Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Fertility and Women’s Employment: A Meta-analysis

Fécondité et travail des femmes: une méta-analyse

  • Published:
European Journal of Population / Revue européenne de Démographie Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Our research objective was to systematise the existing literature on the relation between fertility and women’s employment at the micro-level. Instead of carrying out a traditional literature review, we conducted a meta-analysis. This allowed us to compare estimates from different studies standardised for the country analysed, the method applied, control variables used and sample selected. We focused on two effects: the impact of work on fertility and the impact of young children on employment entry. First, we found a high variation in the studied effects among the institutional settings, reflecting the existence of a north–south gradient. Second, we observed a significant change in the effects over time. Finally, we demonstrated that a failure to account for the respondent’s social background, partner and job characteristics tends to produce a bias in the estimated effects.

Résumé

Notre objectif est de faire la synthèse de la littérature concernant la relation entre fécondité et travail des femmes à l’échelle micro, et nous avons effectué une méta-analyse plutôt qu’une synthèse traditionnelle. Ceci nous a permis de comparer les estimations de différentes études en ajustant pour le pays, la méthode d’analyse, les variables de contrôle, et l’échantillon. Nous avons considère deux effets: l’impact du travail sur la fécondité, et l’impact des jeunes enfants sur l’entrée de la mère dans la vie professionnelle. En premier lieu, nous avons observé une forte variation des effets en fonction du contexte d’étude, avec l’existence d’un gradient Nord-Sud. En second lieu, nous démontrons que la non prise en compte de la position sociale du sujet, de celle de son partenaire et des caractéristiques de l’emploi tend à conduire à des biais dans l’estimation des effets.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Current Contents and EconLit, provided by the surface OVID, give access to complete bibliographic information and table of contents of over 7,600 of the world’s leading scholarly journals and to more than 2,000 book series covering all disciplines. They include items published since the year 1990.

  2. Following Esping-Andersen’s typology, we also classify France and Belgium as the conservative welfare regimes. Although some family policy typologies consider these two countries separately from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, we collected too few studies for France and Belgium to form a separate group.

  3. Non-employment is defined as unemployment as well as inactivity.

  4. In the models studying transition to employment, the job characteristics, if considered, refer to the woman’s job prior to the non-employment spell.

  5. Here, one issue needs to be addressed. Work after birth can be an indicator both of a generally strong ‘work orientation’, predicting low fertility, and opportunity to combine work and motherhood, predicting high fertility. Hence employment after birth might be of a different nature than employment prior to first birth. Therefore, as a first step, studies on the transition to first birth were analysed separately. In short, the outcomes were consistent (both in terms of direction and significance level) with the model of Table 4. For this reason, parity was included as a variable in the meta-regression.

References

  • Ahn, N., & Mira, P. (2002). A note on the changing relationship between fertility and female employment rates in developed countries. Journal of Population Economics, 15(4), 667–682.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amato, P. R., & Keith, B. (1991). Parental divorce and adult well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 53(1), 43–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apps, P., & Rees, R. (2004). Fertility, taxation and family policy. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 106(4), 745–763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. S. (1993). A treatise on the family. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begg, C. B., & Mazumdar, M. (1994). Operating characteristics of a rank correlation test for publication bias. Biometrics, 50(4), 1088–1101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berinde, D. (1999). Pathways to a third child in Sweden. European Journal of Population, 15, 349–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernardi, F. (2001). The employment behaviour of married women in Italy. In H.-P. Blossfeld & S. Drobnič (Eds.), Careers of couples in contemporary societies (pp. 121–145). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernardi, F., & Nanio, T. (2005). Globalization and the transition to adulthood in Italy. In H.-P. Blossfeld, E. Klizing, M. Mills, & K. Kurz (Eds.), Globalization, uncertainty and youth in society (pp. 349–374). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blossfeld, H.-P., Drobnič, S., & Rohwer, G. (2001). Spouses’ employment careers in (West) Germany. In H.-P. Blossfeld & S. Drobnič (Eds.), Careers of couples in contemporary societies (pp. 53–76). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewster, K. L., & Rindfuss, R. R. (2000). Fertility and women’s employment in industralised nations. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 271–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Card, D., & Kruger, A. B. (1995). Time-series minimum-wage studies: A meta-analysis. The American Economic Review, 85(2), 238–243. Papers and Proceedings of the Hundredth and Seventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association.

  • Castles, F. G. (2003). The world turned upside down: Below replacement fertility, changing preferences and family-friendly public policy in 21 OECD Countries. Journal of European Social Policy, 13(3), 209–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corijn, M. (2001). Couples’ Careers in flanders. In H.-P. Blossfeld & S. Drobnič (Eds.), Careers of couples in contemporary societies (pp. 98–118). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drobnič, S. (2000). The effects of children on married and lone mothers’ employment in the United States and (West) Germany. European Sociological Review, 16(2), 137–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drobnič, S., Blossfeld, H.-P., & Rohwer, G. (1999). Dynamics of women’s employment patterns over the family life course: A comparison of the United States and Germany. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61(1), 133–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drobnič, S., & Wittig, I. (1997). Part-time work in the United States of America. In H.-P. Blossfeld & C. Hakim (Eds.), Between equalization and marginalization. Women working part-time in Europe and the United States of America (pp. 289–314). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engelhardt, H., Kögel, T., & Prskawetz, A. (2004). Fertility and women’s employment reconsidered: A macro-level time-series analysis for developed countries, 1960–2000. Population Studies, 58(1), 109–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1999). Social foundations of postindustrial economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felmlee, D. H. (1993). The dynamic interdependence of women’s employment and fertility. Social Science Research, 22, 333–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geisler, E., & Kreyenfeld, M. (2005). Müttererwerbstätigkeit in Ost- und Westdeutschland. Eine Analyse mit den Mikrozensen 1991–2002. MPIDR Working Paper No. 2005-033.

  • Giannelli, G. C. (1996). Women’s transitions in the labour market: A competing risks analysis on German panel data. Journal of Population Economics, 9(3), 287–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimm, M., & Bonneuil, N. (2001). Labour market participation of French women over the life cycle, 1935–1990. European Journal of Population, 17(3), 235–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grunow, D., Hofmeister, H., & Buchholz, S. (2006). Late 20th-century persistence and decline of the female homemaker in Germany and the United States. International Sociology, 21(1), 101–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grunow, D., & Leth-Sørensen, S. (2006). Danish women’s unemployment, job mobility and non-employment, 1980s and 1990s: Marked by globalization? In: H.-P. Blossfeld & H. Hofmeister (Eds.), Globalisation, uncertainty and women’s careers. An international comparison (pp. 142–170). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedges, L. V., & Olkin, I. (1985). Statistical methods for meta-analysis. Orlando: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmeister, H. (2006). Women’s employment transitions and mobility in the United States: 1968 to 1991. In H.-P. Blossfeld & H. Hofmeister (Eds.), Globalisation, uncertainty and women’s careers. An international comparison (pp. 302–328). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kögel, T. (2004). Did the association between fertility and female employment within OECD countries really change its sign? Journal of Population Economics, 17(1), 45–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kögel, T. (2006, June). An explanation of the positive correlation between fertility and female employment across Western European countries. Paper presented at the European Population Conference, Liverpool, The UK.

  • Kotowska, I. E. (1999). Drugie przejście demograficzne i jego uwarunkowania. In I. E. Kotowska (Ed.), Przemiany demograficzne w Polsce w kontekście drugiego przejścia demograficznego (pp. 11–33). Warsaw: Warsaw School of Economics Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreyenfeld, M. (2004). Fertility decisions in the FRG and GDR: An analysis with data from the German fertility and family survey. Demographic Research Special Collection, 3, 275–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreyenfeld, M. (2005). Economic uncertainty and fertility postponement—evidence from German panel data. MPIDR Working Paper 2005.

  • Lesthaeghe, R. (1991). The second demographic transition in western countries: An interpretation. IPD Working Paper No 2, Vrije Universiteit, Brussel.

  • Lesthaeghe, R. (1992). The second demographic transition in western countries. In M. K. Oppenheim & A. Jensen (Eds.), Gender and family change (pp. 17–62). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leth-Sørensen, S., & Rohwer, G. (2001). Work careers of married women in Denmark. In H.-P. Blossfeld & S. Drobnič (Eds.), Careers of couples in contemporary societies (pp. 261–279). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lück, D., & Hofäcker, D. (2003). Rejection and acceptance of the male breadwinner model: Which preferences do women have under which circumstances? Globalife Working Paper No 60, University of Bamberg.

  • Matysiak, A., & Steinmetz, S. (2006). Who follows whom? Female employment patterns in West Germany, East Germany and Poland. MZES Working Paper No 94, Mannheimer Zentrum fuer Europaeische Sozialforschung, Mannheim.

  • Mencarini, L., & Tanturri, M. L. (2006). High fertility or childlessness: Micro-level determinants of reproductive behaviour in Italy. Population, 4, 389–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muszyńska, M. (2007). Structural and cultural determinants of fertility in Europe. Warsaw: Warsaw School of Economics Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfau-Effinger, B. (2000). Gender culture and social change in the European context. In S. Duncan & B. Pfau-Effinger (Eds.), Gender work and culture in the European Union. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rindfuss, R. R., Guzzo, K., & Morgan, S. P. (2003). The changing institutional context of low fertility. Population Research and Policy Review, 22, 411–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Róbert, P., & Bukodi, E. E. (2005). The effects of the globalization process on the transition to adulthood in Hungary. In H.-P. Blossfeld, E. Klizing, M. Mills & K. Kurz (Eds.), Globalization, uncertainty and youth in society (pp. 176–214). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, R. (1979). The “file drawer problem” and tolerance for null results. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 638–641.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salvini, S. (2004). Low Italian fertility: The Bonaccia of Antilles? Genus, LX(1), 19–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santow, G., & Bracher, M. (2001). Deferment of the first birth and fluctuating fertility in Sweden. European Journal of Population, 17, 343–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siemieńska, R. (1997). Wartości i postawy warunkujące obecność kobiet na rynku pracy. In R. Siemienska (Ed.), Wokół problemów zawodowego równouprawnienia kobiet i mężczyzn. Warsaw: Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, T. D. (2001). Wheat from chaff: Meta-analysis as quantitative literature review. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(3), 131–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stropnik, N. (2003). Impact of transition on family policy. In I. E. Kotowska & J. Jóźwiak (Eds.), Population of Central and Eastern Europe—challenges and opportunities. Warsaw: Statistical Publishing Establishment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuck, A. E., Walthert, J. M., Nikolaus, T., Büla, C. J., Hohmann, C., & Beck, J. C. (1999). Risk factors for functional status decline in community-living elderly people: A systematic literature review. Social Science & Medicine, 48, 445–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van de Kaa, D. J. (1987). Europe’s second demographic transition. Population Bulletin, 42(1), Population Reference Bureau, Washington, DC, USA.

  • Van de Kaa, D. J. (1988). The second demographic transition revisited: Theories and expectations. Paper presented at the conference on Population and European Society by the Commission of the European Economic Community and the European University Institute, Florence, 7–9 December.

  • Vemer, E. C., Marilyn, G., Lowrence, H., & Cooper, H. (1989). Marital satisfaction in remarriage: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 51(3), 713–725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, M., & Weiβ, B. (2006). On the variation of divorce risks in Europe: Findings from a meta-analysis of European longitudinal studies. European Sociological Review, Advanced Access published on August 18.

  • Waldorf, B., & Byrun, P. (2005). Meta-analysis of the impact of age structure on fertility. Journal of Population Economics, 18, 15–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weichselbaumer, D., & Winter-Ebmer, R. (2005). A meta-analysis of the international gender gap. Journal of Economics Survey, 19(3), 479–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weller, R. H. (1977). Wife’s employment and cumulative family size in the United States, 1970 and 1960. Demography, 14(1), 43–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J., & Yu, K. F. (1998). What’s the relative risk? Journal of the American Medical Association, 280(19), 1690–1691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was to a large extent prepared during our stay at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and continued when Anna Matysiak was supported by the Foundation for Polish Science. The library of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research is gratefully acknowledged for having provided us with the articles for this analysis. The article profited remarkably from discussions with Gunnar Andersson, Gabriele Doblhammer, Irena E. Kotowska, Michaela Kreyenfeld, Gerda Neyer, Beata Nowok and Silvana Salvini as well as the suggestions of the two anonymous reviewers of this journal. This work was presented at the “Interdisciplinary Workshop on Meta-Analysis” at the University of Cologne (Germany), 26–27 October 2006, whose participants provided us with very useful comments. We would also like to thank Susann Backer for the language editing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland

    Anna Matysiak

  2. Department of Demography, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Daniele Vignoli

Authors
  1. Anna Matysiak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniele Vignoli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Matysiak.

Additional information

Authors are listed in alphabetical order.

Appendix

Appendix

Sensitivity analysis: meta-regression estimates after random exclusion of 10% of the sample

  

Effect of children aged 0–6 on women’s employment entry

Effect of women’s employment on childbearing

Welfare regime

Conservative

−1.48*** (0.48)

−0.27*** (0.07)

Liberal

−1.24** (0.51)

−0.33*** (0.14)

Socialist

–

−0.83 (0.06)

Post-socialist

–

0.30** (0.09)

Familialistic

–

−0.46*** (0.58)

Social-democratic

Ref.

Ref.

Cohort

Birth cohort ≥1960

−0.52*** (0.18)

0.16*** (0.04)

Birth cohort <1960

Ref.

Ref.

Method

Continuous time

0.81*** (0.21)

−0.11 (0.10)

Discrete time

Ref.

Ref.

Control variables

Partner

0.21 (0.22)

0.24*** (0.05)

Background

0.19 (0.16)

0.04

Job characteristic

−0.09 (0.22)

0.24*** (0.04)

Parity progression

Parity one

−

0.29** (0.10)

Parity two

−

0.18* (0.10)

Parity three

−

0.04 (0.09)

No. of studies

 

50

81

  1. Note: *** <0.01, ** <0.05, * <0.1. Standard errors are reported in the parentheses. The results are standardised for the construction of the variable describing the effect of children on maternal employment entry and for the construction of the variable describing the effect of employment on childbearing, the type of the transition, the sample selected, and the inclusion of non-white populations (regards mainly studies on the US)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Matysiak, A., Vignoli, D. Fertility and Women’s Employment: A Meta-analysis. Eur J Population 24, 363–384 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-007-9146-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-007-9146-2

Keywords

Mots-clés

Search

Navigation