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Agree to Disagree?: Fertility Intentions Among Mixed Couples in Sweden
Stockholm University, Sweden; Umeå University, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5311-4277
Södertörn University, School of Social Sciences, Sociology. Stockholm University, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1639-3307
2025 (English)In: European Journal of Population, ISSN 0168-6577, E-ISSN 1572-9885, Vol. 41, no 1, article id 20Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Whether couples agree on having a(nother) child is crucial for both individuals and society. While fertility research has long focused on women, recent studies emphasize the need to incorporate both partners' perspectives. However, analyses that jointly consider men's and women's fertility intentions remain scarce. This focus on women has been partly driven by homogamy-the tendency for individuals to select partners with similar traits and values. Given that couples with mixed backgrounds have higher dissolution rates, they may also be less likely to share family-related beliefs. This study examines how agreement on fertility intentions varies among mixed and homogamous couples in Sweden. Using the 2021 Swedish Generation and Gender Survey (GGS) and stratifying by respondents' gender, we find that most couples agree not to have a(nother) child, reflecting recent fertility declines. Couples where both partners are migrants exhibit the highest agreement, while mixed couples show the most disagreement and the strongest gender asymmetries in reported intentions. However, these differences are small and vary by the gender of the reporting partner. The higher disagreement among mixed couples aligns with broader research on their elevated dissolution risks. However, reverse causality is possible-value differences may be linked to other stressors, making childbearing less desirable. By highlighting the role of couple composition in fertility decision-making, our findings contribute to understanding how family formation dynamics vary across different couple types.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature, 2025. Vol. 41, no 1, article id 20
Keywords [en]
Fertility intentions, Couple perspective, Migrants, Mixed unions, GGS, Sweden
National Category
Sociology (Excluding Social Work, Social Anthropology, Demography and Criminology)
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-57888DOI: 10.1007/s10680-025-09742-wISI: 001545167700001PubMedID: 40768103Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105012752915OAI: oai:DiVA.org:sh-57888DiVA, id: diva2:1990151
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2018-00310Available from: 2025-08-19 Created: 2025-08-19 Last updated: 2025-10-07Bibliographically approved

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Uggla, Caroline

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