The Role of Gender Differences in Partnering and Re-partnering for Gender Differences in Completed Fertility

Individuals increasingly enter a series of relationships during their reproductive years. As births in higher-order unions increase, fertility becomes partially contingent on re-partnering. Previous research suggests that men re-partner at higher rates than women. This study analyzes whether gender...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Population research and policy review 2023-04, Vol.42 (2), p.17, Article 17
Main Author: Andersson, Linus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Birth
Birth rate
Births
Childbearing
Childbirth & labor
Demography
Divorce
Fertility
Gender
Gender aspects
Gender differences
Marriage
Men
Monogamy
Original Research
Partnering
Population Economics
Sex differences
Social Sciences
Sociology
Women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Individuals increasingly enter a series of relationships during their reproductive years. As births in higher-order unions increase, fertility becomes partially contingent on re-partnering. Previous research suggests that men re-partner at higher rates than women. This study analyzes whether gender differences in partnering and re-partnering influence gender differences in cohort fertility. We use Finnish register data on all births, marriages, and cohabitations between the ages of 18 and 47 over four full birth cohorts. The gender differences in cohort fertility rate are decomposed into components due to birth rate differences and a compositional component owing to gender differences in the share partnered and re-partnered. We observe no impact of “re-partnering premium” on male fertility. Men have marginally higher re-partnering rates at older ages, when birth rates are low, whereas women have higher rates of partnering and re-partnering at prime childbearing ages. This compositional effect drives a “partnering” advantage for female fertility. This connection between gender differences in partnering and cohort fertility is true across educational levels.
ISSN:0167-5923
1573-7829
1573-7829
DOI:10.1007/s11113-023-09767-1