Search Results

Author: Matysiak, Anna
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Tocchioni, Valentina
Rybinska, Anna
Mynarska, Monika
Matysiak, Anna
Vignoli, Daniele
Life-Course Trajectories of Childless Women: Country-Specific or Universal?
European Journal of Population published online (9 June 2022): DOI: 10.1007/s10680-022-09624-5.
Also: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10680-022-09624-5
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: European Association for Population Studies (EAPS)
Keyword(s): Cross-national Analysis; Expectations/Intentions; Fertility; Germany, German; Italy/Italian Social Surveys

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

While existing research has documented complexities in biographies of childless women, few studies to date have systematically examined the life-course pathways of the childless from a comparative, cross-country perspective. In this paper, we analyse biographies of childless women in four countries--Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United States--in order to investigate whether pathways into childlessness are country-specific or commonly shared across institutional, cultural, and geographical settings. Partnership, education, and employment histories are examined using sequence analysis with dynamic Hamming distance and cluster analysis. Discrepancy analysis indicates a country-effect in women's biographies although life-course patterns identified in each country share similarities. Overall, seven life-course trajectories have been identified, with the most numerous cluster comprising single, working women who completed their education at a relatively young age. The results highlight a marked variation in the life-courses of childless women. Put together, these findings provide descriptive evidence for both country-specificity and cross-country similarity in the pathways to childlessness.
Bibliography Citation
Tocchioni, Valentina, Anna Rybinska, Monika Mynarska, Anna Matysiak and Daniele Vignoli. "Life-Course Trajectories of Childless Women: Country-Specific or Universal?" European Journal of Population published online (9 June 2022): DOI: 10.1007/s10680-022-09624-5.