Decisive factors in fertility in Portugal

Portugal currently has one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe and the world, as a result of the reduction in the number of children born and the postponement of parenthood to later ages.

What is driving these changes?

• Individual characteristics and the age at birth of the first child are crucial factors in the number of children one has and expects to have, varying according to the level of education.
• Despite behavioural changes over the last few decades, family contexts and marital relationships continue to be central to the lives of the Portuguese, as those who do not live with a spouse or partner have lower fertility rates.
• The ideal family size is another critical determinant because when this is lower, it leads to fewer children, making it more difficult for the fertility rate to recover.
• The ideal seems to correspond to the number of children that allows you to maintain a certain standard of living for the family and still guarantee your children more opportunities, even if you only have one child. Hence the current relevance of economic issues in fertility decisions.
• Changing mentalities seem to have generated a new social model marked by a growing appreciation of children.

Through this study, which analyses the determinants of births and fertility in Portugal in its different aspects, using the official results of the fertility survey carried out in 2013, FFMS provides you with the data you need to understand a phenomenon that is increasingly central to the country's future.