SRRD_2019_22.pdf (1.09 MB)
Policy Receptiveness as Determinant of Policy Effectiveness: German childcare and women’s transition to first birth
preprint
posted on 2019-08-20, 14:32 authored by Maximilian Deiters, Gerda NeyerGerda Neyer, Gunnar AnderssonGunnar AnderssonAbstract: During the past decade, German family policies have shifted
from supporting the male breadwinner – female carer family to providing
infrastructure for mothers’ employment and children’s daycare. Institutional
theorists assume that increased availability of childcare will increase
fertility, while family transition theorists argue that such increase depends
on a change of norms. We examine these propositions for women’s transition to
first birth. We apply event-history methods to German Pairfam panel data and
consider the importance that women attribute to public childcare, the applicability of childcare to their work
and family preferences, and the acceptability
of childcare to their motherly care-employment norms. First birth risks are
significantly elevated for women who regard childcare as a precondition to have
a child, who want to combine work and family (applicability) and who do not
oppose maternal employment (acceptability). In contrast, we find no such
association between childcare necessity and first birth for women who want to
focus on family (no applicability), and for those who are averse to or
uncertain about maternal employment (no acceptability). Our results underline
the importance to consider attitudes when evaluating the impact of policies on
childbearing behavior. They also indicate that macro-level effects of policies
on fertility may only become visible when policy offers and attitudes converge.