Abstract # 2

Simó, Carles. (2000). Entry into first parenthood in Spain and the process of globalization (together with Katrin Golsch and Nikolei Steinhage). In: Globalife Working Paper Series, No. 08, Faculty of Sociology, University of Bielefeld

This study analyses the impact of globalization on the transition to first parenthood in Spain. The transition to parenthood is modeled as the outcome of a rational choice process in an increasingly uncertain world in which individuals are assumed to seek a balance between, on the one hand, perceived constraints and uncertainty, and on the other, possible childbearing wishes. Men and women turn out to follow different childbearing strategies. For men, reaching a stable job position seems to be a key factor in explaining readiness to make the decision to become a father: the more secure and the less precarious their current employment status, the higher the rate of this transition. For women, it is the state of being a housewife that has a strong positive effect on their rate of childbearing. Employed women, part-time and full-time, have a much lower entry rate of childbearing. Unemployment at time of entry into the labor market has a strongly negative impact on entry into parenthood. Thus, increasing precarious employment of young men, progressive integration of women into the labor market and the high unemployment of youth and young adults have led to a lower transition rate to parenthood in Spain. Birth cohorts were chosen in such a way as to capture important changes in the institutional setting, economic situation and political climate of the times in which they entered young adulthood. Over time, the cohorts can be seen to decrease their childbearing intensity and to progressively postpone its timing. These results can be interpreted as a rational response of young Spaniards to increasing uncertainty in the process of globalization, which makes it difficult for them to make long-term commitments.