Antecedents of Late Birthtiming Decisions of Men and Women in Dual-Career Marriages

Abstract

This research develops a model of the antecedent factors associated with decisions of US men and women in dual-career marriages. Evidence from in-depth interviews with 30 recent fathers and mothers suggests that the biological time clock precipitates a reassessment of family injunctions about the status of education occupation finances and marriage which in turn precipitates issues about sex-role identity and individuation before deciding to have a child. The term late birthtiming in this paper refers to people whose 1st births were after 30 years of age. People who delay childbearing appear to have had strong family messages about but the pressure from the biological time clock appears to cause an assessment of whether all the specific factors have been met. For the majority of the wives interviewed the biological time clock was a major factor influencing the move to discuss starting a family. The 4 factors (education career finances and marital commitment) that made up the injunctions to delay and then to have children were assessed after the pressure from the biological time clock occurred. The data support the notion that career men as well as career women deal with similar issues about decisions. Marital partners often have differing family messages about child and different personal agendas for goals in education and careers related to those family messages. Marital therapists need to be aware that unresolved personal identity issues may interfere with a positive decision to start a family.