Who Dares to Have a Family In an Age of Uncertainty? Policy Architecture for Young Adults

The COVID-19 pandemic may feel recent, yet the world has only grown more unpredictable. Rising living costs, AI-driven labour market disruption, the accelerating climate crisis, and ongoing geopolitical conflicts all pose profound challenges to young people’s futures. At the same time, sustained declines in total fertility rates and rising life expectancy are producing rapidly ageing populations, generating urgent concerns about long-term economic sustainability. Against this backdrop, a central question emerges: how do young people perceive these socio-economic, political, and environmental uncertainties, and how do such perceptions shape their life planning—particularly decisions about partnership, parenthood, and family formation? An equally important question is what kind of policy architecture could enable young people to realise their family aspirations, foster positive life experiences, and rebuild trust in public institutions.

Although debates continue about the impact of uncertainty on fertility, relatively little research has examined how young adults themselves interpret the uncertainties that influence their decisions about partnership and childbearing. Governments have introduced a growing array of policies and programmes to support young families, yet fertility rates continue to fall across many countries, suggesting that existing approaches remain insufficient.

This session moves beyond documenting fertility decline to address a more fundamental question: who can realistically imagine having a family in an age of uncertainty, and what kind of policy architecture is needed to support them?

We welcome papers that address one or more of the following themes:

• Uncertainty and young people
• Family formation and decision-making
• Intergenerational change
• Youth and/or fertility related policies