The contribution of paternal involvement and appraisal of family resources to Taiwanese women's fertility outcomes

ABSTRACT Objective This study highlights the crucial role of husbands' paternal involvement in childcare in enhancing Taiwanese women's fertility outcomes. Background Taiwan's fertility rate has been steadily declining in recent decades, and greater paternal involvement is considered a promising strategy. Drawing on the family stress management model, this study hypothesizes that women's perceptions of husbands' paternal involvement in childcare (PIC) and supportive coparenting partnership (SCP) increase the likelihood of having additional children within 3 years, with family childcare resource appraisal (FCR) as a potential mediator. Methods Data were obtained from the longitudinal Kids in Taiwan project, which included 5,013 Taiwanese women who had children and remained married. Among them, 1,066 had additional children within 3 years. A series of regression and mediation analyses with bootstrapping were conducted. Results In the full sample, both PIC and SCP significantly predicted an increased likelihood of having another child within 3 years, and these effects were mediated by women's greater appraisal of FCR. Subgroup analyses revealed, however, that these effects reached statistical significance only among women who initially had one child. Conclusion This study underscores the importance of supportive paternal involvement, which enhances women's perception of family resources and predicts fertility outcomes over time. Implications These findings offer valuable insights for family life educators and policymakers to address Taiwan's increasingly lower fertility rate. The family stress management model serves as a theoretically generative and practically useful framework for understanding and responding to fertility decisions.