June 04, 2015 | News | Rostock´s Eleven

Childhood determines childbearing behavior

How many children we get and when we get them is not just a conscious decision made during adulthood. This was shown by MPIDR-researcher Katharina Wolf, taking the example of Turkish female migrants who had spent their childhood in Turkey and their youth in Germany. On the occasion of Rostock’s Eleven, to take place June 11, 2015, she talks about childhood experiences that shape fertility decisions.

How many children we get and when we get them is a conscious decision made not just during adulthood. Experiences made in early childhood and during the first few years of schooling play their part too, as demonstrated by data now available for the first time on Turkish female migrants: Those born in Turkey who had been attending school when they immigrated to Germany become mothers more often and have their first and second child earlier in the life course than daughters of Turkish parents born in Germany.

When it comes to childbearing, the two groups thus differ in their behavior, and do so even though the women of both groups have been living in Germany since the age of 16 at least. Most of the female migrants had already been living in Germany as young adults for some years before the first child arrived and they have been living under the same framework conditions that apply to families: ranging from child benefit and parental leave benefit to attitudes of the employer and the society to children and parenthood, right to child care.

That the female migrants born in Turkey remain childless less often and experience the transition to first and second childbirth earlier in life is due to the fact that the influence of socialization during early childhood has an effect much longer-lasting than one would expect, Katharina Wolf believes. Especially in Turkish rural areas, most women tend to the house and home, have many children, and do so early. However, the extent to which this “first impression” shapes the attitudes of women strongly depends on their education level: The higher it is, the more do the differences between the two female migrants groups wane – and so do the differences to German women.

About Rostock's Eleven

Rostock's Eleven is a joint initiative of all research institutions in Rostock: Eleven young scientists from eleven research institutes in Rostock present the results of their research to young scientific journalists from all over Germany. At the close of the event, the best presentation will receive a prize.