Childbearing in the Knowledge-Based Society: Job-Related Learning Demands and the Transition to Parenthood in Germany

Chen Luo, Ewa Jarosz and Anna Matysiak
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Ewa Jarosz: University of Warsaw, LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics
Anna Matysiak: University of Warsaw, LabFam - Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics; Cracow University of Economics

No 2025-29, Working Papers from Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw

Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between learning demands at work and the transition to parenthood in Germany. As a consequence of technological progress and intensifying global competition, workplace learning is no longer an optional path to career advancement but has become an essential job demand. Consequently, it absorbs time and energy that could otherwise be devoted to family formation, prompting individuals to postpone childbearing or have fewer children. Yet, the fertility implications of this structural change have not been systematically examined. This study addresses this gap by analysing how job-related high learning demands relate to the transition to the first birth. The results indicate that individuals in jobs with high learning demands, both men and women, tend to delay the transition to the first birth. However, these delays do not appear to preclude them from becoming parents later, suggesting a postponement rather than a withdrawal from parenthood.

Keywords: fertility; childbearing; learning demands; labour market transformation; work-family conflict (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J16 J22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-lab
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https://www.wne.uw.edu.pl/download_file/6373/0 First version, 2025 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:war:wpaper:2025-29

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