Fertility in male-female partnerships

In this contribution, fertility is analysed within the course of male-female partnerships. In contrast to life course research, this approach has two advantages. On the one hand, for purposes of description, the effects of mate selection and of the instability of partnerships are disregarded. On the other, for purposes of analysis, the features of both partners in the decision to have a child can be analysed. The analysis is based on the Familiensurvey 2000, which is representative for Germany. The "union course" approach provides quite a different picture of fertility development than does the life course approach. Among the main results: There is no increase in childlessness within unions, i.e. the considerable increase in childlessness in life course studies is to a considerable extent due to the lack of a partner. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the persistence of a union contributes to the decision to have a second child but limits couples from having further children.