Fertility factor (demography)

Factors associated with increased fertility include the intention to have children, remaining religiosity, general inter-generational transmission of values, high status of marriage and cohabitation, maternal and social support, rural residence, a small subset of pro-family social programs, low IQ, personality traits such as conscientiousness, and generally increased food production. Factors generally associated with decreased fertility include rising income, value and attitude changes, education, female labor participation, population control, age, contraception, partner reluctance to child-bearing, infertility, pollution, and obesity. The predictive power of intentions continues to be debated. Research that argues that intentions are a good predictor of actual results tends to draw ideas from the theory of planned behavior (TPB). According to the TPB, intentions stem from three factors: attitudes regarding children, including the cost of raising them versus perceived benefits; subjective norms, for example the influence of others; and perceived control over behavior, that is, how much control an individual has over their own behavior. Fertility intentions tend to boil down to quantum intentions, or how many children to bear, and tempo intentions, meaning when to have them. Of these, quantum intention is the poor predictor because it tends to change as a result of the ups and downs of a typical life. Tempo intention is a somewhat better predictor, but still a weak way to predict actual results.