ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE FAMILY AND FERTILITY INTENTIONS AMONG YOUNG CANADIAN MEN AND WOMEN GERMAIN BINGOLY AND ÉVELYNE LAPIERRE-ADAMCYK CENTRE INTERUNIVERSITAIRE D'ÉTUDES DÉMOGRAPHIQUES UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL

OBJECTIVES To examine information on attitudes towards the family to establish where young Canadians stand on a continuum going from a more traditional conception of the family to a more contemporary one. To establish the existence of a relationship between attitudes towards the family and fertility intentions expressed by young Canadians

DATA AND METHODS DATA 1995 GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY (STATISTICS CANADA)  REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF MEN AND WOMEN AGED 15 AND OVER, LIVING IN THE 10 CANADIAN PROVINCES, EXCLUDING YUKON, NORTH WESTERN TERRITORIES AND NUNAVUT  SELECTION : YEARS OLD METHODS  FACTOR ANALYSIS  LOGISTIC REGRESSION

RESULTS FERTILITY INTENTIONS: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN AND VARIATIONS BETWEEN SOCIOECONOMIC GROUPS ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE FAMILY: A FACTOR ANALYSIS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDES AND FERTILITY INTENTIONS RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AND ATTITUDES ON FERTILITY INTENTIONS

DISTRIBUTION OF YOUNG CANADIAN MEN AND WOMEN BY EXPECTED NUMBER OF CHILDREN, YEARS OLD*, 1995 Expected Number of Children WomenMenTotal Total Mean Number of Children 4,8 5,3 51,5 25,8 9,4 3,2 100,0 2,39 5,6 56,8 22,4 7,3 2,4 100,0 2,27 5,2 5,4 54,2 24,1 8,3 2,8 100,0 2,33

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AND FERTILITY INTENTIONS RELIGIOSITY: MORE INTENSE RELIGIOSITY, HIGHER EXPECTED NUMBER OF CHILDREN (NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN) INTENTIONS OF MARRYING: HIGHER EXPECTED NUMBER OF CHILDREN FOR YOUNG MEN WHO INTEND TO MARRY; NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES AMONG WOMEN NUMBER OF KINS: HIGHER NUMBER OF KINS, HIGHER EXPECTED NUMBER OF CHILDREN (NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN) LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION AND EDUCATION: WEAK RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND INTENTIONS AMONG EMPLOYED MEN AND WOMEN; THE SAME, FOR WOMEN WHO ARE STILL STUDENT; HIGHER FERTILITLY INTENTIONS AMONG HIGHLY EDUCATED MALE STUDENT.

FACTOR ANALYSIS OF QUESTIONS ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE FAMILY ItemsFactor Saturations 1234 K30 Reason to split up:disagreement about no. of kids K29 Reason to split up:inability to have children K31 Reason to split up:conflict on child raising K27 Reason to split up:unfaithful partner C9 Importance of being married C10 Importance of having at least one child C8 Importance of having a lasting relationship C11 Importance of being able to take a paying job DVC27B A woman should refuse a promotion at work DVC27 A man should refuse a promotion at work DVC26 A man s role is to bring enough money home DVC25 Raising children is not a man s responsibility DVC22 What most women really want is a home and children DVC24 What men want is to be successful in their job 0,905* 0,834* 0,753* 0,651* 0,002 -0,051 0,125 0,033 0,021 0,035 0,006 0,064 -0,011 -0,003 0,000 -0,009 -0,032 0,064 0,869* 0,799* 0,607* 0,018 0,005 -0,025 0,015 0,021 0,074 0,016 -0,047 -0,054 0,062 0,008 -0,041 -0,013 0,016 -0,938* -0,883* 0,027 0,079 -0,126 -0,143 -0,000 -0,035 -0,029 0,085 -0,112 -0,016 0,178 0,136 0,019 0,030 0,780* 0,757* 0,592* 0,550* Values : Total ExplainedVariance ( %) Standardized alpha α 5,985 40,157 0,87 1,734 9,757 0,84 1,346 8,005 0,94 1,047 4,803 0,80

DISTRIBUTION OF MEN AND WOMEN ACCORDING TO THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE FAMILY

FACTORS RELATED TO FERTILITY INTENTIONS VARIATIONS

CONCLUDING REMARKS ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE FAMILY ARE SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED WITH FERTILITY INTENTIONS  PROPORTION NOT WANTING ANY CHILDREN MODERN ATTITUDES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER PROPORTION NOT WANTING ANY CHILDREN THIS IS STRONGER FOR YOUNG WOMEN THAN FOR MEN THE INTENTION NOT TO MARRY IS ALSO STRONGLY RELATED TO HIGHER PROPORTION NOT WANTING ANY CHILDREN SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS: MUCH LESS SIGNIFICANT WHEN ATTITUDES ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT

CONCLUDING REMARKS SUITE  PROPORTION WANTING 3 OR MORE CHILDREN MODERN ATTITUDES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER PROPORTION WANTING 3+ CHILDREN THIS IS STRONGER FOR YOUNG MEN THAN FOR WOMEN THE INTENTION NOT TO MARRY IS ALSO STRONGLY RELATED TO LOWER PROPORTION WANTING 3+ CHILDREN SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS: REMAIN SIGNIFICANT FOR MEN, BUT NOT FOR WOMEN, EXCEPT FOR SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND RESIDENCE IN QUÉBEC, WHEN ATTITUDES ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT