Female education, female income and the next child in Great Britain and Germany

In this paper, we examine how female education and income influence second and third births in Great Britain and western Germany, using the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). Risks of transition to the 2nd and 3rd child are higher for university-educated women in both countries. We examine to what extent this is due to factors common to both countries. These are later ages at first birth, resulting in a perceived time-squeeze, as well as self-selection of especially family-oriented women into the group of mothers of one child. The partner’s characteristics are more important for decisions to have another child in western Germany, presumably due to stronger orientation towards the male-breadwinner model of the family. Characteristics of the woman’s work situation are more important in Great Britain. No unanimous support is found for the hypothesis that, given the higher level of acceptance but also higher cost of childcare in Great Britain, female income would be more important for the decision to have another child there.