Couples’ Employment Careers and Timing of Childbearing

Paola Di Giulio, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

In this paper we analyze the intervals between the births of a sample of Italian women born in 1948-1958 and interviewed in 2003 (Gender and Generations Survey, Istat). Using cluster analysis techniques we identify the reproductive patterns according to the distance between successive births. By multinomial logistic regression we highlight the characteristics of the women belonging to the different clusters. Preliminary results show that a long interval between the last two births depends from having experienced discontinuities in the unions and in the job career, from having received scarce support from the family of origin (especially for women with two children), and from the region of residence.