Anna Reimondos

Childbearing desires of childless men and women: When are goals adjusted?

This paper examines the concept of desired future fertility. Childbearing desires are often conceptualized in the literature as representing an individuals ideal future fertility where there are no constraints or obstacles to achieve the desired outcome. As such, childbearing desires, unlike fertility intentions, are thought to be relatively unaffected by changing life circumstances. Using a theoretically driven model incorporating goal adjustment, we test whether desires of childless men and women do in fact change over time. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey (2001-2010) we specifically investigate whether changing life circumstances do effect a change in childbearing desires. We find that age is strongly related to adjusting childbearing desires, as is relationship formation. Desires are however, not greatly influenced by short-term shocks such as an episode of poor health or unemployment, although these events have different effects for women and for men. Overall, the findings are consistent with psychological theories of goal adjustment, that is, individuals will revise their desires for having children if they perceive that their desires are not likely to be fulfilled.

MIGRATION AND TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD: Education and employment outcomes among young migrants in Greater Jakarta

This paper examines the relative education and employment outcomes among young migrants and non-migrants in Greater Jakarta in 2009/2011. Using data from the 2010 Greater Jakarta Transition to Adulthood Survey that includes 3006 respondents aged 20 to 34 years old, the paper highlights the importance of the age at migration in influencing the patterns of schooling and employment among young people. Patterns of schooling and employment are investigated for four groups of young people: those who migrated to Greater Jakarta between ages 0 and 10, between ages 10 and 17, after age 17, and non-migrants. We found that young people who migrated to Greater Jakarta at 10–17 years of age are over-represented in the lower spectrum of occupational rankings, even though they are more likely to be employed than non-migrants and those who came to Jakarta at other ages.

Female Migrants and the Transition to Adulthood in Greater Jakarta

This article examines the impact of internal migration, and its timing, on young women’s transition to adulthood. Using the 2010 Greater Jakarta Transition to Adulthood Survey, we identify five key groups of women living in Greater Jakarta: those who were born there, those who migrated before the age of 10, those who migrated between ages 10 to 17, those who migrated after age 17, and circular migrants. Using retrospective quantitative data, we examine the timing of five key adulthood markers for each of these groups: leaving the parental home, leaving the education system, entering the workforce, marrying, and having children. We then explore the extent to which variation in education, marriage, and fertility patterns explain the women’s current employment outcomes. Qualitative findings are also discussed to provide insights on migration motivation and the life strategies that these women adopt to navigate their transition to adulthood.

Transition into marriage in Greater Jakarta: Courtship, parental influence, and self-choice marriage

This article addresses the question of whether a shift to a self-chosen marriage partner means that traditional cultural norms stressing family influence on spouse selection have been weakened by inroads of modern norms of greater individual autonomy in the marriage process. Using a representative sample of 1552 married young adults (aged 20–34) in Greater Jakarta, we explore the courtship processes and the degree of parental role involved in spouse selection. Although only 4% of the respondents cited that their marriage was arranged by others, over half of the respondents reported their parents or in-laws played a major role in their marriage decision. Our multivariate analysis suggests that tertiary educated respondents are those most likely to report their parents playing a major role. We reflect on the prevailing cultural norms to discuss the centrality of family in studying the interactions between marriage, education, and social mobility in modern Indonesia.

Relationship Pathways and First Birth in Australia

This chapter examines how relationship pathways to the first birth changed in Australia over a 40-year period using data from the Negotiating the Life Course project. During this period, 1975 to 2005, the age at first birth rose substantially and a higher proportion of women did not have a first birth. It is a period in which divorce rates rose and cohabitation before marriage became commonplace. We observe that the preferred normative sequence shifted from single-married-birth to single-cohabitation-marriage-birth. However, for many and increasingly across time, the first cohabitation ended and the individual concerned sought a new relationship. This led to much greater diversity in relationship pathways. The more that people had multiple relationships, the less likely it was that they had had a child before the age of 35. While it may be the case that some people set out to have multiple relationships and not to have a child, it is much more likely that this pathway was unintended. Throughout the analysis period, having a first child by age 35 was highly associated with marriage, albeit in the latter part of the period, marriage preceded by cohabitation.