The Occurrence and Spacing of Second Births: Country Differences and the Relationship with Institutional Factors - country data and replication code

This repository contains country-level data and replication files accompanying the article: Cukrowska-Torzewska, E., Matysiak, A., & Lovász, A. (2026). “The Occurrence and Spacing of Second Births: Country Differences and the Relationship with Institutional Factors.” European Journal of Population. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-026-09783-9. Wklejony tekst The study examines differences in the probability and timing of second births across 11 European countries and the United States, focusing on the relationship between fertility behaviour and labour-market conditions and work-family reconciliation policies. It distinguishes between the probability of progressing to a second birth (quantum) and the timing of second-child conception (tempo) using mixture cure models. Wklejony tekst The repository includes: country-level contextual data used in the analyses; data preparation and replication files used to merge the contextual indicators with the individual-level fertility histories; statistical code used to reproduce the main analyses and robustness checks reported in the article. The country-level indicators cover: female labour force participation; male unemployment; the female-to-male unemployment rate ratio; part-time employment among women; the total length of paid leave available to parents; paid leave reserved for fathers; public spending on early childhood education and care. The institutional indicators were obtained primarily from OECD datasets and the OECD Family Database and were lagged by two years before being merged with the individual-level data by country and calendar year. Wklejony tekst Wklejony tekst Individual-level data The individual-level fertility histories used in the study are not included in this repository. They come from the Harmonized Histories database, primarily based on the Generations and Gender Surveys and related national surveys. Access to these data is available separately through the Harmonized Histories data infrastructure. Wklejony tekst The article also provides the relevant data availability information. Wklejony tekst The replication files are intended to enable users with access to the required individual-level data to reconstruct the analytical dataset and reproduce the analyses reported in the article.