Who Needs an Own Child to Be Fulfilled? Attitudes toward Parenthood at the Intersection of Migrant Status, Gender, and Religiosity

Ellen Jahr
Nadja Milewski, Federal Institute for Population Research
Sarah Carol, University College Dublin

Previous research on migrant fertility in Europe has focused mainly on migrant women’s fertility behaviour. Gender patterns and attitudes towards having children remain understudied, even though they may provide a more long-term indicator of socio-economic assimilation and acculturation processes of migrant populations. We investigate whether the perceived importance of parenthood differs between migrants and natives in Germany, how these differences vary by gender, and to what extent religiosity shapes such attitudes. Drawing on the first wave of the German Family Demography Panel Study (FReDA, 2021), we analyse men and women aged 18–50 (N˜16,700), distinguishing migrant generations and natives. Our two outcome variables are based on agreement with the statements that women, and men respectively, need to have children to live a fulfilled life. We employ multivariable logistic regression models to assess group differences and the moderating role of religiosity. Our results show that only a minority of respondents (around 13%) agrees that having a child is necessary, with similar patterns regarding expectations for men and women to have children. Migrants—especially first-generation and highly religious individuals—are more likely to consider parenthood essential. Non-/low religious migrants’ descendants do not differ from non-/low religious natives. Gendered patterns emerge, with women overall being less likely to agree that an own child is needed. Our findings highlight that gender and religion play an important role in shaping attitudinal assimilation of migrants and their descendants to majority culture, with migrant descendant women and less religious migrants having attitudes more similar to the majority population in Germany.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session P2. Families, Fertility, and the Life Course 2