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Work and Childbearing Intentions from a Capability Perspective: Young Adult Women in Sweden

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Childbearing, Women’s Employment and Work-Life Balance Policies in Contemporary Europe

Part of the book series: Work and Welfare in Europe ((RECOWE))

Abstract

Since the late 1960s, female labour force participation increased substantially nearly everywhere in Europe. For women aged 20–44 years, the participation rate increased from an average of 50 per cent in 1970 to nearly 80 per cent in 2000, large cross-country differences notwithstanding (Ferrarini, 2006). High or increasing female employment rates have been seen, in turn, as the main reason for low fertility (Becker, 1991), based on the incompatibility of motherhood, that is childrearing and paid work, in industrialised societies (Brewster and Rindfuss, 2000). Indeed, the aggregate-level relationship between women’s labour force participation and fertility was negative until the mid- or late 1980s, although the causality is unclear (Bernhardt, 1993; Engelhardt et al., 2004). Then the relationship turned into a positive one (Castles, 2003; see also Hobson and Oláh, 2006a, 2006b for an overview of relevant studies).

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Authors
  1. Susanne Fahlén
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  2. Livia Sz. Oláh
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm University, Sweden

    Livia Sz. Oláh

  2. Warsaw School of Economics, Poland

    Ewa Frątczak

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© 2013 Susanne Fahlén and Livia Sz. Oláh

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Fahlén, S., Oláh, L.S. (2013). Work and Childbearing Intentions from a Capability Perspective: Young Adult Women in Sweden. In: Oláh, L.S., Frątczak, E. (eds) Childbearing, Women’s Employment and Work-Life Balance Policies in Contemporary Europe. Work and Welfare in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137318541_2

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