A population-based survey on family intentions and fertility awareness in women and men in the United Kingdom and Denmark

Figures & data

Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of the study population (n = 1,237).

		All n (%)	Women (n = 1,000) n (%)	Men (n = 237) n (%)	Chi-square P value	DK (n = 682) n (%)	UK (n = 555) n (%)	Chi-square P value
Age	18–24	253 (22)	207 (22)	46 (21)	0.10	188 (28)	65 (13)	<0.0001
	25–34	504 (43)	422 (44)	82 (38)		322 (47)	182 (37)
	35–44	292 (25)	236 (25)	56 (26)		125 (18)	167 (34)
	45+	128 (11)	95 (10)	33 (15)		47 (7)	81 (16)
	Missing	60
Education	GCSE/A-levels	164 (14)	110 (11)	54 (23)	<0.0001	30 (5)	134 (25)	<0.0001
	Undergraduate	417 (35)	332 (34)	85 (36)		203 (31)	214 (40)
	Postgraduate	544 (45)	457 (47)	87 (37)		365 (56)	179 (33)
	Vocational training	71 (6)	64 (7)	7 (3)		58 (9)	13 (2)
	Missing	41
Working status	Employed full time	541 (45)	406 (42)	135 (58)	<0.0001	242 (37)	299 (56)	<0.0001
	Employed part time	159 (13)	148 (15)	11 (5)		67 (10)	92 (17)
	Student	356 (30)	297 (31)	59 (25)		267 (41)	89 (17)
	Not employed	134 (11)	106 (11)	28 (12)		76 (12)	58 (11)
	Missing	47
Marital status	Married	540 (45)	415 (43)	125 (54)	0.00	200 (30)	340 (63)	<0.0001
	Cohabitating	320 (27)	285 (29)	35 (15)		225 (34)	95 (18)
	Not cohabitating	108 (9)	85 (9)	23 (10)		75 (11)	33 (6)
	Single	227 (19)	180 (19)	47 (20)		159 (24)	68 (13)
	Widowed	3 (0)	3 (0)	0 (0)		1 (0)	2 (0)
	Missing	39
Have children	Yes	585 (48)	477 (49)	108 (46)	0.49	286 (42)	299 (56)	<0.0001
	No	629 (52)	503 (51)	126 (54)		392 (58)	237 (44)
	Missing	23
Want (more) children	Yes	664 (68)	587 (68)	77 (67)	0.75	420 (68)	244 (67)	0.28
in the future	No	223 (23)	198 (23)	25 (22)		132 (22)	91 (25)
	Don’t know	92 (9)	79 (9)	13 (11)		63 (10)	29 (8)
	Missing	258

Table 2. Family intentions and family formation among childless participants (n = 629) and participants having children (n = 585).

		All n (%)	Women (n = 1,000) n (%)	Men (n = 237) n (%)	Chi-square P value	DK (n = 682) n (%)	UK (n = 555) n (%)	Chi-square P value
Questions for those without children (n = 629)
Want to have children	Yes	471 (85)	411 (86)	60 (76)	0.00	344 (89)	127 (75)	<0.0001
	No	33 (6)	22 (5)	11 (14)		12 (3)	21 (12)
	Don't know	52 (9)	45 (9)	7 (9)		31 (8)	21 (12)
	Missing	72
Desired number of children^a	1	39 (8)	30 (7)	9 (15)	0.10	21 (6)	18 (15)	0.03
	2	261 (56)	226 (55)	35 (59)		193 (56)	68 (55)
	3	131 (28)	120 (29)	11 (19)		101 (29)	30 (24)
	4+	36 (8)	32 (8)	4 (7)		28 (8)	8 (6)
	Missing	4
Desired age first child	25	155 (28)	133 (30)	22 (23)	0.02	104 (30)	51 (26)	0.00
	30	282 (52)	239 (53)	43 (45)		190 (55)	92 (46)
	35	95 (17)	68 (15)	27 (28)		49 (14)	46 (23)
	40	13 (2)	10 (2)	3 (3)		4 (1)	9 (5)
	Missing	108
Desired age last child	25	10 (2)	6 (1)	4 (4)	0.02	2 (1)	8 (4)	0.00
	30	73 (13)	58 (13)	15 (16)		48 (14)	25 (13)
	35	335 (62)	289 (64)	46 (49)		228 (66)	107 (55)
	40	125 (23)	96 (21)	29 (31)		69 (20)	56 (29)
	Missing	110
Questions for those with children (n = 585)
Number of children	1	216 (37)	179 (38)	37 (35)	0.57	120 (42)	96 (33)	0.00
	2	241 (42)	192 (41)	49 (46)		99 (35)	142 (48)
	3+	121 (21)	101 (21)	20 (19)		66 (23)	55 (19)
	Missing	7
Want more children	Yes	236 (50)	214 (50)	22 (52)	0.35	117 (43)	119 (60)	0.00
	No	190 (41)	176 (41)	14 (33)		120 (44)	70 (35)
	Don’t know	42 (9)	36 (8)	6 (14)		33 (12)	9 (5)
	Missing	117
Additional number of children	1	79 (62)	70 (64)	9 (53)	0.03	73 (63)	6 (55)	0.48
wanted^b	2	29 (23)	27 (25)	2 (12)		27 (23)	2 (18)
	3+	19 (15)	13 (11)	6 (35)		16 (14)	3 (27)
	Missing	109
Total number of children wanted^c	1	26 (8)	22 (8)	4 (13)	0.02	15 (6)	11 (14)	0.01
	2	141 (45)	130 (46)	11 (35)		98 (42)	43 (54)
	3	262 (30)	112 (39)	9 (29)		99 (42)	22 (28)
	4+	65 (7)	21 (7)	7 (23)		24 (10)	4 (5)
	Missing	269
Age attempting to have first child	24	145 (27)	126 (30)	19 (18)	0.00	64 (25)	81 (30)	<0.0001
	25–29	222 (42)	183 (43)	39 (38)		134 (52)	88 (32)
	30–34	117 (22)	88 (21)	29 (28)		47 (18)	70 (26)
	35+	46 (9)	30 (7)	16 (16)		12 (5)	34 (12)
	Missing	124

^a Among n = 471 that want children.

^b Among n = 236 that want more children.

^c Number of children plus number of planned/wanted children in the future.

Table 3. Fertility awareness among women and men.

Categories	All n (%)	Women (n = 974–978) %	Men (n = 235) %	Chi-square P value	DK (n = 682) %	UK (n = 555) %	Chi-square P value
At what age, on average, do you think a woman’s fertility begins to decline?
20	120 (10)	10	9	<0.0001	0	22	<0.0001
25^a	546 (45)	47	38		53	36
30^a	431 (36)	36	35		36	35
35	66 (5)	6	5		10	0
40	23 (2)	0	10		0	4
45	27 (2)	2	3		2	3
Missing	24
From what age do you think this decline will make it difficult for a woman to have a child?
25	48 (4)	3	6	<0.0001	3	5	<0.0001
30	272 (22)	19	38		20	25
35^a	633 (51)	60	20		64	38
40	153 (12)	10	23		0	28
45	107 (9)	8	12		13	4
Missing	24
What are the chances that a woman of 30 years of age will become pregnant after one year of unprotected sex?
10%–19%	22 (2)	2	2	0.00	1	2	0.04
20%–39%	253 (20)	22	16		23	18
40%–59%	446 (36)	38	32		38	35
60%–79%^a	379 (31)	31	34		30	33
80%–100%	112 (9)	8	15		7	11
Missing	25
And what if she is 40 years of age?
10%–19%	545 (45)	48	32	<0.0001	52	36	<0.0001
20%–39%^a	376 (31)	31	33		27	36
40%–59%	177 (15)	13	20		11	19
60%–79%	98 (8)	7	13		8	8
80%–100%	13 (1)	1	3		1	1
Missing	28

^a Correct response according to reproductive epidemiological studies.

Table 4. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the associations between lower fertility awareness and age of desired/attempted first child (n = 1,035).

	Categories	n (%)	Low fertility awareness n (%)	Unadjusted OR (95% CI)	Adjusted for age	Adjusted for age, sex, and education
Estimates the female fertility decline later than 30 years of age
Age desire/attempt	≤24	275 (28)	38 (40)	1.0	1.0	1.0
	25–29	468 (47)	40 (43)	0.6 (0.4–0.9)^a	0.9 (0.5–1.5)	1.1 (0.6–1.8)
	30–34	195 (20)	12 (13)	0.4 (0.2–0.8)^a	0.8 (0.4–1.7)	1.0 (0.5–2.1)
	35+	54 (5)	4 (4)	0.5 (0.2–1.5)	0.7 (0.2–2.3)	0.9 (0.3–2.9)
Estimates female age when it becomes difficult to have a child as later than 35 years of age
Age desire/attempt	≤24	275 (28)	58 (28)	1.0	1.0	1.0
	25–29	468 (47)	89 (43)	0.9 (0.6–1.2)	1.1 (0.8–1.7)	1.3 (0.9–1.9)
	30–34	195 (20)	43 (21)	1.1 (0.7–1.7)	1.5 (1.0–2.5)	1.6 (1.0–2.6)
	35+	54 (5)	15 (7)	1.5 (0.8–2.8)	1.8 (0.9–3.6)	1.9 (0.9–3.9)
Overestimates probability of pregnancy in a woman of 30 years of age
Age desire/attempt	≤24	275 (28)	12 (13)	1.0	1.0	1.0
	25–29	468 (47)	46 (51)	2.7 (1.4–5.2)^a	2.9 (1.5–5.6)^a	2.8 (1.4–5.4)^a
	30–34	195 (20)	26 (29)	3.6 (1.8–7.3)^a	3.5 (1.7–7.5)^a	3.3 (1.5–7.1)^a
	35+	54 (5)	7 (8)	3.2 (1.2–8.5)^a	2.8 (1.0–8.0)	2.5 (0.9–7.3)^a
Overestimates probability of pregnancy in a woman of 40 years of age
Age desire/attempt	≤24	275 (28)	64 (28)	1.0	1.0	1.0
	25–29	468 (47)	105 (46)	1.0 (0.7–1.4)	1.2 (0.8–1.7)	1.2 (0.8–1.8)
	30–34	195 (20)	46 (20)	1.0 (0.7–1.5)	1.2 (0.8–1.9)	1.2 (0.7–1.9)
	35+	40 (5)	14 (6)	1.1 (0.6–2.2)	1.1 (0.5–2.2)	1.0 (0.5–2.0)

Also tested in the models: Partner status (married/cohabitant/single and other), have children (yes/no).

^a P value <0.05.