Leisure and Fertility Goals among Single Midlife Americans

• In Event: 21016 - Fertility Desires and Patterns in Changing Social Contexts

Abstract

Low fertility rates in the U.S. and elsewhere have prompted considerable scholarly and public discourse about potential causes. Consistent with the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) perspective as well as microeconomic theories, there is growing attention to the role of leisure activities as competing for childbearing. However, many leisure activities are prosocial and communal in nature, which could be selective of those who desire social connections/ties (such as the parent role) and/or facilitate childbearing via increasing opportunities to form relationships. Using a unique cross-sectional survey of single adults aged 30-50, we examine how having pets, close friends, and hobbies as well as engaging in group activities and beliefs about one’s neighborhood as good for single people are related to fertility desires and expectations. Preliminary results reveal little evidence that leisure activities are negatively associated with fertility desires and, instead, often find the opposite association, with one exception (believing that one’s neighborhood is good for single people). When considering fertility expectations, though, we see that leisure activities are related to greater uncertainty about having a(nother) child in the future. Together, this suggests that although many people are desirous of having (more) children, they likely develop full, busy lives without children as they age.

Authors

• Karen B Guzzo, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

• Susan L. Brown, Bowling Green State University

• Wendy Diane Manning, Bowling Green State University