Motives for making decisions about having a first child by modern women of different life orientations

Abstract

The aim of the research was to know the factors that motivate women to decide about conceiving and having their first child depending on their preferences in terms of life orientations. The type of life orientation was analysed based on the Agata Cudowska's Life Orientation Survey Scale. The research was carried out in a group of 206 women from the Podlaskie Voivodeship, with the use of diagnostic survey method. To present the respondents more clearly, I divided them into four groups, due to the fact that they indicated many motives conditioning their family plans. The analysis of empirical data allows for the conclusion that the decision to have children depends on a combination of many factors, and their share is very similar both among family-oriented women and those who prefer not to have children. Although, it is worth emphasizing that in the group of family-oriented mothers, women decide to have their first child between 20 and 34 years of age, while among mothers with other life orientations, there were more women postponing childbirth after the age of 35.