Reasons to postpone childbearing during fertility decline in Finland

Abstract

We examined self-reported reasons to postpone or renounce childbearing during fertility decline in Finland in 2010s and their associations with socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, including social media use and work-related attitudes. Using representative survey data from Finnish Family Barometers, the sample comprised participants aged 20-44 who did not plan having children soon. Based on exploratory factor analysis, self-reported reasons were grouped into perceived uncertainty, childfree preference, and completed fertility factors. More stable life situation, infrequent social media use, lower work-orientation were related to lower perceived uncertainty, whereas being a woman, having no children, frequent social media use, and higher work-orientation were associated with increased childfree preferences. Perceived uncertainty and childfree preferences may contribute to recent fertility decline by influencing childbearing decisions, independently of socio-demographic characteristics.

Educational field, economic uncertainty, and fertility decline in Finland in 2010–2019

“…Moreover, we could not distinguish between permanent and temporary employment, which could have provided additional insight. Finally, our study was unable to identify potential changes in childbearing preferences across fields, although they have been suggested to be important drivers of the recent decline (Savelieva, Jokela, and Rotkirch 2021).…”

“…This idea of perceived uncertainty, which is not necessarily related to own economic situation as a driver of fertility decline is supported by empirical evidence from the Nordic countries showing pronounced fertility declines also in high education and income groups (Comolli et al 2020;Hellstrand, Nisén, and Myrskylä 2022), groups that tend to experience less objective economic uncertainty. Additionally, Finnish surveys find that perceived uncertainty was one of the main selfreported reasons for postponing (or forgoing) childbearing in the 2010s, and this was reported to be irrespective of socioeconomic background (Savelieva, Jokela, and Rotkirch 2021). However, the first birth decline (which accounts for most of the total decline) accelerated more in the lowest education group than in the higher educated (Comolli et al 2020) and more in those with the weakest labor market attachment (Ohlsson Wijk and Andersson 2022) in conditions of greater objective labor market and economic uncertainty.…”

“…Recent Finnish surveys suggest that perceived uncertainty together with preferences for a child-free life were important reasons for postponing childbearing in the 2010s (Savelieva, Jokela, and Rotkirch 2021). The field of education strongly predicts factors related to uncertainty, such as future employment conditions, income security, and work environment, and the prospects for finding a job that matches the field of study (Kogan and Müller 2003;Salas-Velasco 2007;Begall and Mills 2012).…”

Educational field, economic uncertainty, and fertility decline in Finland in 2010–2019

“…This idea of perceived uncertainty, which is not necessarily related to own economic situation as a driver of fertility decline is supported by empirical evidence from the Nordic countries showing pronounced fertility declines also in high education and income groups (Comolli et al 2020;Hellstrand, Nisén, and Myrskylä 2022), groups that tend to experience less objective economic uncertainty. Additionally, Finnish surveys find that perceived uncertainty was one of the main selfreported reasons for postponing (or forgoing) childbearing in the 2010s, and this was reported to be irrespective of socioeconomic background (Savelieva, Jokela, and Rotkirch 2021). However, the first birth decline (which accounts for most of the total decline) accelerated more in the lowest education group than in the higher educated (Comolli et al 2020) and more in those with the weakest labor market attachment (Ohlsson Wijk and Andersson 2022) in conditions of greater objective labor market and economic uncertainty.…”

Employment uncertainty and fertility intentions: Stability or resilience?

“…Imagination and the ability to devise different scenarios together play a major role in planning for the future. In this framework, assessing perceived employment uncertainty means evaluating the expectations attached to different aspects of economic life and understanding how individuals project them into the future (Savelieva et al 2021 ). Following Beckert and Bronk’s ( 2018 ) frame of reference, and its adaptation to fertility research (the ‘Narrative Framework’, see Vignoli et al 2020a , 2020b ), we view employment uncertainty as a set of expectations related to the labour market that are used for making sense of the future.…”