We study the aggregate gap between intended and actual fertility in 20 countries in Europe and the United States, adopting a cohort approach that differs from the period approach widely used in prior research. We compare the mean intended number of children and percentage intending to be...

In this study, we compare the intended number of children in Germany, Moldova and Norway in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a first step, we compare the intended number of children (including children born) in the newly available Generations and Gender Survey round 2 (GGS-II) and...

This study investigates the relationship between education and desired family size in Western Europe. Using rich individual-level data from West Germany we find that more-educated men and women are more likely to prefer a family of three (or more) children over a family of two children compared...

This study investigates the relationship between education and desired family size in Western Europe. Using rich individual-level data from West Germany we find that more-educated men and women are more likely to prefer a family of three (or more) children over a family of two children compared...

We revisit the influential economic growth model by Lucas (1988) ["On the mechanics of economic development." Journal of Monetary Economics, 22(1):3-42], assuming that households optimally allocate consumption and education over the life-cycle given an exogenous interest rate and exogenous...