AbstractBACKROUNDMore than downplayed, the role of men in the demographic analysis of reproduction has been entirely neglected. However, male fertility can be an important issue for exploring how economic and employment uncertainties relate to fertility and family dynamics.OBJECTIVEThis paper intends to study fertility variations over time, relying solely on data referring to father's socio-demographic characteristics; in particular, their age, education level, and employment status.METHODSWe use a combination of Labor Force Survey and Demographic Statistics data on population and Vital Statistics on births to estimate male fertility indicators and fertility differentials by education level and employment status, for the period 1992-2011 in Greece. In addition, over-time developments in male TFR are separated into structural (education-specific and employment-specific distributions) and behavioral (fertility, per se) changes.RESULTSWe find that the male fertility level is declining, the fertility pattern is moving into higher ages, and the reproduction period for men is getting shorter. From 1992 up to 2008, changes in male fertility were mostly driven by behavioral rather than compositional factors. However, the decline of male fertility over the period of economic recession (2008-2011) is largely attributed to the continuous decrease in the proportions of employed men.CONCLUSIONSThe study suggests that male fertility merits further exploration. In particular, years of economic downturn and countries where household living standards are mostly associated with male employment, a father's employability is likely to emerge as an increasingly important factor of fertility outcomes.(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)1. IntroductionWhen it comes to fertility research, demographic analysis is conventionally female- oriented. Most theories developed to detect and explain changes in human fertility are not gender-specific, for they rarely, if ever, examine male and female behavior separately, as is the case in mortality and migration research. Fertility analysis focuses largely on mother's socio-demographic characteristics, such as age, race, marital and employment status or level of education, in order to identify explanatory factors behind differing fertility rates and overtime variations. Significantly less attention has been given to men; a father's income has for long been the only male feature involved in relevant analysis. Consequently, all fertility indicators are female-dominated: fertility rates, whether general, total or age-specific, relate living births to the age-sex group at risk. Therefore, all main fertility measures are in fact female fertility measures. More than downplayed, the role of men in the demographic analysis of reproduction has been entirely neglected.A number of explanations have been put forward to defend this state of affairs. Concentrating on women is primarily justified by biological reasons. Unlike reproduction among males, female fecundity is conditioned by strictly defined age limitations, as well as by social and cultural influences on post-natal practices (such as breastfeeding and abstinence). In that sense, compared with male fertility, female fertility is regarded as a more decisive factor of population's reproduction. Though biological reasons are put to the fore, methodological difficulties and data quality issues are equally often evoked to explain why men have for so long been left out of fertility analysis. Birth-registration certificates do not always include data on both parents, even in more developed countries (Rendall et al. 1999); out-of-wedlock birth statistics usually omit information about fathers (Greene and Biddlecom 2000). Birth data on women are considered to be not only easier to collect but also more accurate, women being more directly involved in the whole childbearing procedure. …