Do parental resources moderate the relationship between women’s income and timing of parenthood?

Heta Pöyliö,Zachary Van Winkle

doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2019.02.003

Heta Pöyliö, Zachary Van Winkle

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2019.02.003

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Abstract

Abstract Previous research has concentrated on the associations between higher incomes and delayed entry into parenthood, disadvantaged family background and early childbirth, and the availability of public childcare and fertility. This paper examines the extent to which parental resources moderate the relationship between women’s income and entry into parenthood, comparing two countries with very different levels of public family support: Finland and the United States. We use Cox regressions with data from the 1979 US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Finnish Census Panel data to demonstrate both striking similarities and differences between the two countries. First, high-income women from disadvantaged backgrounds postpone entry into parenthood in both countries. Second, high parental resources are associated with postponed entry into parenthood among low-income women. However, we find differences between the two countries regarding which parental resource is most influential. While parental income is important in the US, parental education matters most in Finland.

Highlights

Western industrialized societies have undergone dramatic sociodemographic and socioeconomic changes since the mid-20th century
We address two research questions in this article: 1) to what extent do parental resources moderate the relationship between women’s income and the timing of the transition into parenthood, and 2) how does this vary between the United States and Finland
Our results using data from the Finnish Census Panel and the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) demonstrate that the association between women’s income and the timing of first birth is moderated by parental resources

Summary

Introduction

Western industrialized societies have undergone dramatic sociodemographic and socioeconomic changes since the mid-20th century. More recent studies have demonstrated that women’s high earnings are associated with delayed first birth (Rondinelli, Aassve, & Billari, 2010; Vikat, 2004) Another line of research has concentrated on the association between socioeconomic background and the timing of first birth, generally finding that more parental resources lead to delayed entry into parenthood (Schoen, Landale, Daniels, & Cheng, 2009; Sironi, Barban, & Impicciatore, 2015). Our study integrates these two lines of literature by studying how parental resources influence the relationship between women’s labor market attainment and family formation

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