Education and labour market effects on becoming a parent: the experience of men and women in post-war Sweden

Martin Dribe, Lund University
Maria A. Stanfors, Lund University

This paper analyzes the effects of the socioeconomic position of young men and women on the transition to parenthood, applying hazard regressions to data made up by annual aggregate time series as well as longitudinal micro-data from the 1992/93 Swedish Family Survey. We investigate the effects of indicators, such as education and labor market attachment as well as civil status and family of upbringing, on becoming a parent, in Sweden since the mid-1960s. Our results indicate a general tendency over time to delay the transition to parenthood among men as well as women. When it comes to the determinants of conception leading to first birth, there are clear gender differences both when it comes to individual characteristics and aggregate-level factors. Education and labor market attachment are key factors determining the transition to parenthood for women as well as for men, even though the effects are gendered.