Young Adults’ Fertility Intentions and Self-reported Rationales in Low-Fertility Finland

Objective: This study identifies profiles of individuals with similar rationales for their fertilityintentions and examines how these profiles relate to fertility intentions in Finland. Background:Total fertility rates in Finland have declined sharply since 2010, reaching lowest-low levels inrecent years. This study complements previous, mostly register-based, research by focusing onyoung Finns’ fertility intentions and their self-reported rationales. Method: We analyzed surveyresponses from 3,803 young Finns (aged 20–29) collected in 2021–2022, who evaluated how 39rationales influenced their fertility intentions, including postponement, not desiring (additional)children, or uncertainty. Exploratory factor analysis was used to group the rationales, and latentprofile analysis identified distinct groups of individuals with similar rationales. Multinomial logitmodels were then estimated to examine the associations between these profiles and fertilityintentions. Results: We identified five latent profiles differing in their constellations of personaland partnership concerns, autonomy concerns, global concerns, and career-related concerns.Postponing childbearing was typical of the groups with moderate concerns over personalautonomy and career, who could also have experienced personal and partnership difficulties.Individuals who intended to forgo childbearing entirely prioritized personal autonomy and globalconcerns. Conclusions: Practical circumstances primarily drive the postponement of childbearing,while ideological motivations and lifestyle choices are more strongly associated with intentions toremain childless.