Between desire and constraint: reproductive intentions among working mothers in urban Shanghai—a qualitative study

Research on fertility intentions has largely focused on individual-level predictors such as income, education, and childcare burden, yet less attention has been paid to how these factors are embedded in and shaped by broader social systems. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 15 working mothers in Shanghai, China, this study applies a social-ecological framework to examine how micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors interact to shape women’s intentions toward having a second or third child. Our findings reveal that these working mothers’ reproductive decision-making is constrained by an interlocking web of economic pressures, workplace discrimination, inadequate childcare infrastructure, and perceived gaps in policy support, organized across four themes: the double bind of resources, embodied fears, an unsupportive environment, and policy promises met with lived gaps. The current pronatalist policy discourse in China has yet to be matched by structural support, leaving these urban working mothers caught between state expectations and lived constraints. By foregrounding their voices, this study contributes to a multilevel understanding of fertility hesitancy among professional women in high-cost urban settings and highlights the potential value of multilevel approaches to addressing fertility-related concerns.