions .......................................................... 85 Acknowledgements ........................................................................... 87 Appendix .......................................................................................... 87 References ........................................................................................ 88 2. T he Impact of Labour Market Status on Second and Higher-order Births Pau Baizán 2.1. Introduction ............................................................................... 93 2.2. Labour market regulations and fertility: Theory and hypotheses ............................................................... 97 2.3. Data source and variables ........................................................... 108 2.4. Techniques ................................................................................. 110 2.5. Results ........................................................................................ 111 2.5.1. Women’s labour force status .............................................. 112 2.5.2. Income .............................................................................. 116 2.5.3. Education and the labour market ...................................... 118 2.5.4. Couples’ labour force status .............................................. 121 2.6. Conclusions ................................................................................ 123 References ........................................................................................ 125 3. W hen Mothers Work and Fathers Care. Household Fertility Decisions in Denmark and Spain Gøsta Esping-Andersen, Maia Güell and Stefanie Brodmann 3.1. Introduction ............................................................................... 129 3.2. Explanations of fertility behaviour .............................................. 131 3.3. Fertility and joint opportunity costs ............................................ 137 3.4. Data and estimation .................................................................... 141 3.5. Analyses ...................................................................................... 146 3.6. Conclusions ................................................................................ 150 Appendix .......................................................................................... 152 References ........................................................................................ 153 4. Time Stress, Well-being and the Double Burden tiziana nazio and John MacInnes 4.1. Introduction: recent changes in employment and fertility in Europe ................................................................ 155 4.2. Time, work and life ..................................................................... 160 4.3. The research question, data source and model specification .............................................................. 164 4.4. The results .................................................................................. 168 4.5. Couple members and paid work ................................................ 175 4.6. Work (main activity) satisfaction ................................................. 176 4.7. Conclusions ................................................................................ 177 References ........................................................................................ 181 5. Women’s Employment and the Adult Caring Burden Sebastián Sarasa and Josep Mestres 5.1. Introduction ............................................................................... 185 5.1.1. The challenges of demographic ageing ............................. 187 5.1.2. Adult care and employment .............................................. 189 5.2. Institutional designs of dependent care ..................................... 192 5.2.1. Cash or in-kind benefits? ................................................... 193 5.2.2. Sources of financing and eligibility criteria ........................ 195 5.2.3. The cost of caring: How much and who pays? ................................................. 196 5.2.4. Coordination and flexibility of health, social and housing policies ............................................... 199 5.3. Equity and efficiency of different institutions ............................. 201 5.3.1. Patterns of adult care ....................................................... 202 5.3.2. The perception of employment impairment among carer women ......................................................... 206 5.3.3. Dependent adult benefits and carers’ employment opportunities .................................................................... 211 5.4. Conclusions ............................................................................... 218 References ........................................................................................ 219 6. C hildren in the Welfare State Gøsta Esping-Andersen 6.1. Introduction .............................................................................. 223 6.2. The child deficit ........................................................................ 225 6.3. Explaining the child gap ............................................................ 228 6.4. The quality of children .............................................................. 235 6.5. Explaining inequalities in child outcomes .................................. 236 6.6. Redesigning the welfare state: a social investment approach ..................................................... 239 6.7. Public policy and fertility ........................................................... 241 6.8. Public policy and children’s life chances .................................... 242 6.9. Designing a childcare system ..................................................... 249 6.10. Conclusions ............................................................................. 257 References ........................................................................................ 260