Given the persistent low fertility in developed countries, research on the reasons of why people choose to have children or not remains crucial. A wide array of studies have focused on fertility intentions as the underlying base in which childbearing behavior is rooted. But doing research on intentions may not be enough to explain the gap between the ideal number of children, which is close or above replacement level in most European countries, and the actual number of children being born. In line with Miller’s theoretical model, intentions are concrete plans, based on people’s desires and formed under present constrains. However, motives – or motivational traits – are the most basic foundation for the whole motivational process that leads to reproductive behavior. They are individual unconscious predispositions to react favorably or unfavorably to various positive and negative consequences of having a child. In the paper, we focus on these positive and negative motives and investigate their predictive power for explaining people’s fertility desires and intentions. We argue that analyzing people’s motives together with the existing constrains gives a more comprehensive view on their reproductive choices.

The data used for this study are derived from the original second wave of the GGS (Generations and Gender Survey) conducted in Poland. In the Polish version of the survey, a wide range of statements on possible advantages and disadvantages of having children was introduced. We use principal component analysis to identify the main categories of motives for or against having children. In order to determine their power in driving fertility desires and intentions, logistical regression models will be constructed. Models will be run separately by sex and parity, controlling for a set of variables related to possible constrains (e.g. union status or economic status).