[The second child. On the road to the one-child family?]

"In this article, factors affecting the probability of the birth of a second child are investigated. In particular, changes in the structure of the individual decision process of family formation in the FRG [Federal Republic of Germany] during the last decades are discussed. We contest the thesis of a trend towards the predominance of the one-child family and instead argue that with increased individual autonomy in the decision of family formation and fertility behavior couples either decide against having children or, more frequently, choose to have more than one child. While the former phenomenon is already well known, in this article the latter is shown to be empirically valid as well. There are hints that this pattern of 'polarization' in the process of family formation will increasingly be established in the future." (SUMMARY IN ENG)