Associations Between Early Family Environment and Ideal Number of Children

Abstract

Fertility ideals are considered one of the key determinants of fertility behaviour, which is why it is important to understand how different factors contribute to their formation. This study examined whether characteristics of the early family environment are related to the ideal number of children reported in adulthood. The sample was drawn from the representative cross-sectional survey data from Finnish Family Barometer 2015 and comprised men and women aged 20–45 with and without children. Poisson regression models were used to examine the associations between several aspects of the early family environment (i.e., number of siblings, parental adversity, childhood happiness, perception of parents, and financial difficulties in childhood) and the ideal number of children. A higher number of siblings, lower parental adversity, and positive perceptions of parents were associated with higher ideal number of children independent of various socio-demographic characteristics. Further analyses showed that these early family environment characteristics were associated with fertility ideals mainly among childless people but not among parents. The findings suggest that the early family environment is related to the formation of fertility ideals, especially for people who do not yet have children.