Effects of economic uncertainty and socioeconomic status on reproductive timing: A life history approach

•Adaptive responses to economic uncertainty depend on the harshness of early-life environment, as reflected by childhood socioeconomic status•Reproductive timing should also be influenced by economic uncertainty and childhood socioeconomic status•Under economic uncertainty, people who grew up in low...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current research in ecological and social psychology 2022, Vol.3, p.100040, Article 100040
Main Authors: Tan, Kenneth, Li, Norman P., Meltzer, Andrea L., Chin, Joel L.J., Tan, Lynn K.L., Lim, Amy J., Neuberg, Steven L., van Vugt, Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Economic uncertainty
Life history theory
Reproductive timing
Socioeconomic status
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Summary:•Adaptive responses to economic uncertainty depend on the harshness of early-life environment, as reflected by childhood socioeconomic status•Reproductive timing should also be influenced by economic uncertainty and childhood socioeconomic status•Under economic uncertainty, people who grew up in lower-SES environments reported wanting children sooner•Under economic uncertainty, people who grew up in higher-SES environments reported wanting children later•Reproductive timing was determined by considering the desire between reproduction and furthering one's education or career Why do some people have children earlier compared to others who delay reproduction? Drawing from an evolutionary, life history theory perspective, we posited that reproductive timing could be influenced by economic uncertainty and childhood socioeconomic status (SES). For individuals lower in childhood SES, economic uncertainty influenced the desire to reproduce earlier compared to individuals higher in childhood SES. Furthermore, the decision regarding reproductive timing was influenced by tradeoffs between earlier reproduction or furthering one's education or career. Overall, economic uncertainty appears to shift individuals into different life history strategies as a function of childhood SES, suggesting how ecological factors and early life environment can influence fertility-related decisions at the individual level and may contribute to the highly variable fertility patterns observed across countries. [Display omitted]
ISSN:2666-6227
2666-6227
DOI:10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100040