Are you Ready for a Child? A Methodological Triangulation on Fertility Intentions in Austria

Research on fertility has been mainly using quantitative methods, and it is only in the last fewdecades that qualitative research methods have become more common in demography.Combining qualitative and quantitative methods in a so-called triangulation is even moreuncommon. Applying a triangulation, the current paper aims to better understand the conceptof fertility intention with regard to family formation. During problem-centred interviews withchildless men and women, the issue of feeling ready was mentioned again and again. It turnedout that apart from economic circumstances, this individual aspect is important for thedecision to have a child. In this paper, we explain the rather complex concept of feeling readyusing interviews. Based on these qualitative results, additional questions were included in theAustrian “Generations and Gender Survey” (GGS) which allow to analyse the dimension ofbeing ready also quantitatively in a national representative dataset. Our results clearly supportthe theory of planned behaviour in the context of family formation, as social norms, attitudesand behaviour control are significantly associated with childbearing intentions. In thecontextual framework of the theory of planned behaviour, our quantitative results revealedthat the feeling of being ready has additional explanatory power for childbearing intentionsamong childless men and women in Austria