Attitudes that Differentiate Alternative Family Size Ideals

Roderic Beaujot, University of Western Ontario
Amir Erfani, University of Western Ontario

Taking advantage of both a national survey on families (Canadian General Social Survey 2000 on Family) and a local qualitative survey (Orientations to Relationships and Childbearing over the Life Course), this paper analyses the attitudes that differentiate respondents in types of orientations regarding family questions. While there is strong prevalence of two children as the desired family size, it is important to differentiate the sets of attitudes that are related to alternate family size preferences. It is also useful to differentiate persons who do not intend to have children. Preliminary analysis shows, for instance, that people who say they would "stay together for the sake of the children" are less likely to indicate that they do not expect to have children, as are people who attach less importance to "marriage" in contrast with "relationships" as a basis for having a happy life.