How a Mismatch Between Actual and Desired Fertility Relates to Well-Being Across Adulthood

Most people want two or more children, but many do not realize their fertility desires. At the same time, recent studies suggest that up to 15% of parents regret having children. To investigate how fertility mismatch relates to well-being (i.e., affect balance, life satisfaction, family life satisfaction, and work satisfaction), this preregistered study used nationally representative cross-sectional data of private households in Germany (N = 23,843 age range 18-100 years).

We applied multilevel modeling to investigate if individual characteristics and regional factors moderated the link between well-being and fertility (mis)match.

Involuntary childless people, people who were childfree by choice, parents who fell short of their fertility desires, and parents who met their fertility desires reported similar well-being. Only exceeding one's fertility desires was robustly linked to lower well-being, whereas falling short was only linked to lower well-being in adults past the fertile age. We found no evidence for moderation effects of regional-level religiosity, social norms, and childcare infrastructure.

Researchers should consider both fertility outcomes and desires when studying well-being in the context of parenthood. Longitudinal research is needed to explore mechanisms such as goal striving, basic needs fulfillment, or social roles discrepancies that link fertility (mis)match to well-being.