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Ideal family size in the Irish Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

K. Wilson-Davis
K. Wilson-Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Social Studies, Ulster Polytechnic, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland
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Summary

Summary From a survey conducted in the Irish Republic, data on ideal family size are given. Irish wives have high family size preferences, the overall mean ideal family size being 4.3 children. The Irish data are compared with American and western European; they show that the ideals of wives in Ireland are significantly higher than in these other countries. The concept of ideal family size appears to possess validity in its own right, and is not solely a rationalization of actual fertility experience.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , January 1980 , pp. 15 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © 1980, Cambridge University Press

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