SRRD_2018_07.pdf (669.11 kB)
Who decides about having children? Couples’ childbearing intentions and actual childbearing
preprint
posted on 2018-03-07, 16:30 authored by Ann-Zofie DuvanderAnn-Zofie Duvander, Maria BrandénMaria Brandén, Sofi Ohlsson WijkSofi Ohlsson Wijk, Susanne FahlénAbstract: This study investigates how childbearing intentions of both
partners in couples affect actual childbearing the coming years, with the
intention to investigate whether women’s or men’s intentions may be more
important. The study is set in Sweden, a country known for ranking high on
gender equality and also a country with relatively high fertility. We use the
Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS) which gives information about both partners’
attitudinal orientations and childbearing plans in 2009, and we then follow these
couples for five years with register data on childbearing. In 30 percent of the
couples both partners plan to have a child, and out of these about three
quarters get a child. A fair share of the couples where partners do not
completely agree also have a child. The results show that in general both
partners need to agree on intentions for the couple to have a child, but that
women’s intentions are more important among the couples who already have become
parents, that is for continued childbearing.