IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurpop/v40y2024i1d10.1007_s10680-023-09692-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Self-Perceived Infertility is Not Always Associated with Having Fewer Children: Evidence from German Panel Data

Author

Listed:
  • Arthur L. Greil

    (Alfred University)

  • Desmond D. Wallace

    (Alfred University)

  • Jasmin Passet-Wittig

    (Federal Institute for Population Research)

  • Julia McQuillan

    (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

  • Martin Bujard

    (Federal Institute for Population Research)

  • Michele H. Lowry

    (Alfred University)

Abstract

Proximate determinants theory considers infertility rates a risk factor for lower fertility rates, but the assumption that people who perceive infertility will have fewer children has not been tested. This study investigates the association of self-perceived infertility with the number of children people have had after 11 years. Infertility implies reduced chances of conception (rather than sterility), but people do not always consistently perceive infertility over time. If people who think they are infertile at one time can later report no infertility, then does self-perceived infertility necessarily lead to having fewer children? We answer this question by analyzing 11 waves of the German family panel (pairfam) data using negative binomial growth curve models for eight core demographic subgroups created by combinations of gender (men/women), parity (0/1+children), and initial age groups (25–27 and 35–37). Those who repeatedly perceived themselves to be infertile (three times or more) had fewer children than those who perceived themselves to be infertile once or twice in only four of eight gender by initial parity by age groups. Only in four groups did people who perceived themselves to be infertile once or twice have fewer children than those who never perceived themselves to be infertile in both the unadjusted and adjusted models. Thus, self-perceived infertility does not necessarily result in fewer children. Rather, the association depends upon life course context and gender.

Suggested Citation

  • Arthur L. Greil & Desmond D. Wallace & Jasmin Passet-Wittig & Julia McQuillan & Martin Bujard & Michele H. Lowry, 2024. "Self-Perceived Infertility is Not Always Associated with Having Fewer Children: Evidence from German Panel Data," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 1-26, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:40:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10680-023-09692-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-023-09692-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10680-023-09692-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10680-023-09692-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefan Bauernschuster & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2016. "Children Of A (Policy) Revolution: The Introduction Of Universal Child Care And Its Effect On Fertility," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 975-1005, August.
    2. Karina Shreffler & Cassandra Dorius & Julia McQuillan & Arthur Greil & Tiffany Spierling & Stacy Tiemeyer, 2016. "Infertility and fertility intentions, desires, and outcomes among US women," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(39), pages 1149-1168.
    3. Katherine Tierney, 2022. "The Future of Assisted Reproductive Technology Live Births in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(5), pages 2289-2309, October.
    4. Matilde Machado & Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano, 2015. "Coverage of infertility treatment and fertility outcomes," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 407-439, November.
    5. Schmidt, Lucie, 2007. "Effects of infertility insurance mandates on fertility," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 431-446, May.
    6. Ester Lazzari & Michaela Potančoková & Tomáš Sobotka & Edith Gray & Georgina M. Chambers, 2023. "Projecting the Contribution of Assisted Reproductive Technology to Completed Cohort Fertility," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Alison Gemmill & Sarah K. Cowan, 2021. "Low perceived susceptibility to pregnancy as a reason for contraceptive nonuse among women with unintended births," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(31), pages 759-774.
    8. Martin Bujard, 2011. "Family Policy And Demographic Effects: The Case Of Germany," Demográfia, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, vol. 54(5), pages 56-78.
    9. Johannes Huinink & Martin Kohli, 2014. "A life-course approach to fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(45), pages 1293-1326.
    10. White, Lynn & McQuillan, Julia & Greil, Arthur L. & Johnson, David R., 2006. "Infertility: Testing a helpseeking model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 1031-1041, February.
    11. Tomáŝ Sobotka & Martin A. Hansen & Tina Kold Jensen & Anette Tønnes Pedersen & Wolfgang Lutz & Niels Erik Skakkebæk, 2008. "The Contribution of Assisted Reproduction to Completed Fertility: An Analysis of Danish Data," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 34(1), pages 79-101, March.
    12. 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.
    13. Ester Lazzari & Bernard Baffour & Edith Gray, 2022. "A dyadic approach to the study of perceived subfecundity and contraceptive use," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(1), pages 1-36.
    14. Ester Lazzari & Edith Gray & Georgina Chambers, 2021. "The contribution of assisted reproductive technology to fertility rates and parity transition: An analysis of Australian data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(35), pages 1081-1096.
    15. Máire Ní Bhrolcháin & Éva Beaujouan, 2012. "Fertility postponement is largely due to rising educational enrolment," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(3), pages 311-327.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katherine M. Johnson & Arthur L. Greil & Karina M. Shreffler & Julia McQuillan, 2018. "Fertility and Infertility: Toward an Integrative Research Agenda," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(5), pages 641-666, October.
    2. Janna Bergsvik & Agnes Fauske & Rannveig Kaldager Hart, 2021. "Can Policies Stall the Fertility Fall? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi‐) Experimental Literature," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 913-964, December.
    3. Janna Bergsvik & Agnes Fauske & Rannveig K. Hart, 2020. "Effects of policy on fertility. A systematic review of (quasi)experiments," Discussion Papers 922, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    4. Ester Lazzari & Michaela Potančoková & Tomáš Sobotka & Edith Gray & Georgina M. Chambers, 2023. "Projecting the Contribution of Assisted Reproductive Technology to Completed Cohort Fertility," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Ester Lazzari & Bernard Baffour & Edith Gray, 2022. "A dyadic approach to the study of perceived subfecundity and contraceptive use," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(1), pages 1-36.
    6. Marie‐Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau & Gregory Ponthiere, 2024. "The optimal design of assisted reproductive technologies policies," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(7), pages 1454-1479, July.
    7. Gershoni, Naomi & Low, Corinne, 2021. "The power of time: The impact of free IVF on Women’s human capital investments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    8. Josefine Koebe & Jan Marcus, 2020. "The Impact of the Length of Schooling on the Timing of Family Formation," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1896, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Alison Gemmill, 2019. "From Some to None? Fertility Expectation Dynamics of Permanently Childless Women," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 129-149, February.
    10. Nadja Milewski & Jasmin Passet-Wittig & Martin Bujard, 2025. "Infertility and Seeking Medical Help to Have a Child Vary Across Migrant Origin Groups in Germany," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 44(2), pages 1-38, April.
    11. Zuzanna Brzozowska & Isabella Buber-Ennser & Bernhard Riederer & Michaela Potancokova, 2018. "Didn’t plan one but got one: unintended and sooner-than-intended births among men and women in six European countries," VID Working Papers 1805, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    12. Chiara Ludovica Comolli, 2023. "Social Climate, Uncertainty and Fertility Intentions: from the Great Recession to the Covid-19 Crisis," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-57, December.
    13. Bosede Odunola Adejugbe & Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, 2025. "Fertility intentions in the USA: unraveling gender and age dynamics through a cross-sectional lens," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 1-28, June.
    14. Anna Bokun, 2024. "Cash transfers and fertility: Evidence from Poland’s Family 500+ Policy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 51(28), pages 855-910.
    15. Jessica Nisén & Maarten J. Bijlsma & Pekka Martikainen & Ben Wilson & Mikko Myrskylä, 2019. "The gendered impacts of delayed parenthood on educational and labor market outcomes: a dynamic analysis of population-level effects over young adulthood," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2019-017, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    16. Petra Buhr & Johannes Huinink, 2017. "Why Childless Men and Women Give Up on Having Children," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 585-606, October.
    17. Isabella Buber-Ennser & Ralina Panova & Jürgen Dorbritz, 2013. "Fertility Intentions Of University Graduates," Demográfia, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute, vol. 56(5), pages 5-34.
    18. Sarah Kroeger & Giulia La Mattina, 2017. "Assisted reproductive technology and women’s choice to pursue professional careers," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 723-769, July.
    19. Josefine Koebe & Jan Marcus, 2022. "The Length of Schooling and the Timing of Family Formation [Income Taxes and the Timing of Marital Decisions]," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 68(1), pages 1-45.
    20. Bijlsma, Maarten J. & Wilson, Ben, 2020. "Modelling the socio-economic determinants of fertility: a mediation analysis using the parametric g-formula," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102414, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:40:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10680-023-09692-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.