IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurpop/v36y2020i5d10.1007_s10680-019-09548-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Non-standard Employment on the Transition to Parenthood Within Couples: A Comparison of Germany and Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Inga Laß

    (University of Melbourne)

Abstract

Using longitudinal data from Germany and Australia for the 2001‒2013 period, this study investigates the link between non-standard employment, such as fixed-term contracts, temporary agency work, part-time and casual work, and first birth within couple relationships. In contrast to previous studies, competing risks event history models are estimated to simultaneously consider couples’ risks of first birth and of partnership dissolution. The results indicate, for example, that temporary employment of the female partner, and especially temporary agency work, decreases first birth risks in both countries. This suggests that women, in their dual role as primary carer and secondary earner, seek a secure employment position to return to after parental leave. In contrast, male partner’s part-time work negatively affects the first birth risk and simultaneously increases the risk of partnership dissolution only in Australia, suggesting a more important role of men as primary earners in this country. Overall, the study highlights the twofold impact of non-standard employment on fertility, consisting of a direct influence on the first birth risk among stable couples and an indirect influence through the risk of partnership dissolution.

Suggested Citation

  • Inga Laß, 2020. "The Effects of Non-standard Employment on the Transition to Parenthood Within Couples: A Comparison of Germany and Australia," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(5), pages 843-874, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:36:y:2020:i:5:d:10.1007_s10680-019-09548-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-019-09548-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10680-019-09548-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10680-019-09548-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Colin P. Green & Gareth D. Leeves, 2013. "Job Security, Financial Security and Worker Well-being: New Evidence on the Effects of Flexible Employment," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(2), pages 121-138, May.
    2. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, March.
    3. Wolfgang Auer & Natalia Danzer, 2016. "Fixed-Term Employment and Fertility: Evidence from German Micro Data," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 62(4), pages 595-623.
    4. Elke Jahn, 2015. "Don't Worry, be Flexible? - Job Satisfaction among Flexible Workers," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(2), pages 147-168.
    5. Sara Rica & Amaia Iza, 2005. "Career Planning in Spain: Do Fixed-term Contracts Delay Marriage and Parenthood?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 49-73, November.
    6. Schmitt, Christian, 2012. "A Cross-National Perspective on Unemployment and First Births," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 303-335.
    7. Roger Wilkins & Mark Wooden, 2013. "Gender Differences in Involuntary Job Loss: Why Are Men More Likely to Lose Their Jobs?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 582-608, April.
    8. Michael D. S. Morris & Alexander Vekker, 2001. "An Alternative Look at Temporary Workers, Their Choices, and the Growth in Temporary Employment," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 22(2), pages 373-390, April.
    9. Angelika Tölke & Martin Diewald, 2003. "Insecurities in employment and occupational careers and their impact on the transition to fatherhood in Western Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 9(3), pages 41-68.
    10. Christian Schmitt, 2012. "A Cross-National Perspective on Unemployment and First Births [Chômage et première naissance : une perspective transnationale]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 28(3), pages 303-335, August.
    11. Joshua R. Goldstein & Michaela Kreyenfeld, 2011. "Has East Germany Overtaken West Germany? Recent Trends in Order‐Specific Fertility," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 37(3), pages 453-472, September.
    12. Debra Friedman & Michael Hechter & Satoshi Kanazawa, 1994. "A theory of the value of children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(3), pages 375-401, August.
    13. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2012. "The influence of employment uncertainty on childbearing in France: A tempo or quantum effect?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(1), pages 1-40.
    14. Sophia Rabe-Hesketh & Anders Skrondal, 2012. "Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling Using Stata, 3rd Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 3, number mimus2, March.
    15. Mirko Draca & Colin Green, 2004. "The Incidence and Intensity of Employer Funded Training: Australian Evidence on the Impact of Flexible Work," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 51(5), pages 609-625, November.
    16. Karin Lundström & Gunnar Andersson, 2012. "Labor-market status, migrant status and first childbearing in Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 27(25), pages 719-742.
    17. Meg Kingsley, 2018. "The influence of income and work hours on first birth for Australian women," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 107-129, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giammarco Alderotti & Daniele Vignoli & Michela Baccini & Anna Matysiak, 2019. "Employment Uncertainty and Fertility: A Network Meta-Analysis of European Research Findings," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2019_06, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    2. Susanne Fahlén & Livia Sz. Oláh, 2018. "Economic uncertainty and first-birth intentions in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(28), pages 795-834.
    3. James M. Raymo & Akihisa Shibata, 2017. "Unemployment, Nonstandard Employment, and Fertility: Insights From Japan’s “Lost 20 Years”," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2301-2329, December.
    4. Michaela R. Kreyenfeld & Gunnar Andersson, 2013. "Socioeconomic differences in the unemployment and fertility nexus: a comparison of Denmark and Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2013-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2012. "The influence of employment uncertainty on childbearing in France: A tempo or quantum effect?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(1), pages 1-40.
    6. Chiara Ludovica Comolli, 2021. "Couples' paid work, state-level unemployment, and first births in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(38), pages 1149-1184.
    7. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell & Trinh, Trong-Anh & Yew, Siew Ling, 2022. "Local crime and fertility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 312-331.
    8. Nkechi S. Owoo & Monica P. Lambon-Quayefio, 2022. "Does Job Security Affect Fertility and Fertility Intentions in Ghana? Examining the Evidence," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 86-99, March.
    9. Francesca Fiori & Francesca Rinesi & Antonella Pinnelli & Sabrina Prati, 2013. "Economic Insecurity and the Fertility Intentions of Italian Women with One Child," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(3), pages 373-413, June.
    10. Daniël C. Wijk & Helga A. G. Valk & Aart C. Liefbroer, 2022. "Economic Precariousness and the Transition to Parenthood: A Dynamic and Multidimensional Approach," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(3), pages 457-483, August.
    11. Schmitt, Christian, 2021. "The impact of economic uncertainty, precarious employment, and risk attitudes on the transition to parenthood," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47, pages 1-1.
    12. Wooden, Mark & Trinh, Trong-Anh & Mooi-Reci, Irma, 2021. "The Differential Impacts of Contingent Employment on Fertility: Evidence from Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 14850, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Marika Jalovaara & Anneli Miettinen, 2013. "Does his paycheck also matter?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(31), pages 881-916.
    14. Barbara Hofmann & Michaela Kreyenfeld & Arne Uhlendorff, 2017. "Job Displacement and First Birth Over the Business Cycle," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 933-959, June.
    15. Jessica Nisén & Pekka Martikainen & Mikko Myrskylä & Karri Silventoinen, 2018. "Education, Other Socioeconomic Characteristics Across the Life Course, and Fertility Among Finnish Men," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 337-366, August.
    16. Liepmann, Hannah, 2018. "The impact of a negative labor demand shock on fertility – Evidence from the fall of the Berlin Wall," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 210-224.
    17. Daniel Ciganda, 2015. "Unstable work histories and fertility in France," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(28), pages 843-876.
    18. Francesca Modena & Concetta Rondinelli & Fabio Sabatini, 2014. "Economic Insecurity and Fertility Intentions: The Case of Italy," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S1), pages 233-255, May.
    19. Daniele Vignli & Letizia Mencarini & Giammarco Alderotti, 2018. "Is the Impact of Employment Uncertainty on Fertility Intentions Channeled by Subjective Well-Being?," Working Papers 114, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    20. Doris Hanappi & Valérie-Anne Ryser & Laura Bernardi & Jean-Marie Le Goff, 2017. "Changes in Employment Uncertainty and the Fertility Intention–Realization Link: An Analysis Based on the Swiss Household Panel," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 381-407, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:36:y:2020:i:5:d:10.1007_s10680-019-09548-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.