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Economic resources and the first child in Italy: A focus on income and job stability

Author

Listed:
  • Elisabetta Santarelli

    (Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico)

Abstract
At the turn of the twentieth century Italy registered a lowest-low fertility level, i.e., a total fertility rate of 1.26 children per woman in 2000. In this paper we investigate whether and how in that period economic resources and, in particular, income and job stability were linked with couples’ decisions to enter parenthood. With this aim, we use data from ECHP and carry out a longitudinal analysis on a sample of childless married couples to study the transition to their first child. Results show that the couples’ employment arrangement played some role in first child rates, with the single earner arrangement experiencing the highest first birth rates. We also find that employed women with labour income have much lower first birth rates than non-working women, while no evidence is found for male earnings and other sources of income. As concerns job instability, we find evidence that it was not significantly linked with the transition to first time parenthood during the investigated period.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisabetta Santarelli, 2011. "Economic resources and the first child in Italy: A focus on income and job stability," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 25(9), pages 311-336.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:25:y:2011:i:9
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2011.25.9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. De Paola, Maria & Nistico, Roberto & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2021. "Academic Careers and Fertility Decisions," IZA Discussion Papers 14040, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Maria De Paola & Roberto Nisticò & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2020. "Fertility Decisions And Employment Protection: The Unintended Consequences Of The Italian Jobs Act," Working Papers 202003, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    3. Tom Kornstad & Marit Rønsen, 2018. "Women’s Wages and Fertility Revisited Evidence from Norway," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(4), pages 491-518, October.
    4. Tom Kornstad & Marit Rønsen, 2014. "Women's wages and fertility revisited. Evidence from Norway," Discussion Papers 784, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    5. Angela Greulich & Michael Rendall, 2014. "Multiple imputation for demographic hazard models with left-censored predictor variables," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01298942, HAL.
    6. Marcantonio Caltabiano & Chiara Ludovica Comolli & Alessandro Rosina, 2017. "The effect of the Great Recession on permanent childlessness in Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(20), pages 635-668.
    7. Michael S. Rendall & Angela Greulich, 2016. "Multiple imputation for demographic hazard models with left-censored predictor variables: Application to employment duration and fertility in the EU-SILC," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(38), pages 1135-1148.
    8. Pieroni, Luca & d’Agostino, Giorgio & Lanari, Donatella & Scarlato, Margherita, 2023. "Temporary employment and fertility in Italy: The effect of two labor market reforms in the early 2000s," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    9. Marika Jalovaara & Anneli Miettinen, 2013. "Does his paycheck also matter?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(31), pages 881-916.
    10. Susanne Fahlén & Livia Sz. Oláh, 2018. "Economic uncertainty and first-birth intentions in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(28), pages 795-834.
    11. Daniele Vignoli & Sven Drefahl & Gustavo De Santis, 2012. "Whose job instability affects the likelihood of becoming a parent in Italy? A tale of two partners," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(2), pages 41-62.
    12. Angela Greulich & Michael Rendall, 2014. "Multiple imputation for demographic hazard models with left-censored predictor variables," Working Papers hal-01298942, HAL.
    13. Michael S Rendall & Angela Greulich, 2016. "Multiple imputation for demographic hazard models with left-censored predictor variables: Application to employment duration and fertility in the EU-SILC," Post-Print hal-01396298, HAL.
    14. Alberto Cazzola & Lucia Pasquini & Aurora Angeli, 2016. "The relationship between unemployment and fertility in Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 34(1), pages 1-38.
    15. Francesca Fiori & Francesca Rinesi & Elspeth Graham, 2017. "Choosing to Remain Childless? A Comparative Study of Fertility Intentions Among Women and Men in Italy and Britain," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 319-350, July.
    16. LUPPI, FRANCESCA & Rosina, Alessandro & Testa, Maria Rita, 2024. "An Overview on Low Fertility Motivations among Italian Young-Adults," SocArXiv hf78t, Center for Open Science.
    17. Karin Lundström & Gunnar Andersson, 2012. "Labor-market status, migrant status and first childbearing in Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 27(25), pages 719-742.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    event history analysis; income; job stability; transition to first child;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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