«Mrs Isengard, what does late parenthood mean?»

There are various reasons why many women and men delay the birth of their first child. Sociologist Bettina Isengard talks about the lack of support for young parents, shortcomings in Swiss family policy and explains why a career is often only worthwhile for more highly educated women.

Mrs Isengard, what prejudices are late parents confronted with?

Depending on their age, they are sometimes accused of not respecting biological boundaries, of being selfish, too career-orientated and too choosy when looking for a partner. The couples concerned, on the other hand, feel that their life circumstances, which led to the late addition of children, are not taken seriously.

Why are more and more men and women having children later?

One of the relevant factors is the high life expectancy. In Switzerland, this is currently 85 years for women and 82 for men. This increases the number of possible life plans. Another key reason is that women have better access to higher education, training and study programmes. Depending on the level of education, young women only enter the labour market in their early or late 20s.

... where employers often only offer them a fixed-term contract or an internship.

Yes, a woman who doesn't have a secure job until late in life can't take a break straight away - it's a simple cost-benefit calculation. Only a few young people in their early 20s today have an income with which they can build their own livelihood. As a result, they are dependent on their parents for longer than biologically intended.

Bettina Isengard is a private lecturer at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Zurich. She studied and completed her doctorate at the University of Mannheim. Her research focuses on family sociology, social structure and inequality research, social indicators and methods of empirical social research.
Bettina Isengard is a private lecturer at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Zurich. She studied and completed her doctorate at the University of Mannheim. Her research focuses on family sociology, social structure and inequality research, social indicators and methods of empirical social research.

What impact does the women's pay gap have on family planning?

According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), three quarters of women with a university degree or higher vocational education and 62 per cent with a lower level of education fear that having a child could have a negative impact on their career prospects. Women today want to be financially independent of their partner and earn a pension that is sufficient to support themselves. They first want to establish themselves professionally in the hope that more work experience will make it easier for them to return to work and, if possible, get a part-time job. This is because mothers who take parental leave beyond the statutory period have a lower income. In the event of divorce, many mothers risk falling into poverty in old age.

Dieser Artikel gehört zum
This article is part of the online dossier Late Parents. Read more about questions such as: Why women and men delay having children and what this means for parenting and family life.

What is Swiss family policy doing to encourage men and women to have children earlier again?

Little. Despite higher wages, the cost of living in this country is relatively high, for example for rent and health insurance. As a result, the financial pressure is so great, especially for couples from lower educational backgrounds, that both often have to go out to work. Childcare costs account for a relatively high proportion of income compared to other countries, especially for children up to kindergarten age. For this reason, working is often only financially viable for more highly educated women. In terms of the overall level of financial support for families in the form of subsidies and tax relief, Switzerland ranks second to last among the 14 countries of Northern and Western Europe.

And with three and a half months of maternity leave, is Switzerland bringing up the rear behind the EU countries?

That's true, unfortunately. The option of using annualised working time models or taking unpaid leave is usually only offered by large corporations. Many fathers would like to be more involved in their child's development, but so far paternity leave, part-time, job-sharing or home office models are not usually provided for in men's careers.

Nevertheless, today we speak of the age of self-realisation. What is meant by this?

As it is now possible to plan parenthood using contraceptives, this is just one life option among many. However, the free choice does not make the decision to have children any easier. This is because family planning - apart from the health aspects - is entirely your own responsibility. Many young people want to develop themselves first, enjoy their freedom, live abroad for a while and achieve something in their job.

What impact does this have on partnerships?

Most men and especially women today are looking for partners with the same level of education. This can make the choice even more challenging, and the age of marriage is being pushed back. In addition, young people today do not stay with the partner they lived with from their early to mid-20s for the rest of their lives. So it can happen that a partner is missing when you want children. Due to the rising divorce rates, a trend towards second families can be observed. Children from second marriages therefore make up a large proportion of late-borns.

Many couples today strive for an egalitarian role model: Husband and wife share the work, childcare and housework in similar proportions.

So much for the theory. According to the Federal Statistical Office, women and people with a tertiary degree, i.e. the highest level of education, are actually less likely to adhere to old family models. When asked how gainful employment should ideally be distributed in households with children of pre-school age, the «both parents working part-time» model is mentioned most frequently. However, only a good tenth of these parents actually divide their work in this way. In almost 70 per cent of these parents, the father works full-time and the mother is not employed or works part-time. The difficulty in reconciling work and family life means that they are unable to realise their idea of how to divide up the workload.

And what does this mean for our society?

The individual family feels happier when life doesn't overwhelm them and both parents can lead the life they want. Late parenthood is also a product of our individualised, multi-optional society. From a demographic point of view, however, we cannot really afford for women in Switzerland to become mothers later and later and therefore give birth to fewer children. After all, where will we get the offspring we need to stop the ageing process of society, maintain the social security system and pensions and counteract the impending shortage of skilled labour?

Read more in the dossier «Late parents»:

  • We have children later
    Mature parents are more relaxed, more self-confident - and too old to go on adventures with their children. There are many prejudices like these about late parents. The fact is: becoming a parent is being delayed further and further. What does this mean for parenting and family life?
  • "The perfect time to have a child is when you feel that you want it yourself "
    Valérie Sigrist, 47, and Thomas Engelbrecht, 49, talk about how they finally became parents after trying for so long. Today, their son Rick is 7, while Thomas has another son, 22, and a daughter, 14, from his first marriage.
  • «The joy outweighs all the stressful aspects»
    Simone Meyer, 48, and André Notter, 64, both have children from their first marriage. Their children Melvin and Juna are 13 and 11 years old. Simone and André now also live separately.
  • «Some of our friends and acquaintances are already grandparents»
    Susanne Wüthrich, 44, met her husband Daniel, 51, late in life. She now has three children with him, Noel, 7, Anna, 4, and Emilie, 2.
  • «My mum has a hard time with some teenage expressions»
    Juna Meyer, 11, and her brother Melvin live with their mum Simone, 48, and spend every other weekend with their father André, who is retiring this year.