Fertility Survey
Fertility Survey: first results
- 2013
27 November 2013
Summary
This survey allows for the study of fertility not only amongst those that are already parents, but also between those that haven’t (yet) had children, considering the number of children they already have, the number of children they think of having in the future, and the number of children they would wish to have throughout their lifetime. Several concepts were established, from which we underline three, as they constitute the main axes of analysis:
• Achieved Fertility – number of biological children (born alive) people had until the moment of reference of the survey;
• Expected Fertility - number of biological children (born alive) people had added by the number of children they think of having in the future (including present pregnancies, if applied);
• Desired Fertility – number of biological children people wish they had over their lifetime, independently of the number of children they actually have or still think of having.
Alongside with the three types of fertility, reference is also made to the “ideal number of children in a family”, meaning the number of children (biological, adopted, stepchildren or other) considered by individuals as the ideal number for a family to have, independently of being their own.