Fertility choices of couples and relocations in the life course

Francesca Michielin, Università Bocconi
Clara H. Mulder, University of Amsterdam

In the field of life history analysis, a growing part of research deals with interrelationship of choices. In this paper, we focus on possible interrelations between fertility choices of couples and their decision to relocate. Existing literature underlines that the housing career can act both as a triggering or a conditioning career in household decisions, but usually lacks directly analysing possible interrelations between choices. Using data from retrospective surveys carried out during the 1990s in the Netherlands, we investigate how fertility choices of couples and their housing relocations are interrelated, both in a direct and indirect way. Preliminary results show reciprocal interrelationship between fertility and relocation careers: living in an urban setting discourages parenthood, while ownership and living in a single family dwelling seem to favour it; relocations are likely to happen around childbirths. Finally, people adopting a short time strategy are more likely to have children.