The paper contributes to a debate on recent fertility developments in eastern and western Germany as well as on the lacking convergence of family formation patterns between the two regions. We address the relationship between the perception of instable employment careers and economic insecurity...

Theoretical propositions on the importance of social effects arising from informal interaction on fertility change are not yet supported by systematic empirical evidence (Kohler et al. 2002). The correct identification of informal relationships sali1ent for fertility decision-making and the...