I Want Kids, But Not Right Now: Fertility Desires and Pregnancy Attitudes in the U.S., 2011-2019

• In Event: 20816 - Fertility Patterns in Economic and Cultural Context

Abstract

While fertility rates have been declining in the post-recession United States, fertility goals have largely remained unchanged, suggesting that the recent decline may be due to the postponement or abandonment of such goals. This study turns to the sentiment of (un)readiness for childbearing to situate fertility desires within the context of increasing precarity and uncertainty. Drawing from multiple years of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) data, this study takes a cohort approach to examine the trends in fertility desires and pregnancy attitudes among U.S. women and men of childbearing age and their cohort differentials. The results from linear probability models show that while younger cohorts are more likely to want a child in the future, they feel more unprepared for childbearing than older cohorts. Also, feeling unready for childbearing was more common for women than for men. The findings suggest that the recent fall in the U.S. fertility rates may be related to increasing difficulty in realizing fertility desires, particularly for younger cohorts.

Author

• Kylie Jaeyun Yim, University of Texas-Austin