Cohort fertility differences between men and women in a developed population: Evidence from Spain

Despite its significance, men’s fertility has been largely overlooked in demographic research. This study seeks to address this gap by conducting a systematic comparative analysis of men’s and women’s fertility using data from the Spanish ECEPOV–2021 survey, a large-scale data set (N = 424,493) from the Spanish national statistical office. Findings indicate that women generally exhibit slightly higher completed cohort fertility rates than men, with exceptions among remarried, college-educated, and immigrant men, who show higher fertility than their female counterparts. Childlessness emerges as a key factor underlying fertility differentials between the sexes, accounting for nearly half of the observed difference. After using matching techniques to control for compositional differences, the study concludes that adjusting for demographic and socio-economic factors significantly reduces, although does not entirely eliminate, the fertility differential. Residual differences may stem from measurement errors, selection biases, or unmeasured variables.