Childlessness in Switzerland and Austria

Abstract

Childlessness in the central European Alpine countries of Switzerland and Austria is high by western standards: around a fifth of men and women in these countries have no children towards the end of their reproductive life. This chapter looks at variations in childlessness across six spheres: cohort, education, religion, country of birth, language, and place of residence. For Switzerland, the differentials for both men and women are described; for Austria, only data for women are available, but they tell a parallel story. Although many of the attributes are closely interlinked, some over-arching factors clearly increase the likelihood of childlessness. In the case of education, the effect is the opposite for women and men: highly educated women and less educated men face barriers in having a family. Competing with education for the degree of influence on childlessness is having no religious affiliation; unlike education, this factor is associated with a reduced desire to have a child. At the other end of the spectrum, low levels of childlessness are observed among immigrants from southern Europe and the Muslim sub-population.