A great deal of research studied the impact of business cycles on fertility behavior. However, the evidence is still far from conclusive and the mechanisms through which the process operates have not been completely uncovered yet. The recent Great Recession has been the strongest and long-lasting economic and financial crisis since the depression of the thirties. The amount of economic and labor market insecuirty that the crisis generated had a strong impact on family dynamics and on childbearing decisions.

The objective of this paper is to investigate in depth the relationship between women's occupational trajectories during the economic and financial crisis and the consequences for their transition to first birth. The paper focues, in particular, on the impact of women's intergenerational occupational mobility on their transition to motherhood. The theoretical hypothesis that is tested here is the Easterlin's hypothesis of resources and aspirations. The theory claims that individuals are more likely to have children when they fulfill their socioeconomic aspirations. The latter are formed in the family of origin and are based on the socioeconomic position of their parents.