Eggebeen Abstract

“The Social and Civic Consequences of Parenthood for Adults”

This paper examines the relationship between parenthood and involvement in a variety of social and civic activities for adults in four European countries and in the United States.  The data are drawn from the most recent World Values Surveys (2005) conducted in Britain (n=1,041), Sweden (n=1,003), Spain (n=1,200), Poland (n=1,000), and the United States (n=1,249). These countries are chosen because they differ in social, cultural, and political environments that have been shown to be associated with patterns of civic engagement, fertility, and in patterns of civic engagement.  The major question this paper seeks to address is:  Is parenthood (no children, 1 or 2 children, 3 or more children) associated with involvement in variety of social and civic institutions? Several different dimensions of civic engagement will be assessed: the extent of involvement (counts of memberships), as well as involvement in different types of civic groups: (recreational, “new” order groups (e.g., consumer or environmental), “old” order groups (e.g. unions, professional, political parties), and humanitarian (churches, charities).  Beyond the main effects of the linkage between parenthood and involvement, this paper will explore the extent to which gender and marital status might moderate or interact with parenthood.