Volume 22 - Article 21 | Pages 635–662  

Satisfaction with life as an antecedent of fertility: Partner + Happiness = Children?

By Nick Parr

Abstract

This paper examines the relationships between satisfaction with life in general, particular domains of life, the partner, and parental relationships with existing children, and subsequent fertility. The data are from 2,948 women and 2,622 men aged 15 to 44 years from a longitudinal survey of the household population in Australia. For both sexes a strong positive relationship between prior satisfaction with life and fertility two years later is found. Men’s satisfaction with their partner and with their partner’s relationship with existing children are positively related to fertility. Fertility is also related to age, parity, marital status, education, employment and birthplace.

Author's Affiliation

• Nick Parr - Macquarie University, Australia EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

A method for socially evaluating the effects of long-run demographic paths on living standards
Volume 31 - Article 11

The contribution of increases in family benefits to Australia’s early 21st-century fertility increase: An empirical analysis
Volume 25 - Article 6

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Educational trends in cohort fertility by birth order: A comparison of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
Volume 51 - Article 36    | Keywords: birth order, cohort analysis, cross-national study, England, family size, fertility, Northern Ireland, parity, Scotland, Wales

Is single parenthood increasingly an experience of less-educated mothers? A European comparison over five decades
Volume 51 - Article 34    | Keywords: age, children, cross-national comparison, education, Europe, family life course, inequality, single motherhood

Higher incomes are increasingly associated with higher fertility: Evidence from the Netherlands, 2008–2022
Volume 51 - Article 26    | Keywords: fertility, income, inequalities, Netherlands, parenthood

The pitfalls and benefits of using administrative data for internal migration research: An evaluation of Australia’s Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA)
Volume 51 - Article 22    | Keywords: administrative data, Australia, internal migration

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s care work and employment in the Middle East and North Africa
Volume 51 - Article 15    | Keywords: care work, COVID-19, Middle East, North Africa, women's employment