Being ready for a child: A mixed-methods investigation of fertility intentions

Abstract

This article aims to better understand the concept of fertility intentions with regard to family formation. Using a mixed-method approach, it combines qualitative and quantitative methods. During problem-centered interviews feeling ready was argued to be crucial for the decision to have a child. Readiness is considered to be mainly an emotional state of mind and refers not only to the individual itself but also to the partner and to the couple as a unit. Based on the qualitative results, additional questions were included in the ‘Generations and Gender Survey’ allowing to analyze the dimension of being ready also in a national representative dataset. Our quantitative results revealed that the feeling of being ready has additional explanatory power for childbearing intentions among childless men and women in Austria. Emotional factors such as the feeling of being ready are often neglected although they might broaden the understanding of the family formation process.