Cultural and Structural Determinants of Entry into Motherhood in France and Britain

Demographic transformations that occurred in developed countries during the past decades, including the delay in marriage and age at first birth and the significant decline in fertility rates, are usually explained by increases in women’s education and labour force participation as well as the decline in traditional forms of religious practice and the shift of values towards greater individualism. The current paper, explores the relationship between religion and women’s transition to first birth in highly secularized Western countries – France and Britain – and the role of education in affecting this relationship. Using data from the French survey of the Generation and Gender Programme and the British Household Panel Survey, the relationships between religious factors and the transition to first birth are examined by employing a model of event history analysis. The findings show a differential effect of education on completed fertility and entry into motherhood according to women’s level of religiosity.