Linkages between gender dynamics and fertility have been much discussed in demography. The ‘gender revolution’ framework argues that fertility will remain low as long as women’s growing participation in the public sphere is accompanied by sticky gender rigidity in the private sphere, leading to women’s double burden. Extended to the couple-level, this argument implies higher (first) birth rates among couples with two egalitarian partners, who strive to share domestic work equally, especially in rigid or transforming gender normative societies like Germany. However, this argument has rarely been tested on the couple level. Further, it emphasises ‘pragmatic’ aspects of gender rigidity, namely couples’ attitudes and lived practices regarding who is responsible for domestic work. Yet, it neglects other relevant gender rigidity dimensions such as men’s support for their partner’s labor market career, or both partners’ attitudes toward which care arrangement they believe is best for their children. Our study addresses these gaps. We hypothesise that partners’ agreement on egalitarian attitudes in all three domains (domestic work divisions, women’s careers, children’s needs) may be a prerequisite for couples transitioning to parenthood at a higher rate. Using data from the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam) we test these hypotheses and present three findings. First, couples with joint egalitarian attitudes in all three dimensions delay parenthood for the longest yet have higher first-birth transition rates at older ages. Second, joint egalitarian attitudes toward women’s careers and children’s well-being appear more consequential for higher birth rates at older ages than joint egalitarian attitudes towards housework sharing. Third, couples with joint traditional or moderate gender attitudes transition to parenthood the fastest. Implications for extending the gender revolution argument toward considerations on first birth postponement and couples varied family formation strategies are discussed.

Authors of presented study: Daniele Florean, Natalie Nitsche, Viktoria Oellers, Daniela Grunow

Speaker Bio:

Natalie Nitsche is an Associate Professor at the Australian National University’s School of Demography. Her research focuses on fertility, family formation, and gender inequalities. Before joining the ANU, she worked at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany and the Vienna Institute of Demography in Austria.

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