Experienced and anticipated changes in household economic situation and childless women’s short-term intentions to become mothers

ABSTRACT

Despite the considerable volume of literature on the impact of economic conditions on childbearing, most studies have focused on the deterioration of the individual’s economic situation and economic uncertainty. This study complements previous studies by exploring how both negative and positive changes to the household’s economic situation impact the short-term intentions of childless women to become mothers. Furthermore, this study differentiates between past experiences of change and anticipated changes in the future. Multinomial logistic regressions are applied for childless women using pooled data from nine European countries. The results show that regardless of the changes to the household’s economic situation in the five years preceding the survey, the anticipated improvement in its economic situation over the following five years decreased the chances of childless women experiencing childbearing uncertainty or negative short-term fertility intentions.

KEYWORDS:

• Fertility intentions
• childbearing
• economic situation

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank four anonymous referees and Ewelina Słotwińska-Rosłanowska for their constructive comments on the draft of this article, and the editors for their assistance and responsiveness. Responsibility for any errors rests with the author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Anna Kurowska is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Warsaw. She publishes widely on the capability approach in social policy, work–family reconciliation policies and their gendered effects on employment and work–life balance in different welfare regimes.

ORCID

Anna Kurowska http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3578-4517

Additional information

Funding

The article is part of the project “LIVEWHAT -Living with Hard Times. Citizens' Resilience in Times of Crises” that received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n° 613237.