Family formation patterns in the postindustrial world have changed markedly in the past several decades. Fertility rates have declined, cohabitation rates have increased, age at marriage has gone up, and nonmarital childbearing has become more common in most postindustrial settings. A dominant theoretical explanation for these changes is second demographic transition (SDT) theory, which posits widespread value change towards individualism and postmaterialist concerns. In contrast, gender equity theory emphasizes structural changes, including women's increased participation in the public sphere and the resulting incompatibility of women's domestic and public roles given the slower adaptation on the part of families and institutions to adapt to women's new roles. We test the predictions of these two theoretical frameworks by analyzing fertility decline in 27 European societies. We find evolving gender egalitarianism, measured by the prevalence of gender-egalitarian attitudes, to have greater explanatory power than SDT-related ideational changes. The gender equity framework is particularly relevant in explaining the recent fertility trajectories of Central, Eastern, and Southern European countries.

中文翻译：

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后工业生育率下降的理论：实证检验

在过去的几十年里，后工业世界的家庭形成模式发生了显着变化。生育率下降，同居率上升，结婚年龄上升，非婚生育在大多数后工业环境中变得更加普遍。对这些变化的主要理论解释是第二次人口转变 (SDT) 理论，该理论提出了向个人主义和后物质主义关注的广泛价值变化。相比之下，性别平等理论强调结构性变化，包括女性更多地参与公共领域，以及由于家庭和机构适应女性新角色的速度较慢而导致女性家庭和公共角色的不相容。我们通过分析 27 个欧洲社会的生育率下降来检验这两个理论框架的预测。我们发现，以性别平等主义态度的流行程度衡量的不断发展的性别平等主义比与 SDT 相关的观念变化具有更大的解释力。性别平等框架对于解释中欧、东欧和南欧国家最近的生育轨迹尤为重要。