Dissertation

Individual fertility choices in Poland

Abstract

The aim of our research is an extensive investigation of individual fertility choices in post-socialist Poland in order to improve our understanding of the fertility decline in this context. We apply qualitative approach and analyse a set of 48 semi-structured in-depth interviews with men and women at the early stages of family formation. We explore values, attitudes and norms that shape the respondents’ motivation to have children, and numerous conditions that – according to the interviewees – define the right moment for parenthood. The analyses improve our understanding of a wide variety of economic, institutional and ideational factors and their interplay in shaping the demographic regime of the lowest-low fertility in Poland. Moreover, we investigate how decisions related to entry into parenthood are negotiated and reached in a couple. We gain valuable insights into couple’s dynamics related to reproductive choices.