Laboratory

Fertility and Well-Being

Project

Family Formation in Comparative Perspective

Susie Lee, Antonino Polizzi, Philipp Dierker, Henrik-Alexander Schubert, Ewa Batyra, Andres Castro, Mikko Myrskylä, Julia Hellstrand, Jessica Nisén; in Collaboration with Hans-Peter Kohler (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA)

Family formation processes have undergone substantial changes over time and currently vary across countries and regions, reflecting both continuity and transformation. This project explores the determinants and consequences of these cross-national differences in family formation patterns. Detailed Description

Research Keywords:

Family Behavior, Fertility Development

Region keywords:

Europe, Russian Federation

Publications

Baudisch, A.; Polizzi, A.:

Fertility, birth, reproduction: connecting formal demographic frameworks

Population Studies 80:2, 199–213. (2026)

Dierker, P.; Skirbekk, V. F.:

Grandparenthood related to reduced risk of gray divorce: evidence from 15 countries

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2026-015. (2026)

Jalovaara, M.; Nisén, J.; Lammi-Taskula, J.:

How can the Nordic welfare state respond to demographic change?

In: Beyond the Nordic welfare state: extending social investments with interventions, 121–141. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. (2026)

Nisén, J.; Dahlberg, J.; Slabá, J.; Trimarchi, A.:

Gender differences in the timing and chances of parenthood across regions

Population, Space and Place 32:1, e70187–e70187. (2026)

Schubert, H.-A.; Spoorenberg, T.; Dudel, C.; Skirbekk, V. F.:

Masculinization of populations reverses sex differences in fertility

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 123:17, e2533317123–e2533317123. (2026)

Wright, K. Q.; Şanlitürk, A. E.; Mann, E. S.:

Ideology over evidence: pronatalist media discourse and its (dis)connection from U.S. fertility trends

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2026-007. (2026)

Wood, J.; Marynissen, L.; Nisén, J.; Fallesen, P.; Neels, K.; Trimarchi, A.; Dommermuth, L.; Van Gaalen, R.; Kolk, M.; Martikainen, P.:

Regional differentiation in women’s educational gradients in fertility around the turn of the century: urban-rural differences in northern and western Europe

Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 23:2025, 489–514. (2025)

Batyra, E.; Pesando, L. M.:

Increases in child marriage among the poorest in Mali: 'Reverse policies' or data quality issues?

Population Studies 78:1, 93–111. (2024)

Lee, D. S.; Barclay, K.:

More twins expected in low-income countries with later maternal ages at birth and population growth

Human Reproduction 40:2, 372–381. (2024)

Lee, D. S.; Barclay, K.; Magnus, M. C.; Ernst, A.; Myrskylä, M.:

Multiple births mortality by maternal age at birth: a within-family analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data on 42 low-income countries

Stockholm Research Reports in Demography 2024.53, Stockholm. (2024)

Leopold, T.; Becker, C. C.; Büyükkeçeci, Z.; Çineli, B.; Raab, M.:

KINMATRIX: a new data resource for studies of families and kinship

Demographic Research 51:25, 789–808. (2024)

Batyra, E.; Leone, T.; Myrskylä, M.:

Forecasting of cohort fertility by educational level in countries with limited data availability: the case of Brazil

Population Studies 77:2, 179–195. (2023)

Batyra, E.; Pesando, L. M.; Castro Torres, A. F.; Furstenberg, F. F.; Kohler, H.-P.:

Union formation, within-couple dynamics, and child well-being: a global macro-level perspective

Population, Space and Place 29:5, 1–15. (2023)

Castro Torres, A. F.; Gutierrez Vazquez, E. Y.:

Power relations and persistent low fertility among domestic workers in Latin America

The Sociological Review 71:6, 1423–1447. (2023)

Dudel, C.; Cheng, Y. A.; Klüsener, S.:

Shifting parental age differences in high-income countries: insights and implications

Population and Development Review 49:4, 879–908. (2023)

Fostik, A.; Fernández Soto, M.; Ruiz-Vallejo, F.; Ciganda, D.:

Union instability and fertility: an international perspective

European Journal of Population 39:25, 1–47. (2023)

Batyra, E.; Kohler, H.-P.:

Unequal transitions to adulthood: widening disparities in age at first union, sex, and birth in many low- and middle-income countries

Studies in Family Planning 53:3, 389–565. (2022)

Castro Torres, A. F.; Pesando, L. M.; Kohler, H.-P.; Furstenberg, F. F.:

Family change and variation through the lens of family configurations in low- and middle-income countries

Population, Space and Place 28:4, e2531–e2531. (2022)

Fallesen, P.; Dommermuth, L.; Hellstrand, J.; Simonsen, E.; Loft, L. T. G.; Mortensen, L. H.:

Research note: comparing ideal family size with observed and forecasted completed cohort fertility in Denmark and Norway

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2022-031. (2022)

Väisänen, H.; Batyra, E.:

The effect of birth intention status on infant mortality: a fixed effects analysis of 60 countries

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2022-032. (2022)

Batyra, E.; Leone, T.; Myrskylä, M.:

Forecasting of cohort fertility by educational level in countries with limited data availability: the case of Brazil

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2021-011. (2021)

Batyra, E.; Pesando, L. M.:

Trends in child marriage and new evidence on the selective impact of changes in age-at-marriage laws on early marriage

SSM-Population Health 14:100811, 1–12. (2021)

Castro Torres, A. F.:

Analysis of Latin American fertility in terms of probable social classes

European Journal of Population 37:2, 297–339. (2021)

Hellstrand, J.; Nisén, J.; Miranda, V.; Fallesen, P.; Dommermuth, L.; Myrskylä, M.:

Not just later, but fewer: novel trends in cohort fertility in the Nordic countries

Demography 58:4, 1373–1399. (2021)

Szołtysek, M.; Poniat, R.; Klüsener, S.; Gruber, S.:

Family organisation and human capital inequalities in historical Europe: testing the association anew

In: Cliometrics of the family, 83–119. Cham: Springer. (2019)

Lappegård, T.; Klüsener, S.; Vignoli, D.:

Why are marriage and family formation increasingly disconnected across Europe? A multi-level perspective on existing theories

Population, Space and Place 24:2, e2088–e2088. (2018)

Szołtysek, M.; Klüsener, S.; Poniat, R.; Gruber, S.:

The Patriarchy Index: a new measure of gender and generational inequalities in the past

Cross-Cultural Research 51:3, 228–262. (2017)

Szołtysek, M.; Poniat, R.; Klüsener, S.; Gruber, S.:

Family organisation and human capital inequalities in historic Europe: testing the association anew

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2017-012. (2017)

Klüsener, S.:

Spatial variation in non-marital fertility across Europe in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: recent trends, persistence of the past, and potential future pathways

The History of the Family 20:4, 593–628. (2015)

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