Childbearing and the desire to have children among university students in Finland.

Background: The fertility rate in Europe is low and there is concern over the low birth rate in relation to the aging population. The age of childbearing women has increased and infertility is a growing problem. Highly educated women in Finland suffer from childlessness more often than less educated women. The aim of this study was to establish Finnish university students' actual and desired number of children, and compare the economic and educational situations of students with and without children.

Methods: The study population consisted of Finnish undergraduate students under 35 years of age. The randomly selected sample was 5,030 subjects. The data were collected by postal questionnaire, the response rate being 62.7%. Frequency distributions, cross-tabulations, and descriptive statistics were used. Categorical variables were tested by the Cochran-Mantel-Haenzel test.

Results: 7.5% of students had children. Almost 90% desired to have children. Parenthood did not correlate negatively with satisfaction with financial situation or completed studies.

Conclusion: University students are seldom parents, though they are at the ideal age for childbearing and the majority desire to have children. The risk of unintended childlessness exists, when pregnancies are postponed because of unfinished studies.