Abstract

The global decline in fertility rates has drawn the attention of economists, researchers, and policymakers in recent decades. Given the economic and social implications of population changes, it is important to analyze what underlying factors have influenced fertility decisions over time, and what is behind the sharp change in the decision-making process regarding family size, and hence, population growth. The present paper analyzes the influence of different socio-demographic factors on two main fertility decisions: the number of children and the age of women at first child. The analysis is done employing data from the Canadian Social Survey for the years 2006, 2011, and 2017, proposing an estimation with an ordered logit model framework and accounting for possible cohort effects by incorporating birth-control variables. Main findings suggest that higher levels of education, urbanity, certain regions, and being religiously unaffiliated are associated with a higher likelihood of reporting fewer amount of children. These results also contribute to reporting a first child at an older age, except for the variable that captures religious attendance, which is associated with a higher likelihood of reporting a first child at an older age despite the fact that attending religious events is linked to a higher amount of children.