Finding the "right moment" for the first baby to come: a comparison between Italy and Poland

Anna Matysiak and Daniele Vignoli ()

No WP-2009-011, MPIDR Working Papers from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

Abstract: This goal of this study is to add to our understanding of the impact of women’s human capital accumulation on the timing of first births. Applying intensity regression to national retrospective data, we examined the transition to motherhood in Italy and Poland. These countries share several similarities – Catholicism, strong family ties, and considerable tensions between fertility and work – but also differ in female labor supply developments. Our life-course study illustrates that paid employment clearly discourages childbearing in Italy, at least among low- and medium-educated women. In Poland, by contrast, employment functions as a precondition to childbearing, irrespective of a woman’s educational level.

Keywords: Italy; Poland; fertility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2009
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-lab and nep-tra
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2009-011

DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2009-011

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