Europe: the desire for children often remains unfulfilled

Many women in Europe have less children than they really want. In particular, Academics are often behind your concepts. A new comparative study of the Austrian Academy of Sciences shows.

For the study, the researchers had compared the previous surveys indicated the desire to have children and the actual number of children by Thousands of women in 19 countries in Europe and in the United States. This showed that there is indeed a discrepancy between the desired and actual number of children. A big difference between desire and reality, there is also the lack of children: for example, only about five percent of the women interviewed aged 20 to 24 years wanted to stay in Austria, Germany and Switzerland are childless. In fact, the subsequent childlessness is around 20 percent, but four times as high.

In the case of Academics, this gap is particularly in Austria and in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Spain, most Of the higher educated 25 – to 29-year-old women gave also five percent, not to want children, in fact, 26 to 30 percent but will remain in the course of your life childless. In other European countries such as Norway, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Hungary, there is hardly a education, in contrast, slope: Lower educated women to remain similar to often childless as Academics.

The overall picture to change this but little, says study author Eva Beaujouan: "Academics remain far more behind your desire to have children as lower educated women. Therefore, family policies should start with them." Particularly measures that allow for a combination of career and children, according to the results, is essential.

NK