Fertility in Europe: drivers and open questions

This seminar, coordinated by Laudine Carbuccia (CRIS / LIEPP) and Montserrat Botey (OFCE : Gender Studies Programme / LIEPP) as part of the Family Policies working group, is co-organised by the LIEPP socio-fiscal policies research group and the educational policies research group.

Abstract

We examined the educational gradient of period fertility across Europe and identify the educational groups and birth orders most affected by the fertility decline observed in many countries since the 2010s. Using harmonized age- and parity-specific fertility measures for three educational groups across 30 European countries from 2005 to 2020, we analyzed how education-specific changes in fertility behavior contributed to shifts in overall fertility levels within a comparative framework. Our findings point to the importance of structural factors in shaping the relationship between education and fertility. In a current research project, we examine thus institutional and socio-economic determinants of fertility decline in Europe. We hereby take into account different labor market and family policy settings and shed a particular light on parenting leave policies such as paternity leave, father-specific quotas, and incentives to share leave, designed to promote a more equal division of paid and unpaid work within couples, including in countries with relatively conservative gender norms.

Speaker

Angela Greulich is member of the Gender Studies Program at Sciences Po (PRESAGE) and junior fellow of the Institut universitaire de France (IUF), 2021-2026.

Angela Greulich's research focusses on interactions between demographic dynamics, women’s working activities and social policies and in European countries. She is particularly interested in socio-economic differentials of fertility behaviour, their context dependency and their implications for family and labour market policies. Her analyses are based on European survey data (mainly EU-SILC) in combination with aggregate data from the OECD Family Data Base and the Human Fertility Database.