Studying the number of children people want and have

There is huge variation in the number of children people (would like to) have over time / across the globe / within countries. I try to study the determinants of this variation, including individual factors like wealth and education, genetic factors, and social influences.

I should still write something more sensible here. For now:

In medicine:

• fertility - the ability to conceive children
• fecundity - the ability to produce an abundance of offspring

In demography:

• fertility - the number of live births of babies to a female
• fecundity - the physiological ability to have children