Laboratory

BIOSFER

High-income countries are experiencing both unprecedentedly low and increasingly polarized fertility with growing social gradients in childbearing. Key theories on fertility patterns are based on the empirical observation that until recently fertility remained comparatively high in gender-egalitarian countries with strong support for families. Since 2010 many of the countries that provided evidence for such theories have reached record-low fertility. This confronts the scientific paradigm of the key drivers of fertility. Detailed Description

The project BIOSFER is a collaboration of the Max-Planck-Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and Aarhus University (AU).

Selected Publications

Hellstrand, J.; Nisén, J.; Myrskylä, M.:

Educational field, economic uncertainty, and fertility decline in Finland in 2010–2019

European Sociological Review, 1–18. (2024)

Gaml-Sørensen, A.; Hjorth Thomsen, A.; Søgaard Tøttenborg, S.; Brix, N.; Sørig Hougaard, K.; Toft, G.; Håberg, S. E.; Myrskylä, M.; Bonde, J. P.; Høst Ramlau-Hansen, C.:

Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and reproductive health in adult sons: a study in the Danish National Birth Cohort

Human Reproduction 39:1, 219–231. (2024)

Büyükkeçeci, Z.; Kühn, M.; Håberg, S. E.; Høst Ramlau-Hansen, C.; Myrskylä, M.:

Subjective biology: how perceived fecundity influences relationship satisfaction and stability

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2024-012. (2024)

Beck, K. C.; Hellstrand, J.; Myrskylä, M.:

More education and fewer children? the contribution of educational enrollment and attainment to the fertility decline in Norway

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2024-009. (2024)