Fertility Intentions and the ‘Great Recession’: Evidence from the Eurobarometer Surveys

Maria Rita Testa, Wittgenstein Centre (IIASA, VID/ÖAW, WU)
Stuart A. Basten, University of Oxford

The onset of the Great Recession in 2008 has had a profound, yet differently felt impact of the society and economy of Europe. Falling living standards, unemployment, austerity measures and tremendous uncertainty – especially among the young – have all been linked to changes in key demographic processes. In this study we aim to investigate how the recent economic crisis has affected individuals’ personal fertility ideals, whether the changes occurred in the family size preferences were uniform or concentrated either spatially or among specific age and socio-economic groups. On the basis of the temporal changes occurred in the mean personal ideal family size over the last five years (2006-2011) we try to anticipate future trajectories for those countries that were affected by the economic crisis only more recently.