Gender egalitarianism, perceived economic insecurity, and fertility intentions in Spain: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Economic uncertainty contributes to low fertility in many European countries. On the other hand, greater gender equality may positively influence fertility. This paper examines how these two forces interact in Spain. We use in-depth interviews to analyse fertility decision-making among young and highly educated partnered adults living in urban areas. Highly gender-egalitarian interviewees are less likely to perceive economic insecurity as an obstacle to proceeding to a next birth than less egalitarian interviewees. But there is not necessarily a difference in these two groups’ overall fertility intentions, as highly egalitarian interviewees’ greater valuation of stable employment for both partners requires institutional and policy support for dual-earner couples’ childrearing. When we look only at interviewees who express economic insecurity, somewhat higher fertility intentions are expressed by those holding less gender-egalitarian attitudes. Our results underline the complexity of the interrelationships between economic insecurity, gender egalitarianism, and fertility intentions.

Keywords:

• gender egalitarianism
• perceived economic insecurity
• fertility intentions
• Spain
• qualitative analysis

ORCID

Xiana Bueno http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6587-3521

Notes

1 Xiana Bueno is currently based at the Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CERCA Programme), Bellaterra, Spain, although this paper was written while at Harvard University. Mary C. Brinton is based at the Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States. Please address all correspondence to Xiana Bueno, Carrer de Ca n’Altayó, Edifici E2, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra/Barcelona, Spain; or by E-mail: [email protected]

2 This work was supported by the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme under the H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Grant Agreement No. 657030 to Xiana Bueno and by National Science Foundation grant #SES1123885 to Mary C. Brinton.