TY - JOUR A1 - Kreyenfeld, Michaela A1 - Hank, Karsten T1 - Does the availability of child care influence the employment of mothers? Findings from Western Germany JF - Population Research and Policy Review N2 - There is a vast empirical literature investigating the effects of child care costson female employment. Day-care costs are usually treated as a reduction infemale wages and are supposed to reduce a woman's propensity to participatein the labor market. In this paper we argue that an analysis of the effects ofchild care on the employment of mothers in Germany should focus on theavailability rather than the affordability of care, due to peculiarities of theGerman day-care regime. Our empirical findings cast doubt on the effectivenessof the current German day-care regime. Specifically, we question the extent towhich it enables mothers to participate in the labor market. KW - Child care KW - Female labor force participation KW - Germany KW - Public policy Y1 - 2000 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026556309080 SN - 0167-5923 VL - 19 IS - 4 SP - 317 EP - 337 PB - Kluwer Academic Publishers CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kreyenfeld, Michaela T1 - Parity Specific Birth Rates for West Germany: An Attempt to Combine Survey Data and Vital Statistics JF - Zeitschrift für Bevölkerungswissenschaften N2 - In this paper, we combine vital statistics and survey data to obtain parity specific birth rates for West Germany. Since vital statistics do not provide birth parity information, one is confined to using estimates. The robustness of these estimates is an issue, which is unfortunately only rarely addressed when fertility indicators for (West) Germany are reported. In order to check how reliable our results are, we estimate confidence intervals and compare them to results from survey data and estimations conducted by the German Statistical Office. Although our estimations show a similar trend, the magnitude of some fertility indicators differs substantially from the ones reported in other studies. However, estimations from other studies do not give a consistent picture of German fertility, either. KW - Germany KW - Fertility Y1 - 2002 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-9838 SN - 0340-2398 VL - 27 IS - 3 SP - 327 EP - 357 PB - Leske + Budrich CY - Opladen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kreyenfeld, Michaela T1 - Time-squeeze, partner effect or self-selection?: An investigation into the positive effect of women's education on second birth risks in West Germany JF - Demographic Research N2 - This paper investigates the role of women’s education in the transition to the second child using data from the 1997 German micro-census. We begin our analysis with a simple model, which shows a positive effect of woman’s education on the transition rate to the second child for West German women. We argue that this effect is most likely confounded by various factors. Firstly, we assume that there is a time-squeeze effect, which increases the transition rate to the second child for more highly educated women. Secondly, titled as the partner hypothesis, we argue that more highly educated women often live with more highly educated partners who have the earning potential to afford a large family. Thirdly, titled as the selection hypothesis, we argue that the positive effect of women’s education can be attributed to a selection effect, i.e. familyoriented college graduates are more likely to select themselves into the group of women at risk of second birth. The empirical investigations particularly support the second and third hypotheses. After controlling for the partner’s characteristics and including unobserved heterogeneity factors, the positive effect of female education becomes strongly negative. KW - Education KW - Female employment KW - Fertility KW - Germany KW - Second births Y1 - 2002 UR - http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol7/2/7-2.pdf U6 - https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2002.7.2 VL - 7 SP - 15 EP - 48 PB - Max-Planck Institut für demografische Forschung CY - Rostock ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kreyenfeld, Michaela A1 - Spieß, Katharina A1 - Wagner, Gert T1 - Distributional analysis of child care subsidies in Germany JF - European Early Childhood Education Research Journal N2 - In general, day care subsidies are accepted as a means of creating equal chances for both children and mothers in the labour market. Although there is a broad consensus that the use of children’s day care should be publicly supported, there is no consensus on how this should be done. Moreover, there is little knowledge on the distributional effects of day care subsidies. In order to assess whether public expenditures are targeted efficiently, however, it is vital to know which social groups profit most from public expenditures on children’s day care and whether tax-payers’ money is spent effectively. In Germany, as in other European countries, day care subsidies are mainly provided ‘in-kind’. Municipalities and NPOs provide day care for children, which is –apart from a small fee – free of charge. In this study we estimate the distributional effects of state-funded day care in Germany using microdata on households and data on the expenditure of public-funded day care. Major results are that day care subsidies have only modest redistributional effects. Primarily it is the middle-income range that profits from the public provision of children’s day care. This contradicts common public-policy recommendations, which state that low-income families should be the first target of day care subsidies. KW - Germany KW - Child care Y1 - 2003 SN - 1350-293X VL - 11 IS - 2 SP - 159 EP - 175 PB - Taylor and Francis CY - London [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kreyenfeld, Michaela T1 - Fertility decisions in the FRG and GDR: An Analysis with Data from the German Fertility and Family Survey JF - Demographic Research (Special Collection) N2 - The aim of this paper is to compare family policies and fertility patterns in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the German Federal Republic (FRG). Among other aspects, both societies particularly differed in the integration of women into the labor market. By contrasting the fertility development in these two societies, this paper aims to illuminate how women’s education and employment relates to fertility decisions in societal contexts that support (in the case of the GDR) and hamper (in the case of the FRG) the compatibility between work and family life. Data for this analysis comes from the German Fertility and Family Survey (of the year 1992). We provide descriptive statistics for all birth parities, but we limit the multivariate event history analysis to first births only KW - Event history KW - Event history analysis KW - First birth KW - Former GDR KW - Germany KW - Life course analysis Y1 - 2004 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-9743 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2004.S3.11 VL - 3 SP - 275 EP - 318 PB - Max-Planck Institut für demografische Forschung CY - Rostock ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kreyenfeld, Michaela T1 - Uncertainties in female employment careers and the postponement of parenthood in Germany JF - European Sociological Review N2 - This paper investigates whether uncertainties in female employment careers result in a postponement of family formation. Data for this analysis comes from the German Socio-Economic Panel, which provides longitudinal information on economic uncertainty and fertility for the period 1984 to 2006. We employ objective measures of uncertainty (unemployment) as well as subjective measures (whether the respondent is worried about her economic situation, whether she is worried about the security of her job). We find little evidence that uncertainties in female employment careers generally lead to a postponement of parenthood. Hence, the relationship between economic uncertainty and first birth varies by level of education. While more highly educated postpone parenthood when subject to employment uncertainties, women with low levels of education often respond to these situations by becoming mothers. KW - Germany KW - Fertility Y1 - 2010 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-9661 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcp026 SN - 0266-7215 N1 - This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in European Sociological Review. The final authenticated version is available online at: DOI:10.1093/esr/jcp026 VL - 26 IS - 3 SP - 351 EP - 366 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kreyenfeld, Michaela A1 - Zeman, Krystof A1 - Burkimsher, Marion A1 - Jaschinski, Ina T1 - Fertility Data for German speaking countries: What is the potential? Where are the pitfalls? JF - Comparative Population Studies N2 - This paper provides an overview of fertility data for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Particular attention is given to the availability of order-specific fertility data. The authors discuss the quality of data provided by the Statistical Offices, both birth registration data and censuses or microcensuses. In addition, they explore how social science surveys can be used to generate order-specific fertility indicators, and compare survey fertility estimates with estimates from vital statistics. Prior studies have shown that there is a 'family bias' in most surveys, with the fertility of younger cohorts being overstated, because respondents with young children are easier to reach by interviewers. The authors' assessment of various types of surveys from the three countries mostly supports this notion. The 'family bias' is most pronounced in family surveys in contrast to all-purpose surveys. Weighting data does not fully cure the 'family bias', which the authors attribute to the fact that the number of children is usually not considered a factor in calculating sample weights, as provided by the survey agencies and Statistical Offices. The confounding role of migration in the production of reliable and comparable fertility statistics is also discussed. KW - Fertility KW - Germany KW - Austria KW - Switzerland Y1 - 2011 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-8807 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4232/10.CPoS-2011-06en SN - 1869-8980 VL - 36 IS - 2-3 SP - 349 EP - 380 PB - Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung CY - Wiesbaden ER -