Parents (-to-be) need both income to support their children and time to care for them. How are family life and fertility intentions affected when most careers are attainable also to women, and when expectations of involved parenting extend also to men? How does developments in the labor market and changes in family policy affect fertility?
In the first part of the project, we will investigate how fertility decisions are affected by recent developments in the labor market, such as changes in the flexibility of work due to technological changes and changes in job security due to an increasing use of alternative work forms in the labor market (e.g. temporary contracts, self-employment etc.).
In the second part of the project, we will do a survey about fertility preferences and the perceived costs of childbearing. The survey will build on previous surveys, enabling us to track the development in fertility preferences over time. We will also investigate how the perceived and actual costs of childbearing affect fertility choices, looking especially at the role of career costs and health costs.
In the last part of the project, we will use register data to look at historical developments in the relationship between men’s and women’s work and fertility from 1967 up until today, and time-use surveys to analyze the developments in how parents spend their time. Last, we will make a meta-analysis of the literature on the effects of public policy on fertility choices.
Publications
Bøckmann, Ester; Cools, Sara & Strøm, Marte (2025). Vil vi ha barn? Andre runde av spørreundersøkelsen om fertilitet, arbeidsliv og familiepolitikk. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. Full text in Research Archive
Privacy Policy Guidance
This project utilizes personal data from individuals who are difficult to contact for the purpose of providing individual information. The data is processed for research purposes, and the legal basis for the processing is the public interest. The project involves the use of ordinary personal data. The data is obtained from the following sources: Public/national registries. In collaborative research projects, datasets may also be shared with external project participants and their affiliated institutions.
The legality and privacy implications of the personal data processing have been assessed prior to the commencement of the project, which adheres to ethical guidelines for research. The Institute for Social Research is the data controller for the project.
Individuals who can be identified in the dataset have rights and may lodge complaints regarding the processing. Please feel free to contact our Data Protection Officer, the project manager, or the Norwegian Institute for Social Research if you have any questions or require guidance.
