Fertility outcomes and occupational mobility: can French mothers have a career?

Laurent Toulemon, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Emmanuelle Cambois, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

In order to understand what is at stake when deciding to have a baby or to build a career, it may be useful to study reciprocal long-term relationships: the impact of fertility on subsequent occupational status and also on occupational mobility, and conversely, the impact of occupational mobility on subsequent fertility. The French permanent demographic sample (Échantillon démographique permanent, EDP) includes data from the population census and civil registration data, for a one per cent sample of the French population. The EDP thus allows us to study how occupational mobility in a period between two population censuses is linked with fertility before the first census, as well as with fertility after the second census. These long-term relationships may be described for men as well as for women. Having children makes upward occupational mobility of women less likely, but has little effect on downward mobility. The probability of exiting the labour market increases only with three children or more. In the other direction, the impact of occupational mobility on fertility is much smaller. Occupational status makes a difference: entering the labour market increases fertility, while leaving it has a very limited impact. The text is currently in French but will be tranlated in November.