ABSTRACT
The empirical studies of the transition to parenthood in Europe in this book have been grounded in the notion of the social meaning of children. This entailed moving the focus from fertility decline to why people do have children, and what children mean to them. An interpretative framework, centred on the reasoning and behaviour of young adults, has brought insights that go ‘behind the numbers’. What role children play in the life planning of young adults and why and how young adults make the choices they do have been the topics investigated: how are different concerns balanced? What meaning do young adults attribute to their own choices? A particular strength of this approach is the ability to study negotiations, ambivalences and the steps people take towards having or not having children. Gendered relations and processes, as well as the significance of social class, have been central to the analyses.
