The majority of Bulgarian families want to have two children.

This is shown by an NSI survey among women aged 15-49 and men aged 15-59.

63.3% of men and women in 2021 stated that the family should have two children.

However, this share is significantly lower than in 2011, when for 75.3% of the population in the studied age groups, the ideal family included two children

In second place in the distribution is the opinion that a family should have three children (17.1%), followed by a family with one child (7.9%). 

The leading two-child family model is ideal for 64.3% of self-identified Bulgarians, for representatives of the Turkish ethnic group – 61.7%, and for a significantly smaller part of the Roma (52.0%).

The relative share of persons who believe that a family should have one child is similar for self-identified Bulgarians (8.0%), Turks (8.3%) and representatives of other ethnicities (8.1%).

However, it is almost twice as small among the Roma - 4.8%.

The reproductive ideals of the Roma much more often include three (22.8%) and four and more children (11.2%) compared to other ethnic groups.

The main conclusions are the following:

  • the share of persons without children is extremely high (17.8%) compared to those who have this ideal (0.1%) or prefer this family model (1.4%);

  • the share of persons who remain with one child (31.9%) is significantly higher compared to the ideal of a one-child family (6.9%) and those who wish to have one child (13.5%);

  • the ideal (64.7%) of two children in the family is not actually realized.

    44.4% of persons over 45 years of age have two children;

  • three children is an ideal for 17.1%, reproductive intentions for 13.9%, but it is actually realized by a much smaller proportion of individuals at the end of their reproductive period, only 4.7%. 

The unrealized reproductive desires of individuals raise the question of the reasons why this happens.

The data show that the leading factor in the structure of reasons for not wanting to have a child is the lack of a partner (15.5%).

In second place are financial reasons (14.8%).

Health problems (personal or partner's) is the reason for not having another child for 4.4% of persons of reproductive age.