Reproductive decision-making

Fertility rates across Europe are approaching exceedingly low levels yet there is an observed 'fertility gap' because some people go on to have fewer children than they wanted. Much of this lost fertility is driven by extended delays in starting, or continuing a family. 

To address this problem, I am pioneering a new approach to identify why the fertility gap persists in the UK. This initial pilot study will use a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) to identify the barriers that prevent people from having children. 

The study will (1) collect qualitative data with a series of focus groups to identify the potential barriers, and (2) use the focus group data to design a DCE to quantify people's reproductive decisions, which has never been done before. We have now published the first article based on the qualitative element of the study. 

The long-term ambition is to extend this approach cross-nationally to other low-fertility settings in Europe, and then to transitioning-fertility settings in Asia.

This research is funded by the John Fell Oxford University Press research Fund.