scholarly journals Do costs and benefits of children matter for religious people? Perceived consequences of parenthood and fertility intentions in Poland

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Christoph Bein ◽  
Monika Mynarska ◽  
Anne H. Gauthier

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the positive relationship between religiosity and fertility from the perspective of perceived consequences of parenthood. Previous studies in Germany have found that highly religious people ascribe higher benefits and lower costs to having children. Furthermore, the impact of costs and benefits on fertility is less pronounced among the highly religious. This study tested these mechanisms for fertility intentions and in the context of Poland – a country with a low fertility rate and high religiosity in comparison to other European countries. A sample of 4892 men and women of childbearing age from the second wave of the Polish version of the Generations and Gender Survey conducted in 2014/2015 was used. First, the extent to which perceived costs and benefits mediate the impact of religiosity on fertility intentions was analysed. Second, whether religiosity moderates the impact of perceived costs and benefits on fertility intentions was investigated. The results show that part of the positive effect of religiosity on fertility intentions can be explained by more-religious people seeing higher benefits of having children. Furthermore, but only in the case of women, religiosity moderates the impact of perceived costs on fertility intentions, suggesting that the effect of perceived costs decreases with increasing religiosity.

Author(s):  
Filipe Teles ◽  
Pekka Kettunen

It is a common phenomenon that municipalities cooperate with each other. Cooperation eventually brings about the gains of efficiency or makes it possible to deliver services. We can however assume that cooperation may also fail, cause unwarranted negative side-effects and diminish the democratic capacity of the participating municipalities. The aim of this paper is to present the literature and available scholarship on the topic, and discuss the research agenda on inter-municipal cooperation, especially through the analysis of its scope, motivations, and perceived costs and benefits. The approach to the problem will be based in multidisciplinary contributions of existing research, which involves theoretical arguments related to the advantages of cooperation, the impact on democracy and accountability, as well as the discussion of public vs private provision of services. The conclusions should enable a serious reflection about Inter-Municipal Cooperation state of the art.


2003 ◽  
pp. 201-226
Author(s):  
Anneli Miettinen ◽  
Pirjo Paajanen

In thispaper we examine howpersona! values and attitudes are related to childbearingintentions among 18-40-year-old Finnish men and women. Wefocus on religiousand individualistic values and on attitudes towardschildrenand thefamily, as well asattitudes towards work and gender roles. The impact of value and attitude orientationsand situationalfactors onfertility decision-making are investigated separatelyat parities 0, 1 and 2 using logistic regression. Our study uses a subsample of 1,237men andwomen drawnfrom thePPA2survey ofthe attitudes ofFinns towardsfamilyand children,family policy measures, values in life as well as theirfertility intentions.Wefind that information on persona! values and attitudes does increase our knowledgeon determinants of childbearing intentions and decision-making, although notali our initial hypotheses concerning the association, or direction of the association,between certain attitudes and fertility intentions were confirmed in the data. Religiousvalues, as well as work-relatedattitudes and individualistic values appeared tohave little bearing on childbearing intentions, while various attitudes towards childrenwere related to intentions to have (more) children. In addition, a conservativefamilistic attitude was related to intentions as well as gender role attitudes. The impactof values and attitudes varied by parity, providing support to the nation thatchildbearing decisions are made sequentially".


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
MENGNI CHEN ◽  
PAUL S. F. YIP ◽  
MUI TENG YAP

AbstractIn recent years, various pro-natalist policies have been adopted in Singapore and other high-income Asian countries with low fertility, aiming at raising fertility rates. Previous studies were mainly focused on the impact or outcome of the policies. This paper, however, aims to identify the most influential groups in determining Singapore's total fertility rate (TFR) and evaluate the targeting of pro-natalist measures adopted by the government. We first reveal the changing age-parity-and-marital-status composition of women at childbearing age, and further conduct an elasticity analysis to assess the roles of different subgroups of women in changing the TFR. Our results show that compared to other groups, the 20–29-year-old single women and the married childless women aged 30–34 (‘married’ throughout this paper includes women who are or have been married) are more influential in determining the TFR and should be the potential pro-natalist target groups. However, Singapore's pro-natalist policies are more in favour of third and higher-order births. Such mismatch indicates that, if more efforts are devoted to facilitating marriage and first births in these potential groups, the TFR may be increased effectively. In order to achieve a long-term and significant fertility reversal, it calls for a long-term and integrated policy package.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Hai Yen ◽  
Truc Ngoc Hoang Dang ◽  
Pataporn Sukontamarn

Abstract Background: The association between religion and desire for additional children has remained controversial and varies depending on the social context of the study. This study empirically investigates the relationship between religion and desire for additional children in Vietnam, a society characterized by son preference and low fertility. Methods: Using nationally representative data from the 2014 Vietnam Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, the study employs Probit regression analysis to investigate the relationship between religion and desire for additional children among women of reproductive age (15-49). The sample consists of 5,585 women across all six economic regions. Results: Religion has a strong impact on the desire to have an additional child, and the relationship differs across economic regions. In three out of six regions, Christians have higher fertility desire compared to non-religious people. Fertility desire of Buddhists differs from fertility desire of non-religious people in two out of six regions, namely Northern Midlands and Mekong River. Fertility desire of those belonging to other religions is different from that of non-religious people only in Mekong River. Conclusions: Identifying the impact of religion on desire for additional children can help promote appropriate family planning policies. The study also demonstrates that son preference exists in all regions of Vietnam, with the level increasing from the South, towards the Central and peaks in the North, especially in the regions bordering China.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1534
Author(s):  
Seran Jeon ◽  
Myounghoon Lee ◽  
Seiyong Kim

Since 2001, South Korea has experienced sustained lowest-low fertility. This phenomenon has persisted despite the implementation of several social policies aimed at increasing fertility rates. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively analyze the demographics, socioeconomics, housing situation, residential environment, and housing expectation of newlyweds in terms of their fertility intentions in South Korea (within 5 years of marriage) in order to help the development of more effective housing policies. We extracted the factors on the basis of fertility theories and previous related studies and identified differential characteristics of the impact on fertility intentions for the first and for additional child(ren). The results show that fertility intention was higher in non-metropolitan and rental households. There was also a significant relationship between the anticipated period of a home purchase and fertility intention. In particular, for one-child families, the second child fertility intention was significantly affected. In conclusion, we quantitatively confirmed various factors that significantly impact the fertility plans of newlyweds. We suggest that the government implements housing policies on the basis of economic stability, the number of children, and the residential environment of newlywed couples.


2013 ◽  
pp. 11-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Tymicki

The article presents both theoretical and empirical aspects of studies on fertility intentions in the context of factors shaping fecundity. In most contemporary societies couples declare their preference for two children. These declarations stand in opposition to registered total fertility rates, both period and cohort rates, which rarely reach value of 2 in Europe. The gap between fertility intentions and their realization might be partially explained by the impact of reproductive ageing (biological factors) which may play an increasingly significant role due to postponement of childbearing. A natural pattern of a decrease in fecundity over age might influence on reproductive outcome of women who postpone to conceive a child, and consequently results in an increased risk of involuntary childlessness or lower parity progression ratios. The data coming from the Generations and Gender Survey in Poland (GGS-PL) makes it possible to check the main hypothesis about an age-specific decrease in fecundity, which is manifested by a prolonged waiting time to pregnancy. The data were collected via the retrospective questions included into the GGS-PL questionnaire. Results show that there is a significant increase in waiting time to pregnancy among women older than 34 years. This finding supports theoretical predictions concerning the age-related decrease in fecundity. Its relevance is discussed by referring to explanations of the gap between fertility intentions and completed fertility in terms of voluntary and involuntary childlessness, as well as biological factors related to reproductive ageing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2097-2108
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Croft ◽  
Courtney T. Byrd

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify levels of self-compassion in adults who do and do not stutter and to determine whether self-compassion predicts the impact of stuttering on quality of life in adults who stutter. Method Participants included 140 adults who do and do not stutter matched for age and gender. All participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale. Adults who stutter also completed the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Data were analyzed for self-compassion differences between and within adults who do and do not stutter and to predict self-compassion on quality of life in adults who stutter. Results Adults who do and do not stutter exhibited no significant differences in total self-compassion, regardless of participant gender. A simple linear regression of the total self-compassion score and total Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering score showed a significant, negative linear relationship of self-compassion predicting the impact of stuttering on quality of life. Conclusions Data suggest that higher levels of self-kindness, mindfulness, and social connectedness (i.e., self-compassion) are related to reduced negative reactions to stuttering, an increased participation in daily communication situations, and an improved overall quality of life. Future research should replicate current findings and identify moderators of the self-compassion–quality of life relationship.


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