A research group from Pompeu Fabra University (Spain), Gakushuin University, and University College London revealed that people who are not in a relationship tend to lower their desire to have children.
Until now, it has been thought that being married or living together increases the desire to have children, but there has been insufficient research into whether or not one is in a relationship. In Japan, approximately 18% of unmarried people aged 34 to 7 are not in a relationship. The research group examined the impact of whether or not one is in a relationship and the length of time one has been unrelationship on the desire to have children in Japan.
The verification used the University of Tokyo Research Institute for Social Science's Young Adult Panel Survey (2009-2023), targeting men and women aged 20-49 who have never had children. Partner status was categorized into four categories: "married," "cohabiting," "having a non-cohabiting partner," and "not having a partner," while fertility desire was assessed on a three-point scale: "want (children)," "don't know," or "don't want children." Changes in partner status and fertility desire over time for each survey year were tracked and analyzed.
The results showed that people without a partner were more likely than people in other partner situations to change their fertility desires from "want" to "don't know" or "don't want" and that the change from "want" to "don't know" was particularly strong. This change did not become stronger the longer the period of not being in a relationship became, but tended to appear soon after entering the unrelationship state.
Additionally, among those who were not in a relationship throughout the survey period, 28% of women and 21% of men continued to say they wanted to have children, while 10% of women and 7% of men continued to say they did not want to have children.
This study showed the importance of relationships in forming the desire to have children, and reaffirmed that many people have the desire to have children regardless of their relationship or marital status. It is said that in the future, support for unmarried people will be needed, taking into account whether they are in a relationship or not.
Paper information: [Social Forces] Exposure to non-partnership and fertility desires among childless population in Japan
