Volume 19 - Article 39 | Pages 1451–1500  

Gender roles and values of children: Childless Couples in East and West Germany

By Ursula Henz

Abstract

Presuming that not just economic circumstances but also ideational factors influence fertility decisions, the paper examines the values of children of East and West-German childless men and women living with a partner. Based on the survey about ‘Change and Development of Family Life Forms’, a confirmatory factor analysis identifies an affective, a utility and a cost dimension of the values of children, and for West-German women an additional dimension of opportunity costs. Although East and West-German men and women differed in their values of children, hypotheses about the higher affective value of children for East Germans compared to West Germans or for women compared to men are not supported for the specific sample. The values of children varied with respondent’s labour-market position and the division of household work. An analysis of panel data for West Germany shows that for women, first-birth rates depended on the value of children and on the gender roles in the home.

Author's Affiliation

• Ursula Henz - London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Fathers' involvement with their children in the United Kingdom: Recent trends and class differences
Volume 40 - Article 30

Long-term trends of men’s co-residence with children in England and Wales
Volume 30 - Article 23

Childbirth in East and West German Stepfamilies: Estimated probabilities from hazard rate models
Volume 7 - Article 6

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