Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T21:43:19.912Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Numbers of children planned, expected and preferred by women in Melbourne

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

C. M. Young
C. M. Young
Affiliation:
Department of Demography, Australian National University, Canberra
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

From data from the 1971 Melbourne Family Survey a comparison has been made of the number of children that respondents first planned to have, their expected family size, and their preferred family size, to determine factors associated with their ability to adhere to the original plans, and satisfaction with their ultimate family size. The data suggest that, after beginning their childbearing, some women change their minds about how many children they want, while others are unable to have as many children as they want or else have more than they really want. A substantial proportion of women would have preferred to have a family size different from the one they have attained, and more consistent with the number of children they had originally planned.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , July 1974 , pp. 295 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © 1974, Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bumpass, L.L. & Westoff, C.F. (1970) The stability of family size desires. In: The Later Years of Childbearing, Chap. II, p. 19. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Caldwell, J.C., Young, C., Ware, H., Lavis, D. & Davis, A. (1973) Australia: knowledge, attitudes and practice of family planning in Melbourne. Stud. Fam. Plann. 4, 49.Google Scholar
Campbell, A.A., Whelpton, P.K. & Tomasson, R.F. (1963) The reliability of birth expectations of US wives. In: Proceedings of the International Population Conference, New York, 1961, p. 49. IUSSP, John Wright & Sons, London.Google Scholar
Davidson, M. (1971) Expectations of additional children by race, parity, and selected socio-economic characteristics, United States: 1967. Demography, 8, 27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freedman, R.C., Coombs, L.C. & Bumpass, L. (1965) Stability and change in expectations about family size; a longitudinal study. Demography, 2, 250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, D., Sharp, H. & Freedman, R. (1959) The stability and reliability of expected family size data. Milbank meml Fund q. Bull. 38, 369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heeren, H.J. & Moors, H.G. (1969) Family planning and differential fertility in a Dutch city. J. Marr. & Fam. 31, 588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhsam, H.V. & Kiser, C.V. (1956) The number of children desired at the time of marriage. Milbank meml Fund q. Bull. 34, 287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peel, J. (1972) The Hull Family Survey. II. Family planning in the first five years of marriage. J. biosoc. Sci. 4, 333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ware, H. (1973) The limits of acceptable family size. J. biosoc. Sci. 5, 309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, C.M. (1973) Editing a large-scale demographic survey—the experience of the Melbourne Family Survey. Aust. J. Statist. 15, 152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar