Challenges toward new perspectives in studies of birth behavior

The purpose of this article is to review previous research studies about women’s birth behavior and to suggest new perspectives. These days, a lot of developed countries face the urgent issue of low fertility and the aging population, and many researchers have been discussing this subject. Central to these discussions is always social change in women’s surroundings, because it is women who play the most important roles in childbearing and taking care of children. It is, however, not enough to approach the fertility trend from the viewpoint of various kinds of child-care services provided by the public sector or child-support by husbands and parents, because there is absence of perspective on, whether women want or intend to have children. In this paper, I suggest the need for new perspectives from ‘a personal preference’, such as ‘How do people decide to have children?” and “When do they think is the best timing for having a baby/ babies?