The Valuation of Children and Parenthood Among the Voluntarily Childless and Parental Couples in Canada

Abstract

Recent demographic evidence indicating a declining fertility rate, developments such as the increase in the participation of married women in the labor force, and the emergence of alternatives to traditional marriage and family patterns seem to suggest a subtle shift in attitudes toward children and parenthood in Canada. The present study attempts to examine the nature of such a shift by exploring certain values that presumably influence fertility decisions among a nonrandom sample of couples with children and those who are intentionally childless. The two main reasons for bearing and rearing children are ‘the satisfaction of emotional needs’ of parents and ‘perpetuation of the family name and other symbolic attributes.’ The childless couples perceived children as impediments to self-actualization which entails educational and occupational success. They tended to view children as obstacles to the development of a couple-centered marital relationship and conjugal solidarity.