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Delayed Childbearing and Childlessness in Britain: the 1958 and 1970 Cohorts Compared. Roona Simpson Centre for Research on Families and Relationships University of Edinburgh Roona.Simpson@ed.ac.uk RGS-IBG Conference, UPTAP August 2006. Context – Fertility Decline.
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Delayed Childbearing and Childlessness in Britain: the 1958 and 1970 Cohorts Compared Roona Simpson Centre for Research on Families and Relationships University of Edinburgh Roona.Simpson@ed.ac.uk RGS-IBG Conference, UPTAP August 2006
Context – Fertility Decline • Dramatic changes in fertility patterns in most advanced Western nations in recent decades, although important differences both between and within countries. At the beginning of the 21st century, below-replacement fertility is the norm in the developed world. • Delayed childbirth, in particular the postponement of first births, related to smaller family sizes and increased childlessness, all of which contribute to overall fertility decline.
Chart 2: Childlessness at age 40, Selected Birth CohortsSource: ONS Birth Statistics, Series FM1 33
Context –Theoretical Perspectives Second Demographic Transition (van der Kaa 1987, Lesthaeghe 1995) Individualisation Theory (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 1995; Giddens 1992) Risk Aversion Theory (Oppenheimer 1994; Hobson et al, 2004; Lewis 2006) Gender Equity Theory (McDonald 2000) Changing Gender and Generational Relations (Irwin 2000, 2005)
References • Beck, U. and Beck-Gernsheim, E. 1995, The Normal Chaos of Love, Oxford: Polity Press • Giddens, A. 1992. The Transformation of Intimacy. Polity Press, Cambridge. • Hobson, B. and Olah, L. Sz. (2006), ‘The Positive Turn or BirthStrikes?: Sites of Resistance to Residual Male Breadwinner Societies and to Welfare State Restructuring’, Recherche et Previsions no.83 (March) [Special Issue: Kind and Welfare State. Reforms of Family Policies in Europe and North America], CNAF • Irwin, S. 2000, ‘Reproductive Regimes: Changing Relations of Inter- dependence and Fertility Change’, Sociological Research Online, 5 (1). • Irwin, S. 2005, Reshaping Social Life, London: Routledge • Kiernan, K. (1998) ‘Parenthood and Family Life in the United Kingdom’, Review of Population and Social Policy, No.7, pp:63-81
References (Cont.) • Lesthaeghe, R. 1995. ‘The Second Demographic Transition in Western Countries: An Interpretation’. In.: K. O. Mason and A.-M. Jensen (eds.) Gender and Family Change in Industrialized Countries. Oxford, Clarendon Press • Lewis, J. 2006. ‘Perceptions of Risk in Intimate Relationships’, Journal of Social Policy, 35 (1):39 - 57 • McDonald, P. 2000. ‘Gender Equity In Theories Of Fertility Transition’. Population and Development Review 26(3): 427-439. • Oppenheimer, V., 1994. ‘Women’s Rising Employment and The Future of The Family in Industrialised Societies’, Population and Development Review, 20 (2):293-342. • Van de Kaa, D. J. 1987. ‘Europe’s Second Demographic Transition’, Population Bulletin 42 (1). • Watkins, S. C. (1993) ‘If All We Knew About Women Was What We Read In Demography, What Would We Know?’ Demography, 30 (4): 551-577.