Who makes the decision to have children? Couples' childbearing intentions and actual childbearing

Ann-Zofie Duvander; Susanne Fahlén; Maria Brandén; Sofi Ohlsson-Wijk

doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2019.04.016

Who makes the decision to have children? Couples' childbearing intentions and actual childbearing

Adv Life Course Res. 2020 Mar:43:100286. doi: 10.1016/j.alcr.2019.04.016. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Authors

Ann-Zofie Duvander¹, Susanne Fahlén², Maria Brandén³, Sofi Ohlsson-Wijk⁴

Affiliations

¹ Stockholm University, Department of Sociology, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: ann-zofie.duvander@sociology.su.se.
² The Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate, Sweden. Electronic address: susanne.fahlen@inspsf.se.
³ Stockholm University, Sweden. Electronic address: maria.branden@sociolgy.su.se.
⁴ Stockholm University, Sweden. Electronic address: sofi.ohlsson-wijk@sociology.su.se.

PMID: 36726251
DOI: 10.1016/j.alcr.2019.04.016

Abstract

This study investigates how the childbearing intentions of women and men in couples affect actual childbearing over the following years with the aim to explore whether women's or men's intentions may be more important. The study is set in Sweden, a country known for ranking high in terms of gender equality and a country with relatively high fertility. We use the Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS), which gives information about both partners' long-term childbearing intentions in 2009, and follow these couples for five years with register data on childbearing. In 30 percent of the couples, both partners intended to have a child, and out of these about three quarters have a child. The results show that, in general, both partners need to intend to have a child for the couple to do so but that women's intentions tend to have more influence over the decision to have a second or third child. This phenomenon is interpreted as decision-making in relation to the cost and utility of children for women and men.

Keywords: Childbearing; Childbearing intentions; Couples dynamics; Sweden.