Social networks and fertility

Laura Bernardi and Andreas Klärner
Additional contact information
Laura Bernardi: Université de Lausanne
Andreas Klärner: Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut

Demographic Research, 2014, vol. 30, issue 22, 641-670

Abstract: Background: The fields of demography, sociology, and socio-psychology have been increasingly drawing on social network theories, which posit that individual fertility decision-making depends in part on the fertility behavior of other members of the population, and on the structure of the interactions between individuals. After reviewing this literature, we highlight the benefits of taking a social network perspective on fertility and family research. Objective: We review the literature that addresses the extent to which social mechanisms, such as social learning, social pressure, social contagion, and social support, influence childbearing decisions. Methods: We review the most recent contributions of the social networks approach for the explanation of fertility dynamics in contemporary post-industrial societies. Conclusions: We find that all of the social mechanisms reviewed influence the beliefs and norms individuals hold regarding childbearing, their perceptions of having children, and the context of opportunities and constraints in which childbearing choices are made. The actual impact of these mechanisms on fertility tempo and quantum strongly depends on the structure of social interaction.

Keywords: fertility; industrialized countries; social networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol30/22/30-22.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:30:y:2014:i:22

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.22

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Demographic Research from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Editorial Office ().