Re-theorizing Family Demographics
Two dominant theories within family research foresee a long-term decline in marriage, fertility, and partner stability. They also assume that this "less-family" scenario will be spearheaded by higher-educated strata. Trends in the latter half of the twentieth century seemed to provide ampl...
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Published in | Population and development review Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 1 - 31 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.03.2015
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Two dominant theories within family research foresee a long-term decline in marriage, fertility, and partner stability. They also assume that this "less-family" scenario will be spearheaded by higher-educated strata. Trends in the latter half of the twentieth century seemed to provide ample support for both predictions. However, recent signs of change in family behavior raise doubts about their continued validity. In a number of countries we see a halt to, and even reversal of, fertility decline and of couple instability. In parallel, we observe a reversal of the social gradient on both dimensions. Applying a multiple equilibrium framework, we propose a theoretical framework that helps explain both the phase of marital and fertility decline and the subsequent recovery. We focus especially on the endogenous dynamics of the process, which, we argue, depend on the conditions that favor rapid diffusion. Our core argument is that the turnaround is driven by the diffusion of gender-egalitarian norms. |
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Bibliography: | istex:C545C724BF3B0B53E471082BE75C9B932E316F35 ArticleID:PADR24 ark:/67375/WNG-35W41847-H ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0098-7921 1728-4457 |
DOI: | 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00024.x |