Ready for a First Birth? Couple-Level Gender Dynamics in the Employment–Parenthood Link in France

Research suggests that couples’ labour market preconditions to parenthood have become less traditionally gendered, but couple-level gender dynamics in the transition to parenthood remain understudied. Using detailed longitudinal microdata from the French Permanent Demographic Sample (EDP) and discrete-time hazard models, I examine the potentially gendered and age-specific link between partners’ employment status and relative income and the transition to parenthood in France. The results show significant age-specific associations between partners’ combined employment status and relative income and the transition to parenthood. Overall, first-birth hazards are highest among dual-breadwinner and equal-earner couples. In male and female breadwinner couples, the probability of a first birth is almost equal, but equal and male main-earner couples have their first child earlier than female main-earner couples. These findings suggest that while gender disparities in the employment– parenthood link have diminished in France, gendered associations between partners’ income and first-time parenthood persist.