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In recent years, the Internet has become an increasingly important venue for meeting partners. While meeting online may have a range of effects on family-related outcomes, studies on the link between meeting online and family-related outcomes are scarce. Using eight follow-up waves of the German Family Panel (Pairfam), with observations from 8177 persons from three birth cohorts between 2009 and 2016, this study investigates whether meeting online is associated with relationship satisfaction, intention to separate, separation, moving in together, intentions to have a child, and entry into parenthood. More specifically, a series of between-person regressions are used to compare those who met their partners offline and those who met their partners online. Results show that meeting online is associated with likelihood to separate and intentions to have a child in the youngest birth cohort, and transition to parenthood in the oldest birth cohort. These findings are discussed with the concepts of selectivity and intentionality in searching for and meeting partners online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the interrelationships between union-formation forms and fertility in Swedish and West German female cohorts born in 1949-1971. We apply simultaneous hazard models, permitting the presence of correlated unobserved heterogeneity. This method allows us to control for country-specific composition of the population with respect to several socio-economic variables, as well as with respect to unobserved factors jointly affecting childbearing and union formation behavior. Our results confirm that partnership formation and the transition to parenthood are partially interchangeable. Net of those selection effects, we find that the impact of being in a union on first birth is higher in Sweden than in Germany, in particular for cohabitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Internet has partly displaced traditional offline meeting venues for partners. Here, we study whether meeting online is selective, i.e., whether there are differences in Big Five personality traits and sociodemographic background characteristics between those who meet online and offline. Using eight waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam), with observations from 7192 respondents from three birth cohorts (1991–93, 1981–83, and 1971–73) between 2008 and 2016, we found that meeting online is more likely for female respondents than males; for respondents from the older birth cohorts compared to the youngest one; for respondents with primary education compared to those who are currently enrolled and have no degree; for respondents who have shorter relationship durations; for those who have a higher number of previous partners; and for those who have less extroverted personalities. As we split the data by cohorts, it appears that meeting a partner online is slightly more selective for the oldest birth cohort than for the youngest one. Moreover, extraversion was consistently associated with meeting online in every birth cohort, and the association was negative in every case. These findings are discussed with reference to compensation and rich-get-richer hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of high-speed (broadband) Internet epitomizes the digital revolution. Using German panel data, we test whether the availability of broadband influences fertility choices in a low-fertility setting well known for the difficulty in combining work and family life. We exploit a strategy devised by Falck and colleagues to obtain causal estimates of the impact of broadband on fertility. We find positive effects of broadband availability on the fertility of highly educated women aged 25-45. We further confirm this result using county-level data on total fertility. We show that broadband access significantly increases the share of women reporting home- or part-time working. Furthermore, we find positive effects on time spent with children and overall life satisfaction. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that access to broadband allows highly educated women, but not the less educated, to reconcile career and motherhood, which may promote a 'digital divide' in fertility.