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Cited by 161Family Dynamics and RelationshipsIntergenerational and Educational Inequality StudiesGender, Labor, and Family Dynamics

Education and the Transition to Fatherhood: The Role of Selection Into Union

Open access
Trimarchi, Alessandra, Van Bavel, Jan·2017·Demography
DOI 10.1007/s13524-016-0533-3
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Abstract

Although advanced education has been found to be consistently associated with a later transition to parenthood for women, findings about education and the transition to parenthood have been much less consistent for men, and no stylized fact has emerged from the literature. We argue that the inconsistency of findings for men is due to the fact that the selection process involved in union formation has been disregarded in earlier studies. We hypothesize that men’s educational attainment consistently and positively affects the transition to fatherhood via higher rates of union formation. We apply multiprocess event-history analysis to data from the Generations and Gender Surveys for 10 European countries. Our results show indeed a consistent positive effect of education on the transition to fatherhood, but it operates chiefly through selection into union. Failing to account for this selection process leads to a major underestimation of the salience of education for the transition to fatherhood.

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  • Research on men's fertility almost uniformly suggests a positive association between men's educational attainment and their fertility outcomes.

    “Compared to research on women’s fertility, research on the fertility of men is scarce and almost uniformly suggests a positive association between men’s educational attainment and their fertility outcomes (Kravdal and Rindfuss 2008; Trimarchi and van Bavel 2017; Tanturri et al. 2015; Miettinen et al. 2015; Nisén et al. 2014, 2017; Nisén 2016).”

    From Education, Gender, and Cohort Fertility in the Nordic Countries (2019) · cites this paper as Trimarchi and van Bavel 2017

    The Introduction describes earlier findings on men's education and the transition to parenthood as inconsistent, not almost uniformly positive. Earlier Empirical Findings gives both negative and positive associations in different countries. The provided passages do not establish whether research on men's fertility is scarce; page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Low-educated men have lower completed fertility and higher childlessness than medium or highly educated men.

    “In line with previous research on men’s fertility (e.g. Kravdal and Rindfuss 2008; Trimarchi and van Bavel 2017; Miettinen et al. 2015), we find that low-educated men have lower completed fertility and higher childlessness than medium or highly educated men.”

    From Education, Gender, and Cohort Fertility in the Nordic Countries (2019) · cites this paper as Trimarchi and van Bavel 2017

    The Results (page unavailable) report that, before accounting for union status, highly educated men generally had higher rates of transition to fatherhood than low-educated men, with medium-educated men usually in between. The paper studies first fatherhood, not completed fertility or measured childlessness, so it does not establish those specific outcomes. It also finds that the education difference is largely explained by union formation. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  • Shorter time spent in stable partnerships is a factor that further links low education to reduced fertility.

    “Therefore, the shorter time spent in stable partnerships is a factor that further links low education to reduced fertility (Trimarchi and van Bavel 2017).”

    From Education, Gender, and Cohort Fertility in the Nordic Countries (2019) · cites this paper as Trimarchi and van Bavel 2017

    The Results and Discussion report that less-educated men had lower union-formation rates and that this largely explained their lower rates of transition to fatherhood. The paper does not establish that they spent less time in stable partnerships: it studies entry into unions rather than partnership duration, and its findings concern men rather than fertility generally. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  • One recent study suggests that the negative educational gradient in men's childlessness operates chiefly via selection into union.

    “Indeed, one recent study suggests that the negative educational gradient in men’s childlessness operates chiefly via selection into union (Trimarchi and Van Bavel 2017).”

    From Education, Gender, and Cohort Fertility in the Nordic Countries (2019) · cites this paper as Trimarchi and Van Bavel 2017

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [58]58. Panis, C. W. A. (1994). The piecewise linear spline transformation with an application to age at first marriage. Stata Technical Bulletin, 18, 27-29.
  2. [72]72. Vikat, A., Spéder, Z., Beets, G., Billari, F. C., Bühler, C., Désesquelles, A., . . . Solaz, A. (2007). Generations and gender survey: Concept and design. In United Nations (Ed.), Generations and gender programme: Concepts and guidelines (pp. 3-32). Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations.
  3. [74]74. Winkler-Dworak, M., & Toulemon, L. (2007). Gender differences in the transition to adulthood in France: Is there convergence over the recent period? European Journal of Population, 23, 273-314.

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Authors
Trimarchi, A., & Van Bavel, J.
Affiliations
  • KU Leuven (BE)
  • Centre for Sociological Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leuven, Parkstraat 45, Box 3601, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Corresponding author
Trimarchi, Alessandra
ORCID
Trimarchi, Alessandra
Venue
Demography
Publisher
Duke University Press
Published
2017-01-11
Volume
54
Issue
1
Pages
119-144
ISSN
  • 0070-3370 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-7790
DOI
10.1007/s13524-016-0533-3
OpenAlex
W2555734573
Semantic Scholar
19993297bd27ce01404493449555832ebe5d7973
Cited by
161
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 109 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
FWCI
16.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (unspecified)
Locations
  • Demography (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • European Commission (2007–2013, FP/2007-2013)/ERC, FP/2007/2013)
  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (312290)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
Keywords
transition to fatherhood, educational attainment, union formation, selection into marriage, Generations and Gender Survey
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Educational Status, Europe, Family Characteristics, Fathers, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Mothers, Young Adult

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