Fertility decisions in transition: young adults’ perceptions on fertility three decades apart in Spain

Xiana Bueno

doi:10.1080/1081602x.2019.1686049

Abstract

ABSTRACT The aim of this unique study is to analyze the generational change in perceptions regarding fertility decisions between young Spanish adults in the mid-1980s and young Spanish adults in the early 2010s and to test the extent to which the theoretical perspectives on fertility are supported by individual narratives over time. For nearly thirty years, Spain has had low fertility levels that contrast with the persistent ideal family size of two children. However, the literature has barely explored individuals’ perceptions of fertility decision-making over time. This paper seizes the exceptional opportunity to analyze 97 in-depth personal interviews of highly educated young adults in urban Spain from two independent studies conducted in 1985 and 2012. The results indicate that although the value change associated with the second demographic transition remains over time, the changes in age norms and partnership formation norms underlie the main differences between the two generations. Economic uncertainty and the lack of support for work-life balance stand out as persistent structural factors that influence the fertility decisions in both samples. In addition, the respondents’ narratives confirm that the transition of gender-role norms towards greater egalitarianism remains unfinished. By assigning value to the perceptions of individuals, this study contributes to the understanding of how the normative framework and meaning of childbearing have changed under the rubric of the macrolevel theoretical perspectives that explain fertility decline.

Highlights

During the last four decades, low fertility has become a common characteristic for many postindustrial societies
This paper compares the reasoning on fertility decisions in two generations approximately thirty 24
It is the result of the thrilling opportunity to analyze two independent qualitative studies conducted in 1985 and 2012 in Spain on urban, native-born, highly educated young adults

Summary

Introduction

During the last four decades, low fertility has become a common characteristic for many postindustrial societies. We know that Western countries have gradually experienced important normative and cultural changes around family formation, especially regarding the postponement of marriage and childbearing This set of value changes are known as the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) (Lesthaeghe & Van de Kaa, 1986; Van de Kaa 1987). The SDT is used to understand the postponement of family formation and the subsequent patterns of low fertility in European societies This process of the destandardization of the life course (Lesthaeghe & Moors, 2000:153) was originated as a Northern and Western European phenomenon during the 1960s that did not arrive in Spain and other Southern European countries until at least two decades later (Surkyn & Lesthaeghe, 2004). In non-EU western countries such as East and Southeast Asia (Atoh et al, 2004), Russia (PerelliHarris & Gerber, 2011), or the U.S (Raley, 2001), scholars have found partial or no evidence of the SDT

Objectives

Results

Conclusion