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Gender-role attitudes and fertility ideals in Latin America

Author

Listed:
  • Xiana Bueno

    (Indiana University Bloomington)

  • Ignacio Pardo

    (Universidad de la República)

Abstract

Under the umbrella of the ‘gender revolution’, scholars have theorized that greater gender-egalitarianism will lead to higher fertility in low-fertility countries, paying particular attention to how men and women perform their roles in the public and the private spheres. This relationship between fertility and gender-role attitudes has been the object of vibrant debates in Europe and other Western societies but less often in other world regions. We used data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) for the four available Latin American countries -Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela- to explore the link between men’s and women’s gender-role attitudes and their fertility ideals. Overall, our results suggest not only that people with more egalitarian gender-role attitudes have a lower ideal number of children than less egalitarian individuals, even when controlling for other sociodemographic and economic factors, but also that, in general, women hold lower fertility ideals than men. These results lead to think that, if taking the gender revolution as a model, Latin America would be experiencing the first stage of the process. Yet, we found evidence for a different pace across Latin American subregions. We also conclude that the analysis is slightly sensitive to the gender-role measures used.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiana Bueno & Ignacio Pardo, 2023. "Gender-role attitudes and fertility ideals in Latin America," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 1-21, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joprea:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s12546-023-09295-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s12546-023-09295-x
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