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Socio-Economic Differences in the Prevalence of Single Motherhood in North America and Europe
[journal article]
Abstract The study focuses on understanding the association between parental socio-economic status (SES) and the likelihood of women experiencing a first birth while single, and identifying societal factors that influence this association in 18 North American and European societies. Previous research has sho... view more
The study focuses on understanding the association between parental socio-economic status (SES) and the likelihood of women experiencing a first birth while single, and identifying societal factors that influence this association in 18 North American and European societies. Previous research has shown that single motherhood occurs disproportionately among those from with lower a lower parental SES. The study assesses whether this is caused by parental SES differences in the risk of single women experiencing a first conception leading to a live birth or by parental SES differences in how likely women are to enter a union during pregnancy. Additionally, an assessment is made of whether cross-national differences in these associations can be explained by a country’s access to family planning, norms regarding family formation, and economic inequality. Across countries, a negative gradient of parental SES was found on the likelihood of single women to experience a first pregnancy. The negative gradient was stronger in countries with better access to family planning. In some countries, the negative gradient of parental SES was aggravated during pregnancy because women from lower parental SES were less likely to enter a union. This was mostly found in societies with less conservative norms regarding marriage. The results suggest that certain developments in Western societies may increase socio-economic differentials in family demography.... view less
Keywords
North America; Europe; single parent; birth; fertility; marriage; socioeconomic factors; motherhood; pregnancy; family planning; partnership
Classification
Family Sociology, Sociology of Sexual Behavior
Free Keywords
European Values Study Longitudinal Data File 1981-2008 (EVS 1981-2008) (ZA4804 v2.0.0)
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 825-849
Journal
European Journal of Population / Revue européenne de Démographie, 37 (2021) 4-5
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-021-09591-3
ISSN
1572-9885
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed