Fertility Desires of Childless Poles: Which Childbearing Motives Matter for Men and Women?

Abstract

In modern societies, a growing number of people choose to remain childless. As childlessness has fundamental consequences for individuals and societies, it is of paramount importance to understand this choice. We investigate which childbearing motives are related to low-fertility desire of Poles, deterring them from wanting to have children? We look at the motivations of 939 nulliparous men and women, aged 25 to 44 years, who completed the Childbearing Questionnaire as a part of the study on reasons for childlessness. Individuals who were concerned about the negative aspects of child care (time, energy, financial costs) had the least desire to have children. Other motives were gender-specific: for women emotional aspects, especially related to pregnancy and infancy were important; for men—satisfactions of child rearing and traditional values of children. The role of fears and worries related to parenthood is discussed in details, as under certain circumstances it may concur with strong childbearing desire.