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PATHWAYS INTO CHILDLESSNESS: EVIDENCE OF GENDERED LIFE COURSE DYNAMICS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

RENSKE KEIZER
Affiliation:
Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
PEARL A. DYKSTRA
Affiliation:
Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
MIRANDA D. JANSEN
Affiliation:
University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

Summary

Using data from the first wave of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (NKPS) for 2867 women and 2195 men aged 40 to 79, this study examines to what extent educational, employment and marital pathways shape the likelihood of remaining childless, and whether these pathways are gendered. The findings indicate that women and men have distinctive pathways into childlessness. Educational attainment increases the likelihood of remaining childless among women only. A stable career increases the likelihood of remaining childless among women, but it increases the likelihood of entering fatherhood. Years without a partner is positively associated with childlessness among both women and men. Not having had a partnership and having had multiple partnerships are strong determinants of childlessness, especially among men.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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