The end of babies? A mixed-methods study of narratives about the future, societal pessimism, and voluntary childlessness among Dutch adults (role: PI, financed by the Dutch Scientific Organization)

The proportion of adults who plan not to have children is undeniably increasing. This project is grounded in the assertion that understanding childfree motivations of contemporary adults requires that we consider how individuals reason about and experience ‘societal pessimism’ - the feeling that things are not quite right in the world - clearly distinguishing it from concerns about own future prospects. The goals of the project will be achieved using both panel survey data and in-depth interviews with Dutch adults.

PREVIOUS RESEARCH PROJECTS

Family complexity: Intergenerational reproduction and solidarity in an era of family complexity (role: project coordinator and postdoctoral researcher; PI: Prof.dr. Matthijs Kalmijn) 

One of the important consequences of the Second Demographic Transition has been the increasing complexity of families. The aim of this project is to study how rising family complexity has affected two fundamental aspects of intergenerational relationships: reproduction and solidarity. Theoretically, family complexity is distinguished into four dimensions: (a) the length, timing and nature of exposure to the child, (b) biological relatedness to the child, and (c) characteristics of parent-parent ties (triadic effects), and (d) characteristics of the wider family network. By studying reproduction and solidarity as outcomes, the traditional focus is shifted from examining how the Second Demographic Transition has affected individual well-being, to the question of how the Second Demographic Transition has affected relationships. Theoretically, the study of family complexity yields unique opportunities to test ideas about the nature of intergenerational relationships and will shed new light on the traditional dichotomy of social vis-à-vis biological bases of intergenerational relationships.

Remarriage in Comparative Perspective (role: postdoctoral researcher; PIs: Prof.dr. Matthijs Kalmijn and Dr. Wilfred Uunk; funded by MaGW Open Competition, NWO)

Remarriage is often seen as a "solution" for the high rates of divorce in modern society but a model of 'sequential monogamy' also introduces new problems and risks in society. While there is vast amount of research on divorce, fewer studies have been done on remarriage, in particular in Europe. We address five problems: barriers on the remarriage market, gender differences in remarriage, the effects of remarriage on well-being, father-child relations after remarriage, and the instability of remarriage. The underlying question is how the causes and consequences of remarriage vary with the degree to which divorce is institutionalized in society.

From Parents to Partners: The Impact of Family on Romantic Relationships in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood (role: PhD researcher; PhD supervisors: Prof. dr. Melinda Mills and Prof.dr. René Veenstra; internally funded by the ICS)

Do adolescents who feel that they are rejected by their parents search for alternative sources of emotional warmth? Are children of divorced parents more likely to initiate romantic relationships than those from intact families? How does the instability surrounding a parental divorce affect an adolescent’s inclination to date? Does the quality of the family relational climate in childhood have a direct effect on people’s satisfaction with their intimate relationships even 15 years later, in emerging adulthood? This project investigates how relational experiences with family members and significant family transitions can affect the initiation and quality of romantic relationships in adolescence and emerging adulthood.