On Thursday May 3rd, 2012, I presented research from my dissertation at the Population Association of America annual meetings in San Francisco, CA, USA. The paper, “Love, Marriage, Then the Baby Carriage? Marriage Timing and Childbearing in Sweden,” was well received. As noted by discussant Megan Sweeney (UCLA), many factors shape the transition to marriage (for example, economic factors, housing, and perhaps above all the quality of the couple relationship (love!)). Still, this investigation of the relative timing of marriage and childbearing is illuminating as to the way couple understand the how marriage fits into their lives.
Additionally, on Friday May 4, I had the opportunity to chair a fantastic and engaging session about Fertility Timing: Europe and South America. It is so important to understand the extent to which social phenomenon are universal or if they are context specific. I am very enthusiastic about the trend toward more global comparative research, even at nation and regional meetings, such as the PAA. I thank the conference organizers and Ann Meier, the session organizer, for the nice group of papers and inviting me to chair the session.
Jennifer A. Holland 