Fertility Intentions of Highly Educated Men and Women and the Rush Hour of Life

The life span between the mid-twenties and the late thirties is characterised by multiple demands. In recent years, the expression "rush hour of life" has been used to describe periods of time when conflicting demands are felt most acutely, in particular related to family formation and fertility. This is especially relevant for highly educated persons who often face later entrance into the labour market and postponement of family formation due to long educational involvement. We study fertility intentions of highly educated women and men, concentrating on 2,187 university degree holders aged 27 to 40 years in western Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France and Norway. We attempt to operationalize the rush hour of life in a multivariate framework by taking into consideration different life domains (private, work) and their temporal dimension and relate them to family formation plans. The study reveals remarkably lower fertility intentions as well as substantial gender differences in Germany and Austria. Childbearing plans are most pronounced among university graduates around the age of thirty, thus in the prime time of their rush hour of life. What is associated with fertility intentions is not only the degree of institutionalisation but also the duration of the relationship. Moreover, the amount of working hours is related to childbearing plans