Third birth intentions and uncertainty in Canada

Abstract

Using data from the 1995 Canadian General Society Survey (GSS-95), we study the intention to have a third child among a sample of women and men who have already had two children (N = 505). Our results show that 15 per cent of the respondents intend to have a third child. Nearly 20 per cent of the respondents are uncertain about their fertility intentions. We found that the same factors that predict intentions also predict uncertainty, and that the effects of these predictors are remarkably similar. In particular, intentions and uncertainty generally decline with age, but increase with regular church attendance, remarriage, and being Catholic. Unlike earlier studies, we found that the sex of previous children has virtually no impact on third-birth intentions or uncertainty.