International Conference Education and reproduction in low-fertility settings

Call for Papers

International Conference

Education and reproduction in low-fertility settings

Vienna, 2–4 December 2015

This conference is organised to investigate aggregate and individual links, as well as causal mechanisms, between level of education and reproductive behaviour among women and men. The discussion will cover countries, regions and populations with below-replacement or around-replacement fertility. Empirical and theoretical contributions examining the relationship between education and union formation, fertility and reproductive behaviour are welcome. The authors of the papers selected for the conference will be invited to submit their manuscripts to the special issue of the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research (2017) which will be devoted to the topic of the conference.

Conference sessions: Eight to nine on the following themes

Theme 1: Education and reproduction

•     Theories, concepts, measurement

•     Causal mechanisms: how education affects reproductive behaviour

•     A long-term view of the changes and variation

•     Comparative perspective: countries, regions, population groups

•     Education and reproduction: differentials and trends by gender

•     Differentials by level of education: widening or narrowing?

•     Education and reproductive preferences

Theme 2: Explaining cross-country variation in education and reproduction

•     The role of economy, labour market, economic uncertainty and inequality

•     The role of welfare regimes and family-related policies

•     The role of culture, religion and values

•     The impact of the Great Recession

•     Combining individual-level and aggregate-level explanations

Theme 3: Explaining individual variation in education and reproduction

•     The role of individual-level factors: age, gender and partnership status

•     Employment status and use of child care services

•     Intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status and fertility behaviour

Theme 4: Education and fertility

•     Education and childlessness

•     The link between education and family size

•     Education and fertility timing

•     Education and fertility ideals, intentions and desires

•     The influence of education on the ability to realise reproductive intentions

Theme 5: Education and union formation, sexual and reproductive behaviour

•     Education and union formation, cohabitation, marriage and living arrangements

•     Early reproductive trajectories

•     Life course perspective

•     Education and contraception, abortion, sexual behaviour, and assisted reproduction

•     Education and the timing of reproduction

Organisers: Tomáš Sobotka, Éva Beaujouan, Wolfgang Lutz and Maria Rita Testa

Please send your 1-page abstract to  conference.vid@oeaw.ac.at by 30 June 2015

Successful submitters will be informed by 3 September 2015