If and when to Have a Child: How Fertility Preferences Are Stratified by Age Group in Italy

Rebecca Soldo , Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento
Agnese Vitali, University of Trento

Only few studies analyze the intentions to be childfree in the Italian context. What has been ignored is how these intentions are formed, i.e., the determinants of the intentions to be childfree. The objective of this study is twofold. First, it aims at understanding the association between age and the intentions to have (or not have) a child, second, it analyzes the intended age at last child, which allows to understand when respondents ideally would like to end their reproductive lives – a measure which may signal their awareness of age-related limits to childbearing. Through the survey Family and Social Subjects (2016), it is shown that fertility intentions are stratified by age group in Italy. More precisely, older individuals, who are currently childless, are more likely to adjust their fertility intentions downward compared to younger counterparts, possibly as a control strategy to cope with the failure of having a child. Gender differences are found in the intended age at last child: men at the end of their time window to conceive report that it is ideally better to have children at a younger age, while women at the end of their reproductive lives report the opposite. Future research should investigate these associations using a life-course perspective in order to provide a more informative and complete picture.

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 Presented in Session 26. Flash session Fertility Intentions