Employment uncertainty and fertility in Italy: the role of union formation

The relationship between employment uncertainty and fertility is a prominent topic in demographic research. Evidence about Italy shows that men and women with precarious employment have fewer children and later. However, such evidence is outdated, with most recent studies based on data collected in 2009. Besides, the role of mediator that union formation may play in the relationship between employment uncertainty and fertility is largely neglected. With this work, we overcome the lack of a study with recent data about this topic for Italy, considering also union formation. Preliminary results suggest that employment uncertainty negatively affects fertility, especially among men, but when union formation is considered, the effect of employment uncertainty becomes much smaller.