PRECARIOUSLY PREGNANT
An analysis of the influence an insecure job future has on the intention to have a first child Name: Sjaan Steinmetz Student number: 6051057 Supervisor: Justine Ruitenberg Second reader: Stephanie Steinmetz Master’s programme: Social Problems and Social Policy Email address: sjaan.steinmetz@gmail.com
ABSTRACT The increased access to the labour market for women in the 1970’s, links fertility and the labour market to this day (Hakim, 2006). With changing ideals on the ideal family role models, a gap between desired and actual fertility rates and an increasingly flexible labour market it is of most interest to research how this might change this relationship (Graaf, de & Loozen, 2006; Kremer, 2017). This research explores what role the insecurity, that is often inherent to flexible labour, plays in the intentions to have a first child. It does so by looking into the preferred role models, social support and perceived control couples have and how these shape their intentions (Azjen, 1991; Hakim, 2000). ACKNOWLEDGMENT Firstly, I would first like to thank the couples that have participated in my research from the bottom of my heart. Their willingness to allow me in to such a private conversation was truly special. If it was not for their open and honest insights this whole project would not have been there. Secondly, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Justine Ruitenberg for her theoretical insights, belief in my research, and trust in my capabilities and independence. Last but never least, even though I am usually not a fan of personal notes, I would like to mention a special thanks to Lili. For everything.
Table of contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 1. INTRODUCTION 5 MOTIVATION FOR RESEARCH 5 FOCUS OF RESEARCH 6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 7 2. AN INSIGHT TO INTENTIONS 7 EMPIRICAL STUDIES 7 THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT 9THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR 10
ATTITUDES 11 PREFERENCE THEORY 11 SUBJECTIVE NORM 12 PERCEIVED CONTROL 12 KEY CONCEPTS 13 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 15 TPB APPLIED 15 INTERVIEWS 15 CODING AND ANALYSIS 16
TARGET POPULATION & PURPOSE SAMPLING 16
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 17
4. THE LINK BETWEEN LABOUR AND MARKET 18
THE TWO EVOLUTIONS 18
MOTHERHOOD IN THE NETHERLANDS 18
THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ITS AFTERSHOCK 20 FLEXIBILITY 21 5. ANALYSIS 23 SUBDIVISIONS IN RESPONDENTS 23 CODE CO-OCCURRENCES 25 FLEXIBILITY 27 FROM BELIEFS TO INTENTIONS 28 6. CONCLUSION & DISCUSSION 32 CONCLUSIONS 32 DISCUSSION 33 8. REFERENCES 35 9. APPENDICES 39
1. Introduction
Motivation for research Having a first child is not a light decision to make and there are a lot of factors leading up to it. The average European woman is currently four years older when having her first child than in the 1970’s. This postponement of first births has been a noticeable character in fertility patterns of the last 40 years. Multiple reasons and theories have been given for this trend: the accessibility and availability of contraceptives and abortion, the changes in family role structures, prolonged educations, the combination of work and motherhood, and the increase in flexible and insecure work (Sobotka, 2004). The postponement of childbearing can be a positive and desired experience. What makes it problematic however is when we look at the difference between the average desired and the average actual age at first birth (Beets, 2007). Simultaneously, there has been a steep decline in fertility rates which has been linked to the postponement of the first birth (Sobotka, 2004). Here again, we can also see a dissonance between the higher desired fertility rate and a lower actual fertility rate (Adema, 2007; Adsera, 2006). Another possible negative outcome of postponement is that the delay of first birth can result in childlessness (Vermunt, 1993).The decline in fertility rates and the postponement of first births has been theorized through different lenses. Easterlin (1985) drew a link between the rise of consumerism and postponing of long-term commitments such as having children. Other authors took similar approaches, posing that it is not just work that is in competition with childbearing but also the leisure modern society offers (Keyfitz, 1986). What both the sociological and the economical perspective have shown is that stepping away from the traditional family role model to a modern one, in which women actively participate in the labour market, has influenced the moment of the first birth from the 1970’s on (Vermunt, 1993). When we look at the changes in the labour market in this same period, what stands out most is how increasingly flexible the labour market has become. This flexibilitization has been intertwined with a more flexible family structure and life-style (Streeck, 2011). Though, questions are now being raised over the negative consequences of the insecurity that all this flexibility brings along. A recent report from the Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het regeringsbeleid (WRR) has shown that flexible work is only of use when it matches the nature of the work and contributes to the economy
and society. However, it also showed the dangerous affects it can have such as: financial stress, health problems, and potential postponement of having children (Kremer, 2017: 43).
In this flexible labour market, combining motherhood and work is still a challenge (Sobotka, 2004). An increasing competitive labour market tends to disfavour women and reduces their promotion opportunities as the market subject is at its essence a single individual without hinder of a family (Beck, 1992). In The Netherlands, female labour market participation is currently relatively high for European standards (Eurostat, 2015). Up until the nineties, The Netherlands was on the other side of the spectrum. Since the most of the female labour market participation is part-time. A combination of women, social policy and the labour market supporting part-time work has paved the way for this dual breadwinner/dual carer model (Kremer, 2007). Although the idea that The Netherlands has a dual breadwinner/dual carer model can be questioned, as only around 20% of the men work part-time versus 73% of the women (Dirven et al, 2016: 67). This flexibility to combine care and work in the Netherlands has helped women’s positions on the labour market. A clear difference can be seen with for instance in Japan, where women can’t combine motherhood and a career and have to choose between the two (Matsuo, 2004). However, a few notes must be made on the current labour participation of women in The Netherlands. Firstly, this part-time participation appears to not be as voluntary or preferred as it appears (Ruitenberg, 2014). Secondly, pregnancy discrimination is still a frequent occurrence and especially women (Hofhuis et al., 2016). Focus of research The main focus of this research lays in the role that future job insecurity has on childbearing intentions of couples. By interviewing 14 couples in which one or both partners experience an insecure job future, using the theory of planned behaviour as a guideline, I will look into which factors play what role in couples’ intentions to have a first child.
This paper will start with an exploration of previous research done into the role employment plays for childbearing intentions and postponement. This will be followed by the theoretical construct based on the theory of planned behaviour (Azjen, 1991) and the preference theory of Hakim (2000). This chapter will also explain the key concepts used in this study. Chapter three is an explanation of the research methodology that I have applied, why this methodology was chosen, what it’s limitations are and the ethical considerations. The
fourth chapter looks at the context of the research: the link between having a first child and the labour market. After exploring the background that my respondents are set in, chapter five will analyse the interviews based on the theoretical framework. The last two chapters are for the conclusion and discussion. Research Questions
The main research question is “What is the influence of an insecure job future on the intentions towards having a first child for couples in which one or both have precarious work?”. The sub-questions that follow the main question are:
• What are interfering or enabling factors towards having a first born for couples with a precarious job?
• What are couples’ beliefs about social support for having a child when facing job insecurity?
• How are couples intentions of having a child influenced by their perceived social support? • What are couples’ attitudes towards their preferred family role model? • How is the perceived control towards having a first child influenced by job insecurity?
2. An insight to intentions
Empirical studiesResearch done into the first birth has often focused on postponement and the possible negative effects such as the lower than desired fertility rates or undesired childlessness (Sobotka, 2004; Beets, 2007; Vermunt, 1993). What several studies have shown is that in different countries and contexts the employment status plays a crucial role in realizing childbearing intentions. In France, having one partner in an unemployed position strongly decreased the likeliness of having a first child in comparison to couples where both partners worked (Toulemon & Testa, 2005). The social context and culture also pay a role in this however, as research in Italy showed that women who are inactive on the labour marker are actually more likely to reach their desired fertility rate (Régnier-Loilier and Vignoli, 2011). In Italy, the traditional family structure is still most common and female labour market
participation is very low which can explain this difference (Streeck, 2011). However, even in a more traditional family role culture the employment status appears to influence childbearing decisions for those who deviate from the traditional model. When Modena & Sabatini (2012) looked at the effect of precarious labour on childbearing decisions in Italy they focused on the women who do participate on the labour market and found a similar outcome as France showed. What they concluded is that when the woman holds a precarious labour position or is unemployed, they are less likely to plan childbearing. The negative effect of precarious labour on realizing childbearing intentions also showed to be present in Switzerland where it was the case for both men and women (Hanappi et al, 2012). In Spain, the tightening labour market and the worsening economic conditions appear to have contributed to the increasing gap between desired and actual fertility rate. Especially women in their mid-twenties who struggle to find steady employment are showing undesired postponement of childbearing and restriction of their ideal family size. For women who do have the security of a permanent job, this gap is a lot smaller (Adsera, 2006).
These researches predominantly focus on the effect, the actual realization of the intentions to have a child and the delay insecure employment statuses can have on the move from intention to realization. Anne-Kristin Kuhnt and Heike Trappe (2013) have studied the short-term fertility intentions of women and men and their subsequent behaviour. Their research used the theory of planned behaviour as a framework which is also applied in this study. What they showed is that fertility intentions are indeed strong predictors. If a couples’ intentions to have a child in the next two years is positive, they are most likely to have a child within that timeframe. This indicates that the influence of an insecure job future might not be on the realization but on the intentions themselves.
Theoretical construct
In order to research what the influence of an insecure job future is on the intentions to have a first child I will apply the theory of planned behaviour (Azjen, 1991) combined with the preference theory of Hakim. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has been able to accurately explain and predict people’s behaviour and intentions in multiple studies over the last two decades. It has been applied to hundreds of studies with a broad spectrum of behaviours ranging from voting behaviour (Watters, 1989) to losing weight (Azjen & Schifter, 1985) and condom use (Albarracin et al. 2001). In an article that focusses on the influence of attitudes on behaviour, Azjen and Fishbein (2005) provide a large overview of the studies the theory has been applied to over the last two decades. It has also shown to be of great use for studying and explaining fertility intentions and behaviour (Kuhnt, 2013; Dommermuth et al.,
Study Authors Year data
collection Location Respondents Fertility intentions and actual fertility (2005) Toulemon & Testa 1998, 2001 & 2003 France 1865 (men + women age 15-45) Fertility Intentions and Obstacles to their Realization (2011) Régnier-Loilier & Vignoli FR: 2005 & 2008 IT: 2003 & 2007 France & Italy FR: 6534 (men + women age 18-79) IT: 10.000 (men + women age 18-64) Precarious employment and childbearing intentions (2012) Modena & Sabatini 2006 Italy 1.696 couples (age 18-45) Precarious work and the fertility intention-behavior link (2012) Hanappi, Ryser, Bernardi & LeGoff 2002 - 2010 Switzerland 1856 (men + women age 19-43) An economic analysis of the gap between desired and actual fertility (2006)
Adsera 1985 & 1999 Spain 7749 (women age 15-49) Childbearing intentions and their realization in a short-term perspective (2013) Kuhnt & Trappe 2008/2009 Germany 5272 (women and men age 25-27 and 35-37) Table 1: Context empirical studies
2011; Williamson & Lawson, 2015; Schoen et al., 1999; 2003; Balbo & Mills, 2011; Philipov & Bernardi, 2011). Ajzen and Klobas went as far as to write an article on how the approach can best be applied to researching fertility intentions (Ajzen & Klobas, 2013). Theory of Planned Behaviour TPB looks at what it takes to move from intentions to behaviour but can also be applied to look at how intentions themselves are shaped. This theory builds further on the theory of reasoned action but ads a dimension of ‘perceived behavioural control’ (Azjen & Fishbein, 1975; Azjen, 2005). According to the theory, intentions and the subsequent behaviour, are shaped by three considerations: behavioural beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs. These three beliefs all impact a person’s attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control which than determine the intentions. As a general rule it can be stated that the more control one has, and the more favourable the normative and behavioural beliefs are, the greater the intention of an individual to perform a certain type of behaviour becomes (Ajzen, 1991). The schematic representation created by Azjen and Klobas (2013) in their article on applying TPB to fertility intentions has been adapted to fit this specific research in order to provide a clear overview of how TPB will be applied to the intentions for have a first child whilst facing an insecure job future. Graph 1: TPB applied to intentions to have a first child whilst having an insecure job future
Attitudes In the theory of planned behaviour, a person’s attitude entails the personal beliefs towards the positive or negative outcome of a specific behaviour and its consequential goal (Azjen, 2005: 118). When looking at the role, if any, an insecure job future plays in the intentions to have a first child one of the foundations in a person’s attitude is their work preference. If a person hopes or plans to be a main carer at home, possible job loss will most likely not be of much effect on the intentions to have a child. However, on the opposite side, if someone is responsible for the main income and is experiencing possible job and or income loss this could be a more determinant factor on the intentions. To explore the work-life preferences I have adopted the Preference Theory by Hakim (2000). This will provide an insight into the role precarious work might play in the intentions to have a child as it shows us how the attitude towards having a child can be affected by their labour market position. Preference Theory Hakim argues that with the availability of contraceptives and women’s access to the labour market women were finally able to choose their desired lifestyle. She also states that this is not perse the dominant male lifestyle in which women will adept to working full-time when the labour market access is fully equal (Hakim, 1999: 34). She proposes that there are three lifestyle choices for women: work-centred, home-centred, or adaptive (Hakim, 2003a: 356). Work-centred women are predominantly focused on their careers and work their families around it. Home-centred women are mainly focused on their private life and have their family at the base of their planning. The last group, the adaptive women, is most common in modern western society, especially when flexible/part-time work is available such as in The Netherlands. These women try to find a balance between work and family life (Hakim, 2006: 289). Though preference theory predominantly focuses on women, due to the inequality they face in and out of the labour market, it does not exclude men. Hakim pleads for a unisex approach that accepts the three different career types for both men and women (Hakim, 2006: 291). Considering this and taking the very slow but steady increase of men working less after becoming a father in The Netherlands (CBS-Statline, 2017) into account I have thus applied her theory to both partners equally.
“Finally, we should also remember that many men are adaptive in their work lifestyle preferences. Work-centred men appear to be in the majority, but they are not the only type. This is a hidden source of diversity in employee attitudes to work and careers, which extends and reinforces female diversity. The scope for unisex policies that recognise and value all three types of career, and benefit men and women equally, is far greater than feminist campaigners have imagined.” (Hakim, 2006) She provides three questions to operationalise lifestyle preferences which I will take into the interviews as well (Hakim, 2003b). The questions are: 1) What is your ideal family life: egalitarian, compromise or role segregation? 2) Would you still work even without economic necessity? 3) Do you perceive yourself to be a primary earner? Subjective norm
A person’s subjective norm is based upon their normative beliefs. These beliefs can be separated into injuctive and descriptive normative beliefs. The first originate from the behaviour we feel expected to preform from others, where descriptive beliefs are formed by behaviour we see in others that are important to us. Most subjective belief norms for fertility intentions are injuctive, the pressure couples can feel to have a child when they reach the age of thirty for example (Azjen & Klobas, 2013: 211). However, research has shown that couples’ with children in their direct social network can also work as an incentive to have a first child (East, Felice & Morgan 1993). Perceived control The control beliefs of a person deal with the possible hindering factors towards reaching a specific behaviour. They are at the basis of the perceived control one experiences. These expectancies can be based upon experiences in the past or by experiences of others (Azjen, 1991: 196). When the intention is to have a first child, one can be fearful over their own fertility for example. Especially if there are friends or family members whom had negative fertility experiences. Other factors that have shown to implicate fertility intentions are childcare availability and suitable housing (Azjen & Klobas, 2013: 212). These behaviours do
not always reflect the actual control a person end up having when they move from intentions to behaviour, it is solely their perception on it (Azjen, 2011). Key Concepts Precarious labour For this research, the concept of precarious work will be focused on job insecurity in the near future (Standing, 2011). At the essence of this definition is that somebody expects a loss or decline in their income. This could be due to working on a temporary contract, freelancing or perhaps expecting a reorganization within the company one works. What is important in this conceptualization of precarious labour is the financial instability one might expect when they are to lose their job. If a person expects to easily find a new job, or is still financially secure when they lose their steady income, they will not be seen as having a precarious labour market position. Even though precarious labour is at the basis of this research, the concepts most used in this thesis are: ‘flexible labour’ and ‘flexible contracts’ or ‘temporary contracts’. This is because the data used from the CBS (Centraal Bureau voor Statistiek) and other sources is based on these concepts as well. Flexible labour
Flexible labour, or the flexible labour market, includes all labour that is not based on a permanent contract. Self-employed, freelance, temporary contracts, substitute contracts, all fall under this concept. Flexible contracts / temporary contacts These are contracts without a long-term commitment, without the security of a permanent contract. They might have the prospect of a permanent contract but this does not have to be the case. Fertility intentions This concept can most clearly be described as having the intention to have a child within the next two years. This implies that the conceiving of a child is intentional. It differentiates from the concept of desired or expected number of children as those take a longer time period into
account. Fertility intentions focuses on the “short term fertility plan”. This concept can be more formally described as: “the intention to attain the behavioural goal of having a child”. This is the main concept that I will research and it is influenced by three considerations (Azjen & Klobas, 2013). 1. Attitude toward having a child / preferences towards ideal family life In the Theory of Planned Behaviour, behavioural beliefs are at the basis of the formation of attitudes (Azjen, 1991). As this research focuses on the influence of the security job positions, using the preference theory provides a good insight into the attitude a couple has towards possible job loss when having their first child. If for instance, the couple prefers a family system in which there is role segregation, the threat of loss of work for the main care giver will most likely not be of influence on the intentions to have a child. 2. Subjective norm for having a child This entails the beliefs a couple has about the social support they would receive when having a child (Azjen & Klobas, 2013). This can be explored from different perspectives. Is it common in their social network to have a child when having a precarious labour market position? Do they expect to have social support in care when they have their first child? Is their social pressure in their environment to have a child? This consideration will also explore how couples think becoming pregnant influences their job insecurity: would they expect greater, less, or similar job insecurity when becoming pregnant and having a first child? 3. Perceived control over having a child This concept is in regard to a person’s beliefs about the enabling or interfering factors (Azjen & Klobas, 2013). Does the couple have the financial support and means to have a child? Are there personal constraints that stand in the way of having a child? This could for instance be because of fertility, chronic disease or having low energy.
3. Research Methodology
The theory of planned behaviour is most commonly used as a quantitative method in which questionnaires are used to gather data. It can however also be applied to qualitative research (Klobas & Renzi, 2008). I will be following the latter approach as a qualitative approach serves my research in two ways. First off, it allows for a better in depth understanding of how facing job insecurity influences the intentions to have a child. Previous research into childbearing intentions has most often been quantitative which provided a good starting ground for me to look beyond their findings. Secondly, in the timeframe I am working in, reaching a significant group for a quantitative research would have been nearly impossible. Especially with the private character of the subject. Conducting interviews was thus a better fit for the timeframe and the subject.
TPB applied
The interviews are semi-structured and the questions are based on the model set by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. In order to apply the theory of planned behaviour correctly it is advised to follow the principle of compatibility. This means that the behavioural goal is always set in a specific context and time frame. Attitudes, subjective norms, perceptions of control, and intentions must be assessed with regards to the same criterion as the behavioural goal (Azjen, 2005: 71; Azjen, 2013: 208). For this research, the behavioural goal is the birth or conception of a first child within the next two years. Interviews I started the interview with demographic questions and an open question in which I asked the respondents to briefly explain their educational background and current work situation. This allowed the respondents to warm up before diving into the more personal questions regarding their childbearing intentions and possible insecurities they face. The interview questions were categorized in line with the theoretical framework. Demographic/context 1. Commencement of intentions to have a child Attitudes
3. (In)dependence on partner Subjective norm 4. Topics/factors that play the main role towards planning a first child 5. Factors/reasons to not (yet) have a child 6. Factors/reasons to have a child 7. Couples ideal situation to have first child in 8. Expected social support when having a child 9. Expected role of social network when having a child 10. Examples of couples in social network with children who face job insecurity 11. Social pressure towards childbearing 12. Social pressure in regards to job insecurity Perceived control 13. Possible fertility difficulties and or other health issues Coding and Analysis All the interviews have been analysed in Atlas.ti. First, all the data has been coded based on the main topics that came out of the theoretical framework and interviews. All the quotes in the analysis are translated from Dutch to English. After every quote is an indication of the couple and the exact quote number. For example: [3:15] is quote 15 by couple nr. 3. After the quotes were chosen and properly coded I started with creating document groups to enable comparing the subgroups that could be found within the respondents group. After this I first made an overall code co-occurrence analysis to get an initial idea of the most common links that could be made. This was followed with a more close up analysis in which I compared the subgroups and codes within specific code groups that were created on the basis of the theoretical framework. Target population & Purpose Sampling The target population for this research are couples who are intending to have their first child within the next two years and in which one or both of the partners has an insecure job future. Modena and Sabatini (2012) pointed out the importance of taking the couples decision into account when researching childbearing decisions. For this research, I will also interview
same-sex couples or singles who intent to have a child as they are expected to face a lot more hurdles to realize their intentions. This would require a separate research. Due to the time limitations for this research I have decided to interview a homogenous group in demography. This was partially a practical decision as this made it possible to find suitable respondents. As the intention to have a child is often a private matter, recruiting respondents through my own network made it easier to find couples and gain trust. Another reason for this decision is that in the scope of this research and with the size of the research population, this allows for more comparability. The fourteen couples that I have interviewed all live in Amsterdam and all come from relatively high educated households. A full list of the respondents can be found in Appendix 1. Ethical considerations In order to ensure the voluntary participation of the research, all respondents were clearly briefed about the research subject before participating and were told in writing and in person that they could retrieve from the study at any given time. All respondents were guaranteed full confidentiality, which was of specific value in this research as the interviewees were predominantly recruited through my own and each other’s network. All interviews are completely anonymous, by name and when a job specification could possibly reveal somebodies identity this has also been altered to a more general definition. Due to the personal nature of the research subject and the danger of causing harm to participants the interviews were conducted on locations of choice of the respondents which turned out to most often be in their homes as they felt most comfortable there. There was never anybody else present whilst conducting the interviews and I tried to be as cautious as possible whilst conducting the interviews to make sure couples felt safe and comfortable answering the questions. They were also told at the beginning of every interview that if they did not feel comfortable with a question they did not have to answer it. Fortunately, none of the respondents withdrew from the research (Babbie, 2010: 64-70).
4. The link between labour and market
The two evolutions Since the 1970’s there has been a big drop in fertility rates. The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children born to each women over her life. As noted before, the main two explanations for this decline are the availability of contraceptives and the increased access to the labour market (Hakim, 2006). This new-found independence of women was accompanied with an increase of men shifting away from commitments to finding a partner and having a child and instead focussing on career and consumerism (Sobotka, 2004: 1). This link between the labour market and fertility rates is not as simple as it looks at first glance. Where traditional theories predominantly argued that the careers of motherhood and employment were incompatible, modern theories point out that the relationship is a lot more complex and dependent on many variables. These variables are context-specific for the institutional setting a woman is in. Access to childcare, welfare policy and gender equality are all factors in enabling or disabling in combining motherhood and paid labour (Sobotka, 2004: 14). The ambiguity in the relationship of employment and fertility can also be seen in the relationship between flexible work and childbearing. The possible insecurity that a flexible job or part-time job can bring to the stability of a woman’s career can also have a positive effect as it facilitates flexibility in the balance between ‘home’ and ‘work’ (Sobotka, 2004: 16). Motherhood in The Netherlands The Dutch social and employment policies are facilitating women to combine motherhood and paid work, however they are set for mothers to work part-time (Kremer, 2007: 64). This can be seen in the amount of Dutch women that work part-time. In 2016, 74.6% of working women had a part-time position (CBS-Statline, 2017). As noted before, this can be a positive and facilitating situation. What makes it problematic is the assumed preference for a part-time job that might not be as voluntary as it looks. The freedom to choose a preferred lifestyle appears to not be as large as it seems in The Netherlands (Ruitenberg, 2014). Research into the part-time working mothers of The Netherlands showed that the normative and social expectations that are dominant in Dutch culture and policy are for women to “choose” an adaptive lifestyle in which part-time work and childcare are balanced. There is littleinstitutional and normative room for home-centred or work-centred careers (Ruitenberg, 228).
As for most Western countries that experienced the two evolutions in the 1970’s, the incentive for women to work in the Netherlands, albeit part-time, also appears to have influenced the postponement of childbirth (Beets, 2007). With the increase of female employment, a clear delay in first birth can be seen as shown in the two graphs below. Graph 2: Male and female employment in The Netherlands (Source: CBS-Statline 2017) Graph 3: Age of mother at first birth in The Netherlands (Source: CBS-Statline 2017)
A study based on 1821 interviews in 2000 by the NIDI showed that a majority of the 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Female employment Male employment 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20 tot 25 25 tot 30 30 tot 35 35 tot 40
average out to 27 (Esveldt et al., 2001). When we compare that to the actual age of mothers at first birth in 2000 we see that even though most women are indeed within that category, it is very closely followed by women in one age group above. And when we look at the actual average age in 2000, it is 29.4 (CBS-Statline, 2017). This can indicate that women are having children later than desired. Since 2010, the average age has only has increased to 29.7 in 2016 (CBS-Statline, 2017). Postponement When Dutch women themselves were asked in 2006 why they waited until after the age of 29 to start having children, around half of the mothers stated that they wanted to enjoy their freedom longer. For 28%, gaining more work experience was the main factor in postponing. 1 in 10 women felt insecure about their financial situation and 12% was unsure how they could combine motherhood with their job (Graaf & Loozen, 2006). The economic crisis and its aftershock Research done by the OECD into the link between employment and fertility in Spain, The U.S. and Sweden, showed that the relationship between fertility and employment is stronger when there is friction in the labour market. This means that in countries with low employment ratios the relationship is stronger and for countries with high employment ratios it is weaker. When the relationship is strong, women are more likely to postpone childbearing (Da Rocha & Fuster, 2005). A similar trend can be spotted in The Netherlands after the economic crisis of 2008 (CBS-Statline, 2017). After the economic crisis hit, a five year period with increased unemployment followed. When we look at both the unemployment graph and the total amount of children born it appears as if the relationship found by the OECD is present in the Dutch frictional labour market after the crisis as well.
Graph 4: Total births per year in The Netherlands (Source: CBS-Statline, 2017) Graph 5: Unemployment percentage in The Netherlands and Amsterdam (Source: CBS-Statline, 2017) Flexibility When looking at the flexible job sector we see a similar disruption after 2008, albeit for a shorter period. The largest portion of flexible contracts can be found within the small part- time jobs, roughly 60%. This group also has the biggest satisfaction of their flexibility (CBS-Statline, 2017). When we only look at the jobs of 12 hours or more into account. What can be seen than is a steady increase of flexible work until 2008, after the crisis there is hardly a 160000 165000 170000 175000 180000 185000 190000 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 To ta l c hi ld re n bo rn 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 % The Netherlands Amsterdam
change to be seen until 2011 when the increase took off again. This was pared with a steady decrease of permanent contracts since 2009 as the graph below shows (Bierings et al, 2014). Graph 6: In %, (Source: CBS) Light blue: flexible contract - Dark blue: Freelance - Light green: Entrepreneur - Dark green: Permanent contract (right axis) When we dive deeper into the experiences of the group that is on a flexible contract for 12 hours or more per week, only 21% preferred to be on a flexible contract in 2015. 55% of the people that work on a flexible contract out of need instead of preference state that they are worried about their job in the next five years (CBS, 2017). The insecurity these flexible contracts can lead to increased financial stress, affect general wellbeing, and also hinder or postpone having children or making large purchases such as buying a house. Another insecurity that comes with flexible contracts and freelancing is the risk of becoming unemployed or becoming sick and possibly incapacitated (Kremer et al., 2017: 17). Where a permanent contract protects an employee for these conditions, a lot of these security falls away in flexible labour. Only one in five self-employed have insurance to cover these insecurities. The main reason that is given for not being insured is the high cost of the insurance (Kremer et al, 2017: 45). Flexible women Women with flexible work also face additional insecurity when becoming pregnant. Where a women on a permanent contract receives 100% of her wage during her pregnancy leave, a freelancing women only receives the minimum wage during that period (Plantenga, 2017: 260). Women on a temporary contract face even more insecurity as a research of roughly 1000 Dutch women between 2007 and 2011 showed that 44% of the women on a temporary
contract did not get the follow up contract they expected to get before becoming pregnant (Commissie Gelijke Behandeling, 2012). Dual flexibility The majority of people with a flexible job have a partner with a permanent contract. With the increase in flexible contracts there has also been an increase in dual flexibility. Where only 4% of couples were both in flexible labour in 2004, this has risen to 7% in 2014. This can create a double job insecurity (de Leeuw, 2017: 89).
5. Analysis
In order to analyse the data as detailed as possible the following set up is chosen. First I will look at the leading findings within the different sub-groups. After that, the most profound code co-occurrences will be reviewed and a link to the different groups will be made here too. Lastly, I will go through the interview data following the theoretical model to see how intentions are influenced by the three considerations of TPB (Azjen, 1991). Subdivisions in respondents Even though the group of respondents was in many ways uniform, there are a few ways in which they can be divided based on the theoretical model and context. Firstly, the group can be split into single and dual job insecurity. Four out of the fourteen couples have one partner with a permanent contract. Secondly, even though none of the couples have a primary earner, there is a divide into dual dependency on each other’s income and dual financial independency. Nine couples are financially dependent on the income of both partners, where five couples are financially independent.All but three respondents preferred an adaptive lifestyle. The two respondents that prefer a home-centred lifestyle both experience dual financial dependency and have partners that do not prefer a work-centred lifestyle. This means that their dreams of being a stay at home father is most likely not achievable within the near future and as they prefer egalitarian family role models will most probably settle for an adaptive lifestyle. For this reason, I will not look at these two cases separately. The couple in which one partner prefers a work-centred
preference. Overall they experience very little insecurity due to this and will thus also not be assessed separately.
Dual (in)dependency
A few things stand out at first glance in the amount of times a code was used in both groups. Firstly, ‘social support’ and ‘parents/family’ is used 2,5 times more by couples with dual dependency (looking at the relative count). For the couples with financial independency, ‘childcare’ was more often a topic of conversation. They also mentioned to expect ‘negative or little support’ almost twice as much than the financially independent when having a child. The finically independent also perceived more social pressure to have a child. This leads to an assumption that the security they experience makes them less in need to depend on their social network when they have a first child. It also appears as if the injuctive norm for these couples to have a child due to their security is stronger than for couples that face more insecurity (Azjen & Klobas, 2013: 211). Based on the quotes, the assumptions in dependence on social network appear to be true for the respondent group. The social pressure that is felt appears to not be more present for financially independent couples. Further in the analysis I will provide a further exploration of the social pressure. Financial dependency: “M: As soon as we became serious about having a child we checked with our parents whether they would want to help out one day a week, and they are happy to do that so that helps a lot. To know that we can just continue our work as we do now if we have a little one.” [1:20] Financial independency: “F: We both have parents that live nearby and are interested but I wouldn’t want to ask them to actively babysit unless they show interest themselves. It’s quite a burden to put on somebody and since we have good day-care in Holland it would only be if they want to, not because they need to.” [3: 19] Dual (in)security What stands out for these two groups is actually how little there appears to be different by
looking at the code count. For this reason, we will look into this group during the code co-occurrence analysis where we can make better ground assumptions. The only thing that does stand out here is the code ‘work incapacity: fear of’. This one only occurs for couples with dual job insecurity. “F: What makes me nervous is that I really wish to change my insurance status as I am currently not at all covered for long term sickness or becoming work incapacitated. That kind of freaks me out because if I get a burn-out or anything similar I have no income whatsoever” [5:15] “M: If I get sick, my whole business stands still. F: Yeah, we did talk about that. If we get sick then… well then.. well we just can’t” [4:7]
What these quotes show is the insecurity that couples feel when both face the risk of becoming work incapacitated. The main reason given for why couples were not insured for long term sickness or becoming incapacitated were the high costs. “I once almost joined a bread fund, a collective of self-employed because these insurance are so ridiculously expensive and I just couldn’t afford them.” [5:17] Code co-occurrences First we will look at the codes that are most co-occurring for the initiation and postponement of having a first child and the preferred situation when having a first child.
House Age values / joy Intrinsic Financial stability relationship Building stability Work Initiation to
have a child 22 18 14 10 7 7
House instability Financial Giving up freedom Age instability Work relationship Building
Postponement 13 9 9 7 7 4
House Giving up freedom Financial stability stability Work Work less Preferred
For all three situations we can see that the house is of most importance to almost all couples. Either because they feel comfortable to have a child in their current house, or because they want to wait until they have a suitable place to have a child in, or they still want to go ahead with their intentions but do wish they could change their living arrangement. Contributing to intentions “One of the main factors for me is the house. If we still lived in the shared house in the centre I would have found it a lot more difficult to seriously think about children. Especially with the housing market in Amsterdam.”[2:13] Contributing to postponement “The main factor in deciding to start trying is our housing question and how we can find a house that suits having a child. After seven years on 45m2 we still don’t see that happening in this house”[6:15] Preferred situation “In an ideal world we would already be able to buy a good house now but we really don’t have the money for it at the moment. I am not too stressed about it and it will probably all work out but it would have been great if we had that sorted already”[1:18] When we look at the other main positive incentives for having the intentions to have a first child we can see that the women’s age, the intrinsic value and joy it would bring, work- and financial stability and the additional value it would bring to the relationship are most important. Most of these factors can also be found as reasons to postpone, however in that case it is often the opposite side of the coin. Women mention that they don’t want to wait any longer due to their age, however couples can also feel slightly too young to have a child. Couples also often pointed out that their increased stability in financial and work situation was a reason to now have intentions for having a first child where the previous higher levels of insecurity was a reason to postpone. The same goes for building their relationship, where it was mentioned as a reason to wait until they felt steady enough to have a child together it is also mentioned that having a child is seen as a factor that will continue their relationship to build. These factors thus all have a spectrum and depending on the situation of the couple it can either stimulate or hinder intentions to childbearing.
Age: “F: I wanted to start having children when I was 27 but J was only 23 and still busy finishing his studies.” [1:5] - “My age is now a very big factor, I am turning 33 and it wouldn’t be smart to wait much longer” [1:8] Financial (in)stability:
“But also because our income has improved a lot. Three years ago we could have never supported a child” [4:17] Flexibility When we look at how flexibility influences couples’ intentions we can see the ambiguity that is inherent to flexible work (Kremer, 2017). Respondents both see their flexibility as a positive and as a negative quality. Being able to plan workhours around a future child is an often heard pre, however the lack of structure and the odd workhours can also be regarded as a negative aspect. For one respondent the latter is even a reason to try and find a steady job if she is to become a mother. Negative flexibility “The flexibility to plan work as it comes would be lost when we become parents. We are both entrepreneurs which asks for quite a lot of flexibility. I think that will be a lot more difficult with a child.” [4:26] Positive flexibility “Because my work is seasonal and S also works in projects it is quite easy for us to shift from three to five days. I think that makes us pretty flexible and that we can make use of the advantage of being self-employed by not only being able to organize work over the week but also over the year” [5:9]
Leaving flexible job
“If I become a mother I would probably keep my eyes open for a permanent contract somewhere because my work is very ad hoc at the moment and that means I often have to work evening and weekends. The predictability and order of a steady job feels more suitable
A few of the women who are working on either a temporary contract or other types of flexible work mentioned their pregnancy leave in a negative context. The women who are self-employed are either concerned with their absence and or with the little payment they will receive during their pregnancy. However the women on temporary contracts were most concerned, ranging from having a boss that would not be “too happy” with it to fearing of not getting the permanent contract she is currently negotiating about. Out of the eleven times ‘pregnancy leave’ came up in interviews, six are co-occurring with ‘insecurity’. Pregnancy leave: “I expect that my employer will want to get rid of me if I become pregnant now so if I do I will most likely keep it to myself until the permanent contract is signed. It might not be the most ethical move but he can use any excuse to suddenly not go on with the promised contract either.” [12:18] “I don’t expect any special support from my work. I will be allowed to go with pregnancy- and maternal leave but other than that there will be little to no flexibility. Let alone that she is “waiting for this” [6:23] From beliefs to intentions In order to analyse how the intentions of the fourteen couples is formed, the three different beliefs provided by the theoretical framework can be reviewed. Attitudes
First, the normative beliefs in regards to the preferred lifestyle of the 28 respondents. As mentioned earlier there is a high level of uniformity between all of the couples in their ideal work-life setting. As the two men with a home-centred preference miss the financial ability to do so they will most likely continue working. This means that all couples will have to find a balance between the conflicting demands of employment and family (Hakim, 2000). It also tells us that the employment status and security of all respondents will most likely be of influence on their intentions.
Adaptive lifestyle
“F: For me, dividing everything equally is most favourable. Then, you can both work similar hours per week. Preferably four days so you can still develop in your job which is difficult with three days. M: The more equal the better. That counts for workhours and all home chars.”[13:15]
Social support
The data on social support is a lot more diverse than the attitudes of the couples. The assumption that can be made on the basis of the data analysis is that the couples that are financially dependent on each other tend to calculate the active social support in more than couples who are financially independent. What is interesting is that even though the financial insecurity in dual dependent couples is higher than in financially independent couples, they often stated neutral or even positive positions on their dependency. It hints towards an additional form of social support that partners provide each other. “M: I earn slightly more than B so there is no fully equal income but we are definitely dependent on each other’s income. F: Yes, we really need each other to make it work but one is slightly more dependent than the other.”[8:7] “We cannot do it without each other. That idea of not being able to do it alone, that we are balancing each other, that is actually really nice. The shared insecurity makes it feel really secure at the same time. If there is anything sure it is that we have to do this together.” [1:13] If we look at the co-occurrence of social support codes, a few are not too surprising yet good to mention. Active support is most often experienced as positive support and couples most often expect to see their parents in this active role. Besides parents, couples who have or expect to have a social network with children also see themselves actively relying on them and consider that a positive kind of support. The difference in support couples expect to find in their parents and friends is the intensity of active support. Where parents are quickly mentioned to take on a fixed day a week on which they take care of the child, friends are
“Both our parents would become grandparents for the first time and they can’t wait to have a fixed day to care for their grandchild and are happy to help in other ways as well” [10:16] “We have several friends that just had their first child or are starting to have children and within our friend group everybody already helps each other out. We also already babysit our friends child one day a week and share some other chars within the group. That exchange is really lovely” [13:11]
The work-based support that respondents experience is often found in combination with flexibility. Here we can see a predominantly positive aspect of flexible work from the couples perspectives. Where the respondents with a permanent contract tend to rate their work-based support as neutral, the self-employed respondents most often see their flexibility as a positive quality. This is more the case for the men than the women in general as they do worry about the leave they have to take when becoming pregnant. Contract based work: “He probably won’t have much support, not per se negative, just because it’s a young company without any experience with fathers. It’s quite a hit for a start-up if somebody suddenly takes a day off to be with his child”[7:15] Self-employed: “What is really lovely, is that we know that with his current work he can easily take time off when we have a child. He can sort of just take a few weeks of unpaid leave because he is self-employed. I don’t see that around me often and most mothers are on their own a lot when they have a child. That is an advantage we have.”[1:26] Female self-employed “As a woman you take quite a long period off when you become pregnant. Four months is really long and makes it really difficult with jobs. When you’re self-employed, work generates work so after being out for a period it will probably be a dry period when you come back as well”[4:25]
Perceived control
None of the male respondents mentioned any possible health or fertility problems that could complicate having a child. Within the female respondents, four women mentioned being worried about their fertility or other health issues. The possible fertility problems were not based on direct medical evidence but on suspicion due to fertility issues in the family or other causes as is often the case with perceived control since it is not always based on reality (Azjen, 2011) .
“There are quite some health issues in my family during pregnancies or difficulties with becoming pregnant, that a big motivation for me to not wait much longer myself”[12:21] As we saw when looking at the main factors couples gave for their intentions, age is a big factor within perceived control. One respondent purposely wants to have a child as young as possible due to the perception that health problems are more likely during older pregnancies. As noted other couples mentioned the woman’s age often when she was over thirty as a big factor for the increased intentions. Postponement? A last statement in regards to the analysis that has to be made is less clear when looking at the coded data and more clear when going through the interviews themselves. it touches on the limitations of the influence of the factors that have been reviewed so far. What many couples mentioned during the conversations was how even though these reasons at times caused postponement, the intention to have a child was for all fourteen stronger than the influences of the uncertainties they face. “The strange thing is that, all these reasons that would complicate having a child have played a big role in my head for quite long. The house is not suitable, I need more certainty about what my income will be next month, this has to be sorted, that has to be fixed.. and that seems to be gone since recent. Now that all kind of doesn’t matter anymore”[4:18]
6. Conclusion & Discussion
The main objective of this research was to obtain in-depth knowledge on how an insecure job future influences the intentions of couples to have a first child. Building further on an ongoing line of studies into the relationship between the labour market and fertility (Sobotka, 2004; Vermunt, 1993; Toulemon & Testa, 2005; Régnier-Loilier and Vignoli, 2011). The postponement of childbirth combined with the gap between the desired and actual fertility rate leads to the question what enables women to have their first child at their preferred age (Beets, 2006). With Dutch women becoming a mother at the average of 29.7 years of age whilst stating that their desired age at the birth of their first child is around (Esveldt et al., 2001). In the main reasons given by Dutch mother for postponing childbirth until after 29 we can see that work and or financial insecurity related factors amount for 50% of the reasons (Graaf & Loozen, 2006). The link between women’s activity in the labour market and fertility is hard to deny, as is the need to have fitting social and employment policies to facilitate their presence (Hakim, 2006). Especially with a changing labour market, that is becoming more flexible (Kremer, 2017).
In order to answer the questions posed at the start of this research, a theoretical framework has been created on the basis of the theory of planned behaviour (Azjen, 1991) in combination with the preference theory of Hakim (2000). The interviews conducted with fourteen couples were all guided by this theoretical framework. The data collected in these conversations has led to the following conclusions.
Conclusions
The most dominant factor on the couples intentions to have a first child was their house. A suitable house to have a child in, played either an enabling or interfering role in the childbearing intentions of the couples. On the basis of the interviews it can also be concluded that when couples prefer to have an adaptive lifestyle in which both partners work part-time and share the home- and family responsibilities, having dual financial dependency increases their need for social support if they have a first child. The increased insecurity felt by those who are dependent on both of their incomes is less prevalent for couples where both partners are both financially independent. When flexible work is paired with a stable and sufficient
income the insecurities that might still be present appear to be felt less hard. Job flexibility tends to be experienced as a positive trait when becoming parents due to the control it would give parents to plan their work around their future child. However, the women who were in a flexible job expected to face more insecurities than the men due to their pregnancy leave without the securities that they would have on a permanent contract. Most factors that have a stimulating effect on the intentions to have a first child are positive of nature. The exception to this rule is one that falls under the perceived control the women to become pregnant. The fear that their age or health can stimulate fertility problems is the only incentive with a negative character and the only one that can lead to earlier than desired fertility.
Many of the insecurity factors give explanations for postponement of childbearing, however the dominance of these factors appear to have a limit. The intrinsic values couples give to having a child still prevails and in most cases end up being the more dominant factor to the intentions to have a first child and intent to move from intentions to behaviour even though it might not be in their preferred situation. Discussion When reviewing the study there are a few critical notes that need to be mentioned. Firstly, the respondents group that was interviewed for the study cannot be seen as representative for The Netherlands as they are all from Amsterdam. The difficulties they experience with finding suitable housing is in many ways linked to their location as the house prices, for renting and purchasing, in Amsterdam have been rising in high pace and the costs for living elsewhere in the Netherlands are often lower. A second limitation considering the respondents group is its size. Within the timeframe it was unfortunately not possible to find more couples who currently have the intention to have a child within the next two years and in which one or both partners are in an insecure job. The main reason for this are that couples tend to keep their intentions private due to the private nature of the decision and the insecurity that they will succeed if they do try to have a child. A third issue is the homogeneity of the respondents. Because of the difficulties in resourcing my research sample, I made use of my own network and those of the couples that I resourced. Taking these limitations on board, the research sample can at best be representative for couples with an adaptive lifestyle preference in urban locations with a tightening housing market.
Despite these limitations the preliminary finding study does hint to one main interesting point that would be worth continues research which is the main finding that a suitable house is of such importance in the decision to have a child. Moving forward from this study I would suggest looking into how the possible difficulties people can experience buying or renting a suitable house whilst having a flexible job due to lack of consistent or substantial income, linked to the intentions to have a first child in Amsterdam or a similar location.
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