Explaining Attitudes Towards Demographic Behaviour

In recent decades, Europe has witnessed dramatic changes in demographic behaviour manifested by postponement of childbearing, cohabitation replacing marriage together with increased divorce rates. It is often argued, especially in the demography literature, that these new behaviours are driven by fundamental changes in attitudes and value orientations. This article uses data from the third round of the European Social Survey to assess the drivers behind attitudes to demographic behaviour. There are large differences across countries, and we find that economic development is indeed a strong predictor for modern attitudes. However, attitudes towards demographic behaviour correlate with many other country-specific characteristics, some challenging popular wisdom in the demography literature.