Traditionally, scientists study fertility from the perspective of women, and much less from that of men. But how many children do men have on average? And at what age? For the first time, the Institute of Statistics of Quebec published this week an analysis of male fertility, from 1976 to 2022. Summary in six points.
1.39
1.39 children. This is the “total fertility index” for men in Quebec for the year 2022. In other words, if men experienced the same fertility levels throughout their fertile lives as in 2022, they would have on average 1.39 children. This is the lowest rate observed in the last 20 years. It was in 1987 that the lowest index was recorded in Quebec, with 1.34 children per man.
Multifactorial
This decrease in fertility is observed in several Western countries, and several factors can explain it, indicates demographer Anne Binette Charbonneau, author of the analysis. First, people tend to postpone their family plans (studies, career, access to property, etc.), which tends to limit the number of children they will have in their lives. “Other elements can contribute: let’s think about the transformations in family dynamics and couple dynamics, the social climate, the economic context, confidence in the future,” she lists.
Fertility
Fertility among men (1.39) is slightly lower than that of women (1.49). For what ? Essentially because slightly more boys are born than girls, and there are therefore more men than women of reproductive age. “We report the same number of births to a larger number of men,” explains M.me Binette Charbonneau. Before 1986, the ratio was reversed: fertility was a little higher among men. “The first female cohorts of the baby boom had children with men, often from older cohorts, and therefore fewer in number,” explains Anne Binette Charbonneau.
Middle age
In 1976, the most fertile men in Quebec were those aged 25 to 29, but that is a thing of the past: since the turn of the 2000s, it is Quebecers aged 30 to 34 who reproduce the most. The average age at fatherhood increased from 30.3 years in 1976 to 33.8 in 2022, an increase of three and a half years in 50 years, similar to that observed among women. We might think that men postpone family plans for reasons similar to those of women: studies, career, financial security.
Three years, but…
When a child is born in Quebec, his father is on average three years older than his mother, a gap which has been fairly stable for 50 years, and which is representative of what we observe in other developed countries (from two to four years). This gap, however, varies depending on the age of the father. Young fathers (30 and under), on average, are practically the same age as their partner. But after 30, the age gap widens as the father’s age increases: a 40-year-old father is on average five years older than the mother, and a 50-year-old father is 13 years older. . “Men do not have a biological limit as clearly defined as that of women,” recalls Anne Binette Charbonneau.
In the world
Among the countries that publish data on male fertility, Quebec is positioned in an “intermediate” manner, indicates the demographer. The fertility of men in Quebec would be higher than that of men in Switzerland, Norway and Germany, comparable to that of men in Sweden, and lower than that of men in Australia and France.
Consult the socio-demographic bulletin “Male fertility in Quebec from 1976 to 2022”