This article argues that the trends normally linked with the second demographic transition (SDT) may be reversed as the gender revolution enters its second half by including men more centrally in the family. We develop a theoretical argument about the emerging consequences of this stage of the gender revolution and review research results that bear on it. The argument compares the determinants and consequences of recent family trends in industrialized societies provided by two narratives: the SDT and the gender revolution in the public and private spheres. Our argument examines differences in theoretical foundations and positive vs. negative implications for the future. We focus primarily on the growing evidence for turnarounds in the relationships between measures of women's human capital and union formation, fertility, and union dissolution, and consider evidence that men's home involvement increases union formation and fertility and decreases union instability. Although the family trends underlying the SDT and the gender revolution narratives are ongoing and a convincing view of the phenomenon has not yet emerged, the wide range of recent research results documenting changing, even reversing relationships suggests that the gender approach is increasingly the more fruitful one.

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Nearly every European Country has experienced some increase in nonmarital childbearing, largely due to increasing births within cohabitation. Relatively few studies in Europe, however, investigate the educational gradient of childbearing within cohabitation or how it changed over time. Using retrospective union and fertility histories, we employ competing risk hazard models to examine the educational gradient of childbearing in cohabitation in eight countries across europe. In all countries studied, birth risks within cohabitation demonstrated a negative educational gradient. When directly comparing cohabiting fertility with marital fertility, the negative educational gradient persists in all countries except Italy, although differences were not significant in Austria, France, and West Germany. To explain these findings, we present an alternative explanation for the increase in childbearing within cohabitation that goes beyond the explanation of the Second Demographic Transition and provides a new interpretation of the underlying mechanisms that may influence childbearing within cohabitation.

Systematic comparisons of fertility developments based on education, gender and country context are rare. Using harmonized register data, we compare cohort total fertility and ultimate childlessness by gender and educational attainment for cohorts born beginning in 1940 in four Nordic countries. Cohort fertility (CTF) initially declined in all four countries, although for cohorts born in the 1950s and later, the CTF remained stable or declined only modestly. Childlessness, which had been increasing, has plateaued in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Women’s negative educational gradient in relation to total fertility has vanished, except in Finland, while men’s positive gradient has persisted. The highest level of men’s childlessness appears among the least educated. In the oldest female cohorts, childlessness was highest among the highly educated, but these patterns have changed over the cohorts as childlessness has increased among the low educated and remained relatively stable among higher educated women. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, childlessness is now highest among the least educated women. We witness both a new gender similarity and persistent (among men) and new (among women) educational disparities in childbearing outcomes in the Nordic region. Overall, the number of low educated has decreased remarkably over time. These population segments face increasing social and economic disadvantages that are reflected as well in their patterns of family formation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10680-018-9492-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Lappega˚rd T. and Rønsen M., 2005, The multifaceted impact of education on entry into motherhood, European Journal of Population 21: 31-49.Abstract. This article studies the composite effect of education on young women's entry into motherhood, using longitudinal data from Norway from 1971 to 2001. In line with previous research, we find that school enrolment delays motherhood, but having finished education there is a catching-up effect, as women who have completed at higher levels have their first child sooner than women who have completed at lower levels. Contrasting behaviour between women within various fields of education further indicate a career-adjustment effect related to differences in opportunity costs and/or preference heterogeneity. Finally, increasing educational differences in the timing of motherhood among younger cohorts suggest that long parental leaves and generous family benefits may fit better with a career track in some jobs than others. Lappega˚rd T. et Rønsen M., 2005, Les multiples facettes de l'effet de l'instruction sur la maternite´, Revue Europe´enne de De´mographie, 21: 31-49.Re´sume´. Cet article e´tudie l'effet composite de l'instruction sur l'entre´e en maternite´des jeunes femmes, en s'appuyant sur des donne´es longitudinales norve´giennes couvrant la pe´riode 1971-2001. Dans la ligne de pre´ce´dentes recherches, nous trouvons que la poursuite des e´tudes retarde la maternite´. En revanche, de`s l'arreˆt des e´tudes, il y a un effet de rattrapage et les femmes qui ont atteint des niveaux d'instruction plus e´leve´s ont leur premier enfant plus toˆt que celles qui ont fini leurs e´tudes a`des niveaux plus bas. Selon les filie`res suivies, les femmes n'ont pas les meˆmes comportements, re´ve´lant un effet d'ajustement de la carrie`re de´pendant des couˆts et/ou de pre´fe´rences he´te´roge`nes. Enfin, pour les plus jeunes ge´ne´rations, l'accroissement des diffe´rences dans le calendrier des naissances selon le niveau d'instruction tend a`prouver que les conge´s parentaux et des prestations familiales conse´quentes conviennent davantage a`certains cursus de carrie`re professionnelle qu'a`d'autres.Mots cle´s: fe´condite´, premie`re naissance, instruction, mode`le de risque multivarieÉ uropean Journal of Population (2005) 21: 31-49 Ó Springer 2005