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Who Delays Childbearing? The Associations Between Time to First Birth, Personality Traits and Education

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  • Lara Patrício Tavares

    (Universidade de Lisboa
    Bocconi University
    Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

Abstract

Using data from a large-scale survey, the British Household Panel Survey, this paper assesses the influence of personality traits on the timing of first childbirth and investigates whether, and in what way, personality traits explain the differences in maternity timing across educational groups. We estimate a log-logistic model of the time to first childbirth and show that there is a statistically significant relationship between the Big Five personality traits and the timing of motherhood. The results also show that highly qualified women who are ‘open-minded’ have the lowest hazards of childbirth, lower than similar less educated counterparts.

Suggested Citation

  • Lara Patrício Tavares, 2016. "Who Delays Childbearing? The Associations Between Time to First Birth, Personality Traits and Education," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(4), pages 575-597, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:32:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s10680-016-9393-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-016-9393-1
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    3. Anna Matysiak & Letizia Mencarini & Daniele Vignoli, 2016. "Work–Family Conflict Moderates the Relationship Between Childbearing and Subjective Well-Being," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 355-379, August.
    4. Daniela Bellani & Bruno Arpino & Daniele Vignoli, 2021. "Time preferences and fertility: Evidence from Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(50), pages 1185-1228.
    5. Olga Gómez-Ortiz & Carmen Sánchez-Sánchez, 2022. "Is the Predisposition to Have More Children Beneficial among Parents with Only One Child? Evidence from Spanish Parents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-14, June.

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