Fertility intentions and behaviour in Iceland: The role of policies and parenting culture
This research project is organized to produce knowledge about fertility developments and their potential determinants in Iceland, and as such it is the first to comprehensively study childbearing behaviour in the country.
Its main objective is to explore and address potential determinants behind changes in Icelandic fertility during the past decade.
It seeks answers to questions such as whether there are differences in childbearing related to social background and how parenting culture impacts fertility decisions.
Fertility has decreased drastically across advanced, industrialized nations.
Since the 1980s, an increasing number of countries have reached very low fertility levels and virtually all societies have witnessed a “postponement” transition with an increasing proportion of births among “older” mothers.
This change in tempo (timing of childbirth) and quantum (total number of children) has raised the concerns of demographers as well as policymakers about the long-term sustainability of the population.
A replacement level of 2.1 children per woman over her childbearing age is usually considered necessary to maintain the population, that is if there would not be any migration either to or from the country.
As life expectancy continues to increase, fertility below a replacement level will inevitably change the age structure of the population, with various concomitant social effects attached.
The research project is the first to comprehensively study childbearing behaviour in Iceland.
Its main objective is to explore and address potential determinants behind changes in Icelandic fertility developments during the past decade. Furthermore it seeks answers to questions such as whether there are differences in childbearing related to social background and how parenting culture impacts fertility decisions.
Special focus is placed on family policies and their effectiveness in shaping fertility decision, including whether current policies offer enough support to families with children and whether they adequately reflect the diversity of Icelandic families.
The project will help to integrate feminist perspectives into fertility explanations, by providing valuable understanding of how shifting opportunity structures for women and men influence fertility and by exploring how gendered parenting ideologies and circumstances affect decisions regarding the timing and number of children.
We have organized a multi-disciplinary team of specialists who all have extensive experience in their respective fields.
The cross-disciplinary and highly capable team of researchers includes specialists from the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Iceland, scholars at the School of Social Sciences, School of Humanities and School of Education at the University of Iceland, and internationally renowned scientists from Stockholm University.
The multi-disciplinary and multi-method nature of this project is represented in the novel combination of analysis of registered time-series data, historical analysis, qualitative in-depth inquiries, and the collection and analysis of survey data.
Together, the approach will accumulate extensive knowledge of the subject matter and significantly contribute to international scholarship on fertility and family research.
A theoretical gap is present in the literature when it comes to the context of Icelandic fertility developments.
This is surprising given the uniqueness of the Icelandic case where fertility – until recently – remained at a high and stable level, and gender-equality has long been highly valued by the public.
Iceland thus presents a unique setting for studying fertility decisions and behaviour, and the inclusion of Iceland in the literature will prove to be important for the advancement of theoretical arguments pertaining to issues of parenting culture, work-family reconciliation, the role of policies, and the impact of different family forms and socio-economic status on childbearing.
Furthermore, with its small size and access to high-quality data, Iceland provides an ideal context in which to carry out research on this topic
The overarching research questions the project aims to answer are as follows:
In order to fulfill the research objectives, the project is organized into six work packages:
Sunna Símonardóttir í viðtali við Samfélagið á RÚV um dagvistunarúrræði barna á Íslandi. Birtist 19. febrúar 2024. A news article about the daycare system in
Sunna Símonardóttir í viðtali við Heimildina um heimagreiðslur á Íslandi. Birtist 27. febrúar 2024. A news article about home-care allowance system in Iceland. February 27th
Sunna Símonardóttir í viðtali við RÚV um leikskólakerfið á Íslandi. Birtist 9. október 2023. A news article about preschool system in Iceland. October 9th 2023.
A news article and a podcast on the research project FIBI in Heimildin. May30th 2023. Umfjöllun í Heimildinni og umræða við Sunnu Símonardóttur og Ara
A radio interview on RÚV May 27th 2023. Viðtal á Rás1 27. maí 2023. Ari Klængur Jónsson sat fyrir svörum um lækkandi fæðingartíðni í Heimskviðum.
An article about childlessness in Iceland. June 4th 2023. Grein um barnleysi á Íslandi sem vísar í rannsóknarverkefnið FIBI. Read the full article / Lesa
We have organized a multi-disciplinary team of specialists who all have extensive experience in their respective fields.
The cross-disciplinary and highly capable team of researchers includes specialists from the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Iceland, scholars at the School of Social Sciences, School of Humanities and School of Education at the University of Iceland, and internationally renowned scientists from Stockholm University.
The project is supported by the Icelandic Research Fund.
Project manager at the University of Iceland’s Social Science Research Institute and Postdoctoral researcher.
Associate professor at the University of Iceland.
Professor at the University of Iceland.
Associate professor at the University of Iceland.
Professor at the University of Iceland.
Professor and Dean of University of Iceland’s School of Humanities.
Professor and Dean of University of Iceland’s School of Social Sciences.
Associate professor at the University of Iceland.
Professor at the University of Iceland.
Professor at Stockholm University.
Associate professor at Stockholm University.
Professor at Stockholm University.
PhD. student at the University of Iceland
PhD. at the University of Iceland
This project is supported by the Icelandic Research Fund. Grant number 228294
