Browsing by Subject "fertility ideals"
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(2021)Objective Fertility ideals play a crucial role in defining how many children people have during their lifetime. By studying fertility ideals and early family environment, we can better understand how attitudes towards childbearing are formed and increase our knowledge on present fertility trends. This study examined the associations between fertility ideals and several aspects of early family environment which have received little attention in previous studies. Methods Two samples derived from representative cross-sectional survey data from the Finnish Family Barometer 2015 was examined: a total sample including men and women aged 20–46 (n = 1966), and a sample including childless men and women aged 20–36 (n = 572). Poisson regression models were used to examine the associations between the ideal number of children and number of siblings, parental separation, childhood happiness, perception of one’s parents and long-term financial difficulties. The models were adjusted for age, parity, income, area of residence, employment status, partnership status and education level. Results Lower number of siblings, parental separation, and the perception of at least one parent as a bad parent were associated with lower fertility ideals regardless of parity. Unhappiness and long-term financial difficulties during childhood were associated with lower fertility ideals for childless individuals. Conclusions Family structure, events regarding parent’s marriage, and the overall perceptions of childhood and family life are associated with fertility ideals. The results suggest that the family of origin provides a compelling model for one’s own family size and shapes attitudes towards family life and parenthood.
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(2021)Finland is currently considered having one of the lowest total birth rates in the world. Even though declining fertility rates is a common phenomenon in most European countries, the ideal family size of European women has not followed the same trend. Recent research indicates, however, that fertility ideals might be declining as well. Given that fertility ideals are among the key factors driving fertility behavior, it is important to explore which factors are involved in their formation. The cognitive-social model of fertility intentions posits that our social context shapes our mental representations of the world and our role in it – our schemas. It is likely that religion influences even non-religious people’s schema formation through cultural components such as values, including those regarding family. To further understand how fertility ideals are formed in relation to religion and family values, I examined the personal ideal number of children reported by Finnish men and women of fertile age in cross-sectional 2008 and 2015 survey data. Based on the cognitive-social model of fertility intentions, I posed the hypotheses that the perceived importance of religion in one’s life is related to the personal ideal number of children, and that this association is, at least in part, explained by the perceived importance of family values. A simple mediation analysis conducted separately for both the 2008 and 2015 data supported both hypotheses, but the mediation role of family values was marginal. Both the importance of religion and family values were associated with a higher ideal number of children. Most of the influence of the importance of religion on the ideal number of children was independent of family values.
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