Childbearing Motivations and Fertility Desires: An Empirical Analysis for Norway

Understanding the motivations that underpin fertility decision-making can shed light on why people in low-fertility countries are increasingly having fewer or no children. Using data from the 2020 Norwegian Generations and Gender Survey, we examine 3,024 people of childbearing age and their childbearing motivations. We find that the childbearing motivations receiving the highest ratings are lifelong joy, fulfilling parental instinct, and the satisfaction of raising a child. Non-parents exhibit more negative motivations than parents, especially regarding care responsibilities. Gender differences in childbearing motivations emerge, with women giving a higher rating than men to the fulfilment of parental instinct, and men rating the time and energy burden of having children more highly. As expected, individuals with more positive and less negative childbearing motivations have higher fertility desires. However, on the whole, fertility desires appear to be influenced more by positive motivations than negative ones. This study emphasises the importance of individual perceptions and predispositions towards parenthood when examining fertility preferences.