Determinants leading to the realisation of male reproduction – the timing of male fertility in the Czech Republic: a microlevel approach

Renata Kyzlinková, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (RILSA)
Anna Stastna, Charles University in Prague and Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (RILSA)

Due to the specific informational vacuum regarding Czech sociological and demographic studies in relation to male reproduction, the authors propose to endeavour to analyse male fertility and its determinants. They intend to focus on determinants of a structural and situational character and the final aim will be to monitor timing differences in terms of the transition from the childless life phase to the first child with respect to men defined according to selected characteristics (level of education, economic status, family background of origin, housing, partnership history, prior experience with cohabitation with children etc.). Fatherhood as a key life transition in the male life course will therefore be monitored by means of a number of determinants that can be classified as micro-individual players and which usually represent indirect impact factors when facing the decision on becoming a father. The authors will then attempt to anchor the findings in the current societal context with a brief reflection on the choices available with concern to public policies and measures aimed at the support of families with children and parents. Emphasis will be placed particularly on the socio-economic determinants of male fertility due to the contribution to the debate provided by a newly-emerging and separate group of men with low levels of education who often show signs of being dual outsiders, both in terms of paid employment and their private lives. The authors employ Czech Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) data (2008). Data on 3859 respondents from the 1945-1990 cohorts is analysed from a total of 10 071 men and women respondents born during the period 1926-1990. Both event history analysis methodology and the piecewise constant model are used in order to investigate the determinants of having a first child. A set of time-constant and time-varying covariates is included in the models.