The Changing Links Between Socioeconomic Status and Single Women's Entry Into Parenthood
(2025) Journal of Marriage and Family — Vol. 88, n° 1, p. 160-176 (2026)
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Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- Objective. We examined how education and income impacted the likelihood of single women having a first child at younger (< 35) and later ages (35+). Background. Single women's fertility remains understudied despite its prevalence and increasing relevance in the context of rising (involuntary) childlessness. Meanwhile, some studies have investigated a small but growing number of women who decided to have a child alone, often at later ages, as their fecundity declines. Method. We used Belgian administrative data from 2005 to 2015 to estimate the hazards of first childbirth among single women aged 25–48 (587,390 women), according to their education and income. Further analyses were conducted on single, still-childless women aged 35 and older (165,700 women), as advancing age heightened their risk of permanent childlessness. Results. At younger ages (< 35), high education and income decreased the risk of having a child while single, while at later ages (35+), high education increased it. The income effect at later ages varied by education—higher income raised the risk of single-childbearing only for long-tertiary educated women. Among single women aged 35 and older, those with low education were most likely to remain childless. Conclusion. Socioeconomic disparities shape family-formation pathways throughout the life course. Having a child alone may be a strategy to catch up on delayed fertility, but this option is primarily available to women with high SES.
- Affiliations
Citations
Musni, D., & Schnor, C. (2025). The Changing Links Between Socioeconomic Status and Single Women’s Entry Into Parenthood. Journal of Marriage and Family, 88(1), 160-176. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.70006 (Original work published 2026)