Demographic Research Monographs

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1 Demographic Research Monographs A Series of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Editor-in-chief James W. Vaupel Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

2 More information about this series at

3 Michaela Kreyenfeld Dirk Konietzka Editors Childlessness in Europe: Contexts, Causes, and Consequences

4 Editors Michaela Kreyenfeld Hertie School of Governance Berlin, Germany Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Rostock, Germany Dirk Konietzka Department of Social Sciences Braunschweig University of Technology Braunschweig, Germany ISSN ISSN (electronic) Demographic Research Monographs ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Control Number: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) This book is published open access. Open Access This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the work s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if such material is not included in the work s Creative Commons license and the respective action is not permitted by statutory regulation, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to duplicate, adapt or reproduce the material. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

5 Preface In recent decades, levels of childlessness have been increasing rapidly in most European countries. German-speaking countries seem to be at the forefront of this development, as more than 20 % of the women living in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria who are now reaching the end of their reproductive period will remain childless. But other European countries, such as the UK and Finland, also report high levels of childlessness. Eastern and Southern Europe did not have high levels of childlessness a decade ago, but are now seeing steady increases. This book provides an overview of the recent trend toward a life without children across Europe. It seeks answers to questions like: What are the determinants of childlessness in the twenty-first century? Is there an unbroken trend in childlessness, or is there evidence of trend reversals? How does the likelihood of remaining childless differ across social strata? To what extent do economic uncertainties affect childlessness? How do fertility desires evolve over the life course? To what extent does the situation of a woman s partner affect her fertility decisions? How far can we push the biological limits of fertility? What role can assisted reproduction play in reducing childlessness? How many men fail to have children of their own? What impact can family policies have on fertility decisions? Can governments reverse the trend toward childlessness and, if so, should they? This book builds on the 2nd edition of the book Ein Leben ohne Kinder, published by Springer VS in Germany in It contains six updated and completely rewritten chapters of its German-language predecessor. Additionally, this volume contains ten new chapters by internationally renowned authors. Scholars from various European countries and the USA have contributed to the completion of this volume. We regret that we were unable to include any country study of a Southern European country. Unfortunately, the planned contribution on Italy was not ready on time for this edition. The hot phase of the editing process was in the summer of 2015, when the weather at least in Berlin was also very hot. During this phase, the editors exchanged numerous s with the authors. Even though we were bothering our authors during their well-deserved summer vacation, it was always a joy to read and edit the papers. We would like to express our appreciation and thanks to the authors of this book for their diligence, patience, and support. v

6 vi Preface It is not possible to complete such a complex volume without the support of people who provide a wide range of essential services. The editors want to express their gratitude to Miriam Hils, who greatly helped us with the language editing of the book. We thank Tom Hensel for taking on the nitty-gritty work of ensuring that the text and the figures are properly formatted. We also wish to thank Hannes Laichter, who checked the reference lists. This book project was generously funded by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock. We would like to thank Frans Willekens and James Vaupel, who greatly supported this endeavor. Last but not least, we thank Evelien Bakker and Bernadette Deelen-Mans from Springer SBM NL, who initially suggested that we publish this book many thanks for pushing us in the right direction. Berlin, Germany Braunschweig, Germany January 2016 Michaela Kreyenfeld Dirk Konietzka

7 Contents Part I Childlessness in Europe: An Overview 1 Analyzing Childlessness... 3 Michaela Kreyenfeld and Dirk Konietzka 2 Childlessness in Europe: Reconstructing Long-Term Trends Among Women Born in Tomáš Sobotka Part II Country Studies 3 Childlessness in the UK Ann Berrington 4 Childlessness in France Katja Köppen, Magali Mazuy, and Laurent Toulemon 5 Childlessness in East and West Germany: Long-Term Trends and Social Disparities Michaela Kreyenfeld and Dirk Konietzka 6 Childlessness in Switzerland and Austria Marion Burkimsher and Kryštof Zeman 7 Childlessness in Finland Anna Rotkirch and Anneli Miettinen 8 Childlessness in the United States Tomas Frejka vii

8 viii Contents Part III Women s Education and Childlessness 9 Education and Childlessness: The Influence of Educational Field and Educational Level on Childlessness among Swedish and Austrian Women Gerda Neyer, Jan M. Hoem, and Gunnar Andersson 10 Childlessness and Fertility Dynamics of Female Higher Education Graduates in Germany Hildegard Schaeper, Michael Grotheer, and Gesche Brandt Part IV Fertility Ideals, Biographical Decisions and Assisted Reproduction 11 Fertility Ideals of Women and Men Across the Life Course Anne-Kristin Kuhnt, Michaela Kreyenfeld, and Heike Trappe 12 Childless at Age 30: A Qualitative Study of the Life Course Plans of Working Women in East and West Germany Laura Bernardi and Sylvia Keim 13 Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Germany: A Review of the Current Situation Heike Trappe 14 Assisted Reproductive Technology in Europe: Usage and Regulation in the Context of Cross- Border Reproductive Care Patrick Präg and Melinda C. Mills Part V Consequences of Childlessness 15 What s a (Childless) Man Without a Woman? The Differential Importance of Couple Dynamics for the Wellbeing of Childless Men and Women in the Netherlands Renske Keizer and Katya Ivanova 16 Fertility and Women s Old-Age Income in Germany Tatjana Mika and Christin Czaplicki 17 Childlessness and Intergenerational Transfers in Later Life Marco Albertini and Martin Kohli Index

9 Contributors Marco Albertini Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy Gunnar Andersson Demography Unit, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Laura Bernardi LIVES, Faculty for the Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Ann Berrington Department of Social Statistics & Demography, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK Gesche Brandt German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung (DHZW), Hanover, Germany Marion Burkimsher Independent researcher affiliated with the University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Christin Czaplicki Research and Development, German Pension Insurance, Berlin, Germany Tomas Frejka Independent researcher and consultant, Sanibel, FL, USA Michael Grotheer German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung (DHZW), Hanover, Germany Jan M. Hoem Demography Unit, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Katya Ivanova University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Sylvia Keim Institute of Sociology and Demographic Research, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany ix

10 x Contributors Renske Keizer Department of Sociology, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Department of Child Development, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Martin Kohli Department of Social and Political Sciences, European University Institute, Florence, Italy Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences, Bremen, Germany Dirk Konietzka Department of Social Sciences, Braunschweig University of Technology, Braunschweig, Germany Katja Köppen Institute of Sociology and Demographic Research, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany Michaela Kreyenfeld Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany Anne-Kristin Kuhnt Institute of Sociology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany Magali Mazuy French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), Paris, France Anneli Miettinen Population Research Institute, Väestöliitto, Finland Tatjana Mika Research and Development, German Pension Insurance, Berlin, Germany Melinda C. Mills Department of Sociology and Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Gerda Neyer Demography Unit, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Patrick Präg Department of Sociology and Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Anna Rotkirch Population Research Institute, Väestöliitto, Finland Hildegard Schaeper German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung (DHZW), Hanover, Germany Tomáš Sobotka Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences and Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, Vienna, Austria Laurent Toulemon French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), Paris, France

11 Contributors xi Heike Trappe Institute of Sociology and Demographic Research, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany Kryštof Zeman Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences and Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, Vienna, Austria

Childlessness in Europe: Reconstructing long-term trends among women born in

Childlessness in Europe: Reconstructing long-term trends among women born in 1900-1972 Tomáš Sobotka Vienna Institute of Demography (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and