Parents and grandparents: how much does age-distance between generations matter for fertility?

Roberta Rutigliano, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Since women have acquired a new role in society, they have to struggle to reconcile career with family life. The general aim of this paper is to explore the dynamics within the extended family, focusing on the role of grandparents in different contexts. I investigate the relationship of the age-distance between grandparents and the adult child at the moment of (first) birth on the probability of having the second child. The key idea is to consider the age distance as a proxy for expectations about the future childcare supply by grandparents. Further, this measure provides a quick indicator for the trade off between postponement and aging. Although individuals are living longer and, to some extents, better, they can be too old to look after grandchildren especially when the middle generation is made by “great postponers”. I expect to find a non linear relationship between age-distance and transition to second child. I expect also a cohort effect due to the evolution of wellbeing overtime. I use data from SHARE (Survey of Health Aging and Retirement in Europe). In particular, I will use wave1,2 and 4. Methodologically, I will combine survival analysis, namely duration models, with a Propensity Score Matching approach.