Late,But Not Too Late? Postponement of First Birth Among Highly Educated US Women

We examine the link between the postponement of parenthood and fertility outcomes among highly educated women in the USA born in 1920–1986, using data from the CPS June Supplement 1979–2016. We argue that the postponement–low fertility nexus noted in demographic and biomedical research is especially relevant for women who pursue postgraduate education because of the potential overlap of education completion, early career stages, and family formation. The results show that women with postgraduate education differ from women with college education in terms of the timing of the first birth, childlessness, and completed fertility. While the postponement trend, which began with the cohorts born in the 1940s, has continued among highly educated women in the USA, its associations with childlessness and completed parity have changed considerably over subsequent cohorts. We delineate five distinct postponement phases over the 80-year observation window, consistent with variation over time in the prevalence of strategies for combining tertiary education and employment with family formation.     

Choosing to Remain Childless? A Comparative Study of Fertility Intentions Among Women and Men in Italy and Britain

Pathways to childlessness may differ not only between individuals but also at the population level. This paper investigates differences in childlessness by comparing two countries—Britain and Italy—where levels of childlessness are high in comparison with many other European countries, but which have distinct fertility trajectories and family regimes. Using data from two large, representative national samples of women and men of reproductive age in a co-residential partnership, it presents a rich analysis of the characteristics associated with intended childlessness, net of the aspects associated with being childless at interview. Although childlessness intentions are generally comparable between men and women of the same age, results show a link between socio-economic disadvantage and childlessness for British men as well as the importance of men’s employment for childbearing decisions in Italy. These findings support the view that pathways into childlessness are gendered and highlight the importance of partnership context in the understanding of fertility intentions. Then, the level of childlessness at interview is comparable across the two countries. However, a higher proportion of respondents in Italy is only provisionally childless, whereas a larger proportion of British respondents intends to remain childless. Framing these differences in fertility intentions within the wider context of family and fertility regimes allows insight into the extent to which observed levels of lifetime childlessness at the population level might result from a specific combination of intended childlessness, postponed decisions leading to involuntary childlessness, or constraints affecting abilities to achieve intentions at the individual level.     

The timing of first birth

“The timing of first birth” is taken to mean the distribution of first births among a cohort of women. (1) How large is the final proportion of women who have at least one birth and (2) what is the distribution of women by age at first birth? “The percentage of non-fecund women” and “the age-specific risk for a fecund woman of remaining childless” are useful parameters in predicting final childlessness. These parameters are estimated. It is found that the risk of a fecund woman remaining childless is substantial even at the most common childbearing age. The effect of postponement of births on final childlessness is demonstrated and quantified. It is shown that the higher level of childlessness among women with long education can be explained by postponement of childbearing. The expression “later means fewer” is also true for first births. A method of predicting first birth rates, presented earlier by the author, is discussed and shown to give a good fit to Swedish data.     

Social Investment Policies and Childbearing Across 20 Countries: Longitudinal and Micro-Level Analyses

This study analyses the influence of family policies on women’s first and second births in 20 countries over the period 1995 to 2007. Welfare states have shifted towards social investment policies, yet family policy–fertility research has not explicitly considered this development. We distinguish between social investment-oriented and passive support that families may receive upon the birth of a child and consider changes in policies over time. These indicators are merged with fertility histories provided by harmonized individual-level data, and we use time-conditioned, fixed effects linear probability models. We find higher social investment-oriented support to be correlated with increased first birth probabilities, in contrast to passive family support. First birth probabilities particularly declined with higher passive family support for women over age 30, which points to a potential increase in childlessness. Social investment-oriented support is positively related to first and second births particularly for lower-educated women and has no relationship to childbirth for highly educated women, countering the Matthew-effect assumptions about social investment policies. Passive support is negatively related to second births for post-secondary educated women and those who are studying. Family policies that support women’s employment and labour market attachment are positively linked to family expansion and these policies minimize educational differences in childbearing.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10680-022-09626-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

加强当代大学生诚信教育的探讨

由于受到历史社会、学校教育、家庭环境、学生自身素质及不健全的制度等多种因素的影响．少部分大学生还存在着严重的诚信缺失现象。文章提出利用课堂教学、营造诚信环境、开展社会实践和加强制度建设四个有效途径，加强大学生的诚信教育，以期提高大学生的诚信度。     

‘Unnatural’, ‘Unwomanly’, ‘Uncreditable’ and ‘Undervalued’: The Significance of Being a Childless Woman in Australian Society

Childlessness is an increasing trend, internationally and in Australia. The few studies exploring the lived experiences of childless women have been conducted in America, Canada and the United Kingdom; predominantly during the 1980s and 1990s. The experiences of childless women in contemporary Australia remain under-researched. This hermeneutic phenomenological study sought to enhance understanding of the lived experience of being a childless woman in contemporary Australia. In-depth interviews with five childless women revealed five key themes as significant facets of the experiences of childless women: notions of ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’; woman = mother; childlessness as a discrediting attribute; feeling undervalued; and the significance of being childless. By privileging the experiences of childless women in a pronatalist society, it is apparent that misconceptions and stereotypes about childlessness continue to pervade. This study contributes to understanding this growing population group; highlighting that while childlessness is increasingly acknowledged, it is still not completely understood.     

Preference Theory and Low Fertility: A Comparative Perspective

The discussion on the causes of the most recent fertility decline in Europe, and in particular on the emergence of lowest-low fertility, emphasizes the relevance of cultural factors in addition to economic ones. As part of such a cultural framework, the heterogeneity of preferences concerning the “career vs. family” dichotomy has been systematized in the “Preference Theory” approach developed by Catherine Hakim. This heterogeneity in preferences, however, has so far been underinvestigated in a comparative framework. This paper makes use of comparative data from the 2004/2005 Round of the European Social Survey to test the links between individual-level preferences and both fertility outcomes and fertility intentions, in a variety of societal settings. Results confirm an association between work–family lifestyle preferences and realized fertility in a variety of European countries, while they do not show a relationship between lifestyle preferences and fertility intentions. Results further support the existence of heterogeneous patterns of association between lifestyle preferences and fertility choices among welfare regimes.     

严歌苓小说《小姨多鹤》的情感解读

严歌苓的小说《小姨多鹤》描绘了特殊历史境遇下一个畸形家庭的悲欢离合,多鹤、小环和张俭这三位主人公的关系在矛盾此消彼长的过程中达到了平衡.他们身上表现出的真情与善良,超越了国家与民族界限,彰显出人性最耀眼的光辉.     

论家族文化对老舍个性气质与文学创作的影响

以农耕文明著称的中华民族历来勤劳务实,注重家族人伦、以家为本,家族文化在中国社会发展进程中扮演着重要的角色,它对中国历代文人的创作产生了重要的影响。老舍作为文学大师深受家族文化的熏陶,传统的家族文化因素在他的身上得到了充分的体现,家族文化促成了他独特个性气质的形成,对他的文学创作产生了极大的影响,也增强了他文学作品的文化底蕴。     

试析我国助学贷款新政策执行之困难与对策

目前,我国助学贷款新政策执行已陷入困境,其表现是:商业银行竞标积极性不高;政府与高校共建风险补偿基金困难重重;失信惩治条款乏力。造成其执行困难的缘由有:国家助学贷款商业性与政策性之间存在冲突;我国目前信用贷款的环境尚不完善;国家助学贷款的贷款回报率较低;对高校在国家助学贷款中所扮演的角色存在分歧。解决其执行困难的措施为:尽快建立较为完善的学生信用体系;采取可操作的“准”抵押方式;强化银行的社会责任意识。     

苏南地区外来务工人员心理适应状况分析

本研究对苏南地区外来务工人员进行了心理适应状况的调查,分析其在城市归属感、城市生活条件满意度、自尊、自我价值认同、人际关系和家庭幸福感等6个反映心理适应性的因子得分上的相关,并将不同性别、年龄、受教育水平、进入城市年限和经济收入水平的被试在反映心理适应性的6个因子得分上的差异进行分析比较。针对外来务工人员心理适应状况,提出了心理援助的建议。     

晚明闺阁曲家群体形成原因初探

明代中后期,女性曲家的构成由元曲中清一色的风尘女子,一变而为风尘女子与闺阁女子并存的新局面,尤其在晚明还形成了一个闺阁曲家群体。这个新的曲家群体的形成,其原因在于:首先是随着理学思想约束的松动,使闺阁女性文化水平普遍提高,并且能较为自由地参与社会文化活动;其次是晚明浓厚的曲学氛围为闺阁女性习染词曲提供了良好条件;再次是家庭成员的影响起到直接的促进作用;最后是曲文学自身题材内容的变化使闺阁女性容易对其产生亲和感。     

中华法系伦理法特质衍生的社会基础

中华法系的特质在于它的宗法伦理性。中华法系伦理法特质的产生和发展有其深刻的社会基础。地理环境、小农经济、家国一体和儒家思想等因素的交互作用所产生的合力,共同塑造了中华法系的伦理法特质。     

充分发挥教师在多媒体教学过程中的主导作用

现代信息技术在教学领域的广泛应用 ,正在引起一场教育的革命。多媒体教学环境中仍然必须充分发挥教师的主导作用 ,其目的有二 :一是实现学生的主体地位 ;二是实现教学过程的最优化。只有理解并发挥教师在多媒体教学过程中的主导作用 ,才能实现教学过程的现代化 ,产生良好的教学效果。     

Marriage risks,cohabitation and premarital births in Canada

The transition that has occurred in the Canadian family is one of the important changes of recent decades. Fewer women are marrying and many more are delaying marriage. This paper is an attempt to examine the trends in union formation among various cohorts and to identify some of the socio-demographic correlates of marital timing. The data for this study are taken from the Canadian Fertility Survey of 1984. The results indicate that there is no immediate crisis for the family in Canada, but that many are choosing cohabitation as a preferred mode of first union formation at early stages. Young women (below 25 years of age), residents of large metropolitan areas, those with a university education and those with low religious commitment are more likely than others to be delayers of marriage.L'un des changements sociaux importants de ces dernières décennies est la transition qui s'est produite dans la famille, au Canada. Moins de femmes se marient et elles diffèrent de plus en plus leur mariage. Cet article examine les tendances dans la constitution des unions pour les diverses cohortes et met en corrélation le calendrier du mariage avec certaines caractéristiques socio-démographiques. Les résultats montrent que l'on n'est pas pour le moment dans une période de crise pour la famille, mais que beaucoup de jeunes femmes choisissent la cohabitation comme un moyen préférentiel de première constitution des unions. Les jeunes femmes de moins de 25 ans, résidant dans de grandes métropoles, ayant une formation universitaire et ayant une faible pratique religieuse, diffèrent, plus que les autres, leur mariage.     

略论两宋时期自然环境恶化的人为因素

两宋时期我国自然环境遭到大规模破坏 ,灾害频繁并且严重。自然环境恶化的因素很多 ,但人为因素对宋代自然环境的影响尤为显著。表现在四个方面 :毁林开荒 ,围湖造田 ,军队屯垦 ,大兴土木     

生活方式变迁下的城市环境设施设计研究

城市环境设施设计与人们的生活方式息息相关。在生活方式变迁的情况下进行城市环境设施设计,应该深入分析生活方式的变迁对环境设施产生的影响,并利用基于群体文化学方法对人们的生活方式进行实地研究,进而得出人们的真实需求、具体行为模式和心理特征并由此来指导环境设施设计。此外,还应从更广泛的背景上建立人-设施-环境-城市的有机系统。     

基于低碳生活方式背景下对高碳生活方式的伦理反思

低碳生活方式是实现经济可持续发展和人自身发展的内在要求,是低碳经济发展的必然产物。在全球气候变暖、生态危机日益凸显的今天,针对"物本"至上的道德主体物化,利益至上的人际关系物化,"符号意义"至上的审美感官物化,享乐至上的家庭生活物化等生活异化现象,从伦理学角度来反思,以生态价值观为指导,使一种追求天人合一和身心均衡发展的低碳生活极大地普及,以实现人和自身、人与人、人与自然的和谐发展。     

静物画对静物的疏离

在西方艺术传统中,静物画由于总是纠缠在对日常事物的细节描绘中,不能创造与纯粹的感官愉悦相对立的精神愉悦,因而被斥为机械的艺术,并被列为艺术家族中的最低形式。因此,一些艺术家进行了成功的探索,他们将静物画与伦理、艺术、审美和创造相联系,让静物画疏离对静物本身的机械的描摹,从而使静物画的价值得到重新确认。     

Employment After Parenthood: Women of Migrant Origin and Natives Compared

Motherhood negatively affects female employment in majority populations across Europe. Although employment levels are particularly low among women of migrant origin, little is known about the motherhood–employment link in migrant populations. This paper investigates whether family formation differentially affects the labour market position of migrant women and their descendants compared to natives. Using longitudinal microdata from the Belgian social security registers, 12,167 women are followed from 12 months before until 48 months after the birth of their first child for the period 1999–2010. Levels of activity (versus inactivity), employment (versus unemployment) and full-time employment (versus part-time employment) are compared between natives and first- and second-generation women of Southern European, Eastern European, Turkish and Moroccan origin. We find that activity and employment levels decrease to a larger extent following the transition to parenthood among women of migrant origin than among natives. With respect to activity levels, differences between second-generation women and natives are largely explained by socio-demographic and pre-birth job characteristics, while differences between first-generation women and natives are not, suggesting that other factors such as tied migration patterns determine labour market attachment among first-generation mothers. With respect to employment levels, unemployment is increasing more among women of migrant origin of both generations than among natives, also when controlling for background characteristics, which signals differential access to stable job positions as well as to family policies. In sum, the results draw attention to the challenge that parenthood creates for mothers of migrant origin in terms of retaining and gaining employment, but also to the role of labour market entry and early career positions.