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Lowest low fertility in Spain: Insights from the 2018 Spanish Fertility Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Mariona Lozano

    (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED))

  • Diederik Boertien

    (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED))

  • Albert Esteve

    (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED))

  • Ryohei Mogi

    (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

  • Qi Cui

    (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Abstract

Background: Spain has one of the most enduring low levels of fertility in the world, but desired fertility there is still close to two children. Objective: We document recent fertility trends and examine the reasons that women and men provide for not achieving their desired fertility. Methods: We use data from the 2018 Spanish Fertility Survey (14,556 women and 2,619 men). We provide a cohort and age perspective and compare women and men. We use retrospective information and classify the reasons people report for not having (more) children. Results: Estimates on observed fertility, employment, and partnerships show that having a stable partner between the ages of 25 and 35 seems key in the transition to childbearing. Work–family conflicts and insufficient economic resources are the main reasons women and men give for not having their desired number of children. These are followed by partnership reasons (not having a stable partner) and health (infertility). Conclusions: Our findings, although descriptive, shed light on the multiple and age-varying obstacles that prevent women and men from achieving desired levels of fertility. Contribution: The Spanish population indicates that the most important preconditions for having (more) children are sufficient economic resources, stability, and having a partner.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariona Lozano & Diederik Boertien & Albert Esteve & Ryohei Mogi & Qi Cui, 2024. "Lowest low fertility in Spain: Insights from the 2018 Spanish Fertility Survey," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 51(19), pages 625-636.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:51:y:2024:i:19
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2024.51.19
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pau Baizán & Arnstein Aassve & Francesco C. Billari, 2003. "Cohabitation, Marriage, and First Birth: The Interrelationship of Family Formation Events in Spain," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 147-169, June.
    2. Camarda, Carlo G., 2012. "MortalitySmooth: An R Package for Smoothing Poisson Counts with P-Splines," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 50(i01).
    3. S. Philip Morgan & Heather Rackin, 2010. "The Correspondence Between Fertility Intentions and Behavior in the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 91-118, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Giulia Feltrin & Valeria Ferraretto & Raffaele Guetto & Rebecca Soldo & Agnese Vitali, 2026. "Brief Report: Unmet Fertility Desires: Evidence from a Lowest-Low Fertility Context," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 45(3), pages 1-14, June.
    2. Cristina Suero, 2026. "Educational differences in fertility recuperation: The role of partnership trajectories in Spain," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 54(38), pages 1251-1278.
    3. Sergi Vidal & Danilo Bolano & Mariona Lozano, 2026. "Partnership life courses and completed fertility in Spain," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 54(29), pages 935-972.
    4. Valdés, Manuel T. & Solga, Heike, 2024. "The STEM leaky pipeline at labor market entry in Spain: The role of job competition and social origin," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 124, pages 1-17.

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    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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