If Not Soon, Then Never? The Age of the Youngest Child as a Gatekeeper of Realizing Fertility Intention

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F25%3A10503464" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/25:10503464 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

If Not Soon, Then Never? The Age of the Youngest Child as a Gatekeeper of Realizing Fertility Intention

Original language description

Understanding how individuals realize short-term fertility intentions is essential for grasping the dynamics behind persistently low fertility in Europe. This study examines the realization of fertility intentions within a three-year period across four Central European countries (Czechia, Poland, Austria, and Germany), using data from the first wave of the Generations and Gender Survey (collected between 2005 and 2015). Although based on historical data, the analysis provides valuable insights into the mechanisms shaping fertility behavior, particularly in countries where period fertility at the time of data collection remained below the European average. The study focuses primarily on parents aged 18-39 and highlights the decisive role of the age of the youngest child: the odss of realizing fertility intentions declines substantially as the child grows older. This pattern suggests the existence of a limited time window for realizing additional childbearing intentions. While economic conditions appear to influence realization of positive short-term fertility intentions among the childless, they lose significance for parents once family life is underway. By uncovering the central role of child age in the realization of fertility intentions, this study contributes to demographic research on timing and parity-specific fertility behavior and offers important implications for family policy aimed at supporting higher-order births.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50402 - Demography

Project

<a href="/en/project/LM2024074" target="_blank" >LM2024074: Czech National Cluster for Family Research</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)<br>S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů