The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The changing inter-relationship between partnership dynamics and fertility trends in Europe and the United States: a review

The changing inter-relationship between partnership dynamics and fertility trends in Europe and the United States: a review
The changing inter-relationship between partnership dynamics and fertility trends in Europe and the United States: a review
Objective: this review systemizes the literature across Europe and the United States studying the intersection between partnership and fertility, providing a roadmap accessible across disciplines. We categorize the pathways through which partnerships and childbearing are linked according to different partnership dimensions – type, timing, duration, order, dissolution – and investigate key factors that influence these pathways (i.e., macro context, migration status, race/ethnicity).

Results: we find that marriage remains more predictive of childbearing than cohabitation, and longer-lasting partnerships formed earlier in the life course are reliably linked to higher fertility levels. As partnership trajectories continue to become more complex due to dissolution and re-partnering, recent research suggests that complexity will ultimately depress fertility, instead of increasing it. Country context shapes the relationship between partnering and fertility by influencing the costs and benefits of each, over time and space. Finally, because race/ethnicity and migrant status are key predictors in family behaviours and the partnership context for childbearing, we also found variation by race, ethnicity, and migrant status in the intersection of partnership and fertility, which can persist across migrant generations.

Contribution: our review demonstrates how every facet of partnership relates to fertility and emphasizes the importance of studying partnership as a multi-dimensional and dynamic concept. Partnership should be viewed as a sequence of transitions with varying meanings across subgroups, time, and the life course, instead of focusing on summary measures such as average ages of marriage and first birth.
1435-9871
179-228
Kuang, Bernice
0d9a40c9-11d3-463e-8b1a-ce0c9880485d
Berrington, Ann
bd0fc093-310d-4236-8126-ca0c7eb9ddde
Kulu, Hill
439546b3-673f-43b9-af83-ca81b7e65e51
Vasireddy, Sindhu
7e417737-8dd4-45ad-8d3d-bdc662a56738
Kuang, Bernice
0d9a40c9-11d3-463e-8b1a-ce0c9880485d
Berrington, Ann
bd0fc093-310d-4236-8126-ca0c7eb9ddde
Kulu, Hill
439546b3-673f-43b9-af83-ca81b7e65e51
Vasireddy, Sindhu
7e417737-8dd4-45ad-8d3d-bdc662a56738

Kuang, Bernice, Berrington, Ann, Kulu, Hill and Vasireddy, Sindhu (2025) The changing inter-relationship between partnership dynamics and fertility trends in Europe and the United States: a review. Demographic Research, 52 (7), 179-228. (doi:10.4054/DemRes.2025.52.7).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objective: this review systemizes the literature across Europe and the United States studying the intersection between partnership and fertility, providing a roadmap accessible across disciplines. We categorize the pathways through which partnerships and childbearing are linked according to different partnership dimensions – type, timing, duration, order, dissolution – and investigate key factors that influence these pathways (i.e., macro context, migration status, race/ethnicity).

Results: we find that marriage remains more predictive of childbearing than cohabitation, and longer-lasting partnerships formed earlier in the life course are reliably linked to higher fertility levels. As partnership trajectories continue to become more complex due to dissolution and re-partnering, recent research suggests that complexity will ultimately depress fertility, instead of increasing it. Country context shapes the relationship between partnering and fertility by influencing the costs and benefits of each, over time and space. Finally, because race/ethnicity and migrant status are key predictors in family behaviours and the partnership context for childbearing, we also found variation by race, ethnicity, and migrant status in the intersection of partnership and fertility, which can persist across migrant generations.

Contribution: our review demonstrates how every facet of partnership relates to fertility and emphasizes the importance of studying partnership as a multi-dimensional and dynamic concept. Partnership should be viewed as a sequence of transitions with varying meanings across subgroups, time, and the life course, instead of focusing on summary measures such as average ages of marriage and first birth.

Text
Partnership Dynamics and Fertility Literature Review - PURE - Accepted Manuscript
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (316kB)
Text
52-7 - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (343kB)

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 28 January 2025
Published date: 28 January 2025

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 499553
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/499553
ISSN: 1435-9871
PURE UUID: c3e71a35-b47d-4077-bc0d-61b8c88b4ff1
ORCID for Bernice Kuang: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9846-449X
ORCID for Ann Berrington: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1683-6668

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 Mar 2025 18:16
Last modified: 30 Aug 2025 02:04

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Bernice Kuang ORCID iD
Author: Ann Berrington ORCID iD
Author: Hill Kulu
Author: Sindhu Vasireddy

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×