Infertility and Unrealized Ideal Family Size.

We develop and test a conceptual model of factors influencing women's ideal family size (IFS) in a natural fertility population, the Tsimane of Bolivia. The model posits affects of socioecology, reproductive history, maternal condition, and men's IFS. We test three hypotheses for why women may exceed their IFS despite experiencing socioeconomic development: (H(1) ) limited autonomy; (H(2) ) improved maternal condition; and (H(3) ) low returns on investments in embodied capital. Women's reproductive histories and prospective fertility data were collected from 2002 to 2008 (n = 305 women). Semistructured interviews were conducted with Tsimane women to study the perceived value of parental investment (n = 76). Multiple regression, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are used to test model predictions. Women's IFS is predicted by their socioecology, reproductive history, maternal condition, and husband's IFS. Hypotheses 2 and 3 are supported. Couples residing near town have smaller IFS (women = 3.75 ± 1.64; men = 3.87 ± 2.64) and less variance in IFS. However, the degree fertility exceeds IFS is inversely correlated with distance to town (Partial r = -0.189, df = 156, P = 0.018). Women living near town have greater maternal condition but 64% value traditional skills over formal schooling and 88% believe living in town is unfeasible. While reduced IFS is evident with socioeconomic development, fertility decline may not immediately follow. When perceived benefits of investment in novel forms of embodied capital are low, and somatic wealth and large kin networks persist as important components of fitness, fertility may remain high and increase if maternal condition improves.

BackgroundUnderstanding fertility preferences is important for population studies and planning programs. The ideal family size, which is the number of children wanted in one’s lifetime, is one of variables used to measure fertility preferences. However, there was limited information on ideal family size decision in Southern Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was designed to assess ideal family size decision and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in Southern Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 in Southern Ethiopia. Multi-stage stratified cluster sampling was used to select 3,205 study subjects. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, reproductive history, deciding ideal number of children, knowledge and utilization of contraceptives were considered. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were done to describe and assess factors associated with deciding ideal family size. The association between variables was presented using odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals.ResultsWe included 3,205 women of reproductive age from which 37.5% respondents could not read and write and 56.5% were housewives. About half of the respondents, 47.1%, did not decide ideal numeric family size or failed to report numeric preferences while 21.6% desire to have five or more children. The mean ideal number of children preferred was 4.5 ± 1.62. Educational status (P < 0.001), overall knowledge about contraceptives (P < 0.001), current contraceptive use (P < 0.001), place of residence (P < 0.001), age (P < 0.004), marital status (P < 0.003) and number of living children (P < 0.003) were factors associated with deciding ideal family size.ConclusionOnly about half of respondents decided ideal family size from which one fifth prefer high fertility. The mean ideal number of children was comparable with that of Sub-Saharan estimate. Counselling that can empower women to decide family size should be strengthened to empower less empowered women.

Summary Data from a survey of 1699 currently (once) married males are used in examining ideal family size in Northern Ireland, an area where fertility remains quite high by west European standards. Although there are several problems concerning the measurement and use of ideal family size, an analysis of the Northern Irish data indicates that the responses appear to be valid. For example, most respondents can formulate an ideal family size in numerical terms, there is a considerable degree of variation in the responses and these are not necessarily a function of actual family size. Northern Irish family size ideals (mean 3·6) are considerably greater than those of many west European countries and these ideals also vary within Northern Ireland. Religious grouping proves to be the major factor influencing these variations, with Roman Catholics generally expressing an ideal (mean 4·4) for large families. However, other factors are also associated with variations in ideal family size and the paper considers the roles played by education, age, occupation, region of residence and religiosity. Also, ideal family size does not always correspond with actual family size, indicating that while some married men possess relatively large family size ideals but have smaller families, others have large families but favour more moderately sized ideals. It is evident that attitudes to fertility in Northern Ireland are in a state of change. The value of ideal family size data in understanding fertility patterns is emphasized.

Would the persistent inverse relation between educational attainment and family size in the United States be removed if actual fertility were equal to ideal? Data on ideal family size from 10 national surveys among white Americans of both sexes (from 1943 to 1960) show that gradeschool level respondents have higher ideals than the more educated even when age, religious affiliation, and farm residence are used as controls. Comparison of these ideals with the actual family size or ever-fertile women in the United States indicates that, on the average, the actual family size of all major educational groups falls below the ideal, but the college-educated are furthest from their ideal. If this group lessened the gap between actual and ideal family size, the educational differential in fertility would decrease, but at the price of increasing the rate of population growth.

This report presents findings from a study of son and fertility preferences in rural Chitwan district of southern Nepal. Interviews were conducted among a district-wide cluster sample of 769 currently married women and coresident husbands (subsample of 601 wives and coresident husbands). The Multiple Response Fertility Preference (MRFP) Scale was administered to all respondents who reported an ideal family size of three or fewer children (85% of the full sample). Researchers found that over 50% reported an ideal family size of two children. Over 30% reported an ideal of three children. 45% desired one son. Almost 50% desired two sons. About 70% desired at least one daughter. 14% desired no daughters. The MRFP asked respondents to indicate preferences based on two pictures: one depicted a completed family with the ideal family size but not the preferred number of sons; the other depicted a larger than ideal family size with the preferred number of sons. Respondents were also asked to chose between three hypothetical completed families: a family with one more child than the ideal; a family with twice the ideal size; and a family with six children. Men and women both chose families larger than the stated ideal. 66% of wives and 79% of husbands chose a family with the desired number of sons and one child over the ideal family size compared to the ideal family size and no sons. 34% of wives and 47% of husbands chose a family twice the desired size. 21% of wives and 33% of husbands chose a six-child family. Respondents who desired two sons chose larger families than those who desired only one son. 54% of wives and 43% of husbands chose to have one less son rather than a larger family and their son preference. 70% accepted the ideal family size without a daughter. As the number of sons rose sterilization increased. The researcher points out that a few questions about son and ideal preferences mask spouse differences and a comprehensive view.

In Chapter 7, we turn to consider the views of the participants in terms of whether or not they would have more children. Framing the chapter is research from the field of demography, which suggests that rather than parents making predetermined decisions about an ideal family size, actual family size is typically decided ad hoc, based on experiences with a first child. This was certainly the case for the participants. One couple had previously thought they would have just one child, and remained committed to one. Some had thought they would have more than one and after the birth of a child felt that one was enough, and conversely some thought they would only have one and after the birth of a child felt that they might have more. Some of the couples had yet to decide, and one had already had a second child and another was pregnant with their second child. These diverse decisions highlight how experiences of new parenthood differentially shape decisions about ideal family size.

Ideal family size (IFS) is measured in social surveys to indicate unmet need for contraception and impending shifts in fertility behaviour. Whether exceeding IFS affects parental behaviour in ways that result in lower investments in child nutrition, well-being, and educational attainment is not known. This study examines parental IFS and the association between exceeding stated ideals and child nutritional status in a high-fertility, high-mortality population in the Bolivian Amazon. Height-for-age z-scores, weight-for-age z-scores, weight-for-height z-scores, stunting, haemoglobin, and anaemia status in 638 children aged 0-5years are predicted as a function of birth order in relation to parental IFS, adjusting for household characteristics and mother and child random effects. Children of birth orders above paternal IFS experience higher weight-for-age z-scores when living further away from the market town of San Borja, consistent with underlying motivations for higher IFS and lower human capital investment in children in more remote areas (β=.009, p=.027). Overall, we find no statistical evidence that birth orders in excess of parental ideals are associated with compromised child nutrition below age 2, a period of intensive breastfeeding in this population. Despite a vulnerability to nutritional deficiencies postweaning for children age 2-5, there was no association between birth order in excess of parental ideals and lower nutritional status. Further studies examining this association at various stages of the fertility transition will elucidate whether reported ideal or optimal family sizes are flexible as trade-offs between quality and quantity of children shift during the transition to lower fertility.

ObjectiveThis brief report explores whether the COVID‐19 Pandemic impacted ideal family size in the United States.BackgroundAlthough COVID‐19 negatively impacted short‐term fertility expectations, preferences, and behaviors in the United States, it remains unknown whether the pandemic contributed to changes in family size ideals more broadly.MethodThe sample consists of 1823 respondents from the General Social Survey (GSS) who were originally interviewed before the COVID‐19 pandemic (in 2016 and 2018) and were re‐interviewed in the first 6 months of the COVID‐19 pandemic (in August/September 2020), a period when pandemic‐related stress and uncertainty was particularly pronounced. A within‐person fixed effects approach is utilized.ResultsFindings from within‐person fixed effects analyses suggested that the pandemic had no impact on the quantum of ideal family size responses. These findings were robust to alternative specifications and were similar to what was observed in a parallel analysis of how the Great Recession impacted ideal family size.ConclusionFindings pointed to stability in ideal family size in the first 6 months of the COVID‐19 pandemic in the US.ImplicationsFuture work should explore the disjuncture between short‐term fertility intentions and behaviors and longer‐term family size ideals.

520 lying-in patients in 7 maternity wards (in 1 hospital and 6 health centers) in Nyeri District Kenya were interviewed about their knowledge and attitudes regarding family planning. 52% of the women were in their 20s while 17% were less than 20 and 31% were between 30 and 44; 15% were unmarried (55% of those between 15 and 19 years of age were single). The majority of the married women (60.4%) were wives of farmers. The patients had an average of 3.7 children although the ideal family size stated for the group was 5.1. There seemed to be a correlation between ideal family size and age as well as with actual number of children. The youngest age group had an average of 1.1 children and considered 4 the ideal number of children; the oldest groups 35-39 with 6.3 children and 40-44 with 7.1 children considered 5.7 and 7.3 the ideal number of children respectively. An inverse relation was found between the number of children and the percentage of women desiring more children. Less than 50% of the women with none to 5 children demonstrated any tendency toward child spacing. Results of the study suggest that ideal family size cannot be expected to predict actual future family size. Additionally level of education was insignificantly related to knowledge of or interest in family planning. The possibility that inclusion of family planning in school curricula might improve this situation was suggested.

The attempt was made in this study to further investigate Adamchak's (1977) findings that women whose mothers had been employed around the time the respondent was 16 had a higher ideal family size than those women whose mothers had not been employed. The sample used was drawn from the 1975-1978 General Social Surveys conducted by the US National Opinion Research Center. Following Adamchak, the sample was limited to married females between the ages of 18-49. Duplication of the Adamchak study was not achieved. When ideal family size 1 was cross-tabulated with mother worked, age 16, the respondents whose mothers had worked had a smaller mean ideal family size (2.36 children) than those whose mothers had not worked (2.46 children). For ideal family size 2 (including the "as many as you want" responses in the uppermost category), both groups reported 2.49 children as the mean ideal. The "4+" categories in the 2 cross-tabulations were increased much more for those whose mothers did work when the "as many as you want" response was included. When the findings of this study were compared with those of the Adamchak (1977) study, it became obvious that neither of the current definitions of family size produced results compatible with the earlier findings. Close inspection of the figures revealed some major discrepancies. Adamchak reported that 33.1% of the respondents whose mothers had worked and 39.8% of those whose mothers had not worked selected zero or 1 child as ideal. In this study, only around 3% of those whose mothers had worked and around 4% of those whose mothers had not worked selected this category, using either definition of ideal family size. Additionally, over 1/2 of the respondents (n=199) in the current study saw 2 children as ideal, but Adamchak reported only about 20% of his sample selected this response.

Contemporary efforts in family planning research emphasize the suitability of contraceptives for realizing desired or ideal family size. Most, however, adopt the notion that family size is conceived of as a fixed number rather than a range of acceptable sizes. This study focuses on the latter concept and attempts to isolate those factors which are related to the magnitude of such a range. Based on data developed from structured interviews with 9,189 ever‐married Philippine women in the childbearing years, the results suggest that women do tend to conceive of future family size in terms of a range rather than a fixed number. Current and ideal family size are positively related to the magnitude of this range suggesting that family size norms become less rather than more crystallized as a function of increments in family size. Demographic characteristics such as age and length of marriage are also positively related to the size of the range of acceptable family size. Level of female's education, on the other hand, is negatively related to the magnitude of this range suggesting that those with higher levels of education have more crystallized norms regarding family size than do those with lower levels of education.

The role of the personal ideal family size for international migrants has rarely been studied in the current debate on fertility and migration in the European context. It is not known to which extent the reduction of fertility observed among immigrants who settle in a country where fertility is lower than in their country of origin is the result of a change in fertility norms among those immigrants. The study of migrants’ ideals family size has the potential to shed light on fertility norms without the interference of economic conditions and migration-related disruptive phenomena. Due to the complexity of its migration context, Italy is an interesting destination country for studying changes in migrants’ ideal family sizes. This paper uses data from the survey of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) on immigrant families conducted in 2011-12. We compare the personal ideal family size of women of reproductive age with the prevalent norm in their country of origin, applying a multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results show that the country of origin has an important role in the determination of immigrants’ ideal family sizes. Women from countries where large families are the ideal are more likely to show a lower personal ideal family size compared to their non-migrant co-nationals, while women from countries where two children are considered ideal mostly share the same norm. The occurrence of fertility preferences expressed in a non-numeric form (e.g. “Up to God”) changes between women with different countries of origin. This study confirms that conformity with the ideal of the country of origin is more likely among women who migrated as adults. At the same time, the number of years spent in the destination country is not significantly associated with a shift away from the norms prevalent in the country of origin. Finally, female empowerment and gender equity show their effects mainly on the reduction of non-numeric responses. * This article belongs to a special issue on migrant fertility.

The role of the personal ideal family size for international migrants has rarely been studied in the current debate on fertility and migration in the European context. It is not known to which extent the reduction of fertility observed among immigrants who settle in a country where fertility is lower than in their country of origin is the result of a change in fertility norms among those immigrants. The study of migrants’ ideals family size has the potential to shed light on fertility norms without the interference of economic conditions and migration-related disruptive phenomena. Due to the complexity of its migration context, Italy is an interesting destination country for studying changes in migrants’ ideal family sizes. This paper uses data from the survey of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) on immigrant families conducted in 2011-12. We compare the personal ideal family size of women of reproductive age with the prevalent norm in their country of origin, applying a multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results show that the country of origin has an important role in the determination of immigrants’ ideal family sizes. Women from countries where large families are the ideal are more likely to show a lower personal ideal family size compared to their non-migrant co-nationals, while women from countries where two children are considered ideal mostly share the same norm. The occurrence of fertility preferences expressed in a non-numeric form (e.g. “Up to God”) changes between women with different countries of origin. This study confirms that conformity with the ideal of the country of origin is more likely among women who migrated as adults. At the same time, the number of years spent in the destination country is not significantly associated with a shift away from the norms prevalent in the country of origin. Finally, female empowerment and gender equity show their effects mainly on the reduction of non-numeric responses. * This article belongs to a special issue on migrant fertility.

George Gallup polled "ideal family size" in 1936 and introduced a concept which subsequently appeared in many polls and fertility surveys. Previous research shows that ideal is a poor measure of respondent's personal fertility plans or behavior and that among researchers there is little agreement about what ideal family size does measure, if anything. Construct validity analysis based on historical, trend, and cross-sectional data suggests that the late 1960s saw ideal politicized as preoccupation with the "population problem" grew. Ideal family size is now appropriately regarded as a measure of a societal pronatalist norm and not merely a projected fertility preference.

A sample of 1,123 sixth, ninth, and twelfth graders in two Southern counties was questioned to ascertain how many children they think is ideal. More than three-fourths of the students in each grade had given thought to an ideal number of children for themselves; fewer had thought about the ideal number for the average American couple. Two and three children were the modal responses; mean ideal sizes were 3.02 for self and 3.16 for the average couple. The range of acceptable fertility behavior, “too few” or “too many” children, is defined by medians of 1.56 and 5.96. Ideal and acceptable family sizes increase slightly in the higher grades. A sex difference in ideals appeared only at grade 12; girls wanted more children. Negroes wanted fewer children than did whites at grade 6, more at grade 12. Size of family of orientation was directly related to ideals at grades 6 and 9, but the relation was curvilinear at grade 12. The direct relation between ideals and socioeconomic status became more pronounced at grade 12. Ideal sizes were larger for Catholics than for other religious groups. The study lends at least minimal support to the notion that early socialization affects ideas about family size.