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Social Capital, Gender Competition, and the Resurgence of Childlessness

In: Analyzing Contemporary Fertility

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Schoen

    (Pennsylvania State University, Population Research Institute)

  • Lowell Hargens

    (University of Washington, Separtment of Sociology)

Abstract

As fertility in much of the developed world remains far below replacement level, it is appropriate to look closely at trends and patterns in childlessness. The rationale for doing so is reinforced by a multidimensional scaling analysis of 80 countries, which finds that contemporary fertility patterns are largely determined by two factors: the overall level and the proportion childless. Parity status life tables for 24 low fertility nations for periods since 2000 show that 15 of them have period parity progression rates implying that over 20% of women will never have any children. Commonly used figures on proportions at parity zero in cohorts completing their reproductive years have understated the level of childlessness inherent in recent data by ignoring the behavior of younger cohorts. Still, even those cohort data reveal an upward trend in childlessness. The likelihood of a resurgence in childlessness is bolstered by steady increases in the mean ages at first birth observed in all 24 study populations. Looking ahead, high proportions childless can be consistent with stable, egalitarian unions, as children now bring few resources to parents while making great demands upon them.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Schoen & Lowell Hargens, 2020. "Social Capital, Gender Competition, and the Resurgence of Childlessness," The Springer Series on Demographic Methods and Population Analysis, in: Robert Schoen (ed.), Analyzing Contemporary Fertility, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 9-24, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssdmcp:978-3-030-48519-1_2
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-48519-1_2
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