Tekijät

• Miettinen, Anneli (Family Federation of Finland. Population Research Institute)

Asiasanat

babies, childhood, delivery (pregnancy), families, family life, family planning, family size, partnerships (personal), pregnancy

Sisällön kuvaus

The study charted Finnish views on ideals and plans about having children. Main themes included starting a family, the ideal size of a family, pregnancy, obstacles faced in having children, personal partnership and desire to have a baby. The study was funded by the Family Federation of Finland, Alli Paasikivi Foundation and Suomen kotien kukkasrahasto foundation.

The first set of questions focused on the personal partnerships of the participants, investigating, for example, satisfaction with the relationship and expectations for the relationship in the future. The respondents' childhood homes were studied with questions on, for example, happiness, conflicts, financial problems and support received from parents.

Some questions focused on children, charting, for example, the housing arrangements of the children and whether the respondent and their spouse had children from previous relationships. Pregnancy was examined through questions relating to the most important reasons behind the decision to have a child, specifically the respondent's youngest child, (e.g. the desire to have a sibling for older children or a strong desire to have a baby) as well as any challenges and concerns faced when the child was born (e.g. financial circumstances, health of the parents or the baby). Ideal family size and the appriopriate age to become a parent or have the last child were surveyed.

Next, the respondents were asked questions relating to pregnancy. Questions examined, for example, willingness and hope for pregnancy (either the respondent or their spouse) in the near future, reasons for not having a child and the perceived impacts having a baby would have on the respondents' lives (e.g. financial problems, less opportunities for work, positive impact on relationships and social life). Values and attitudes were also charted with questions focusing on, for example, the importance of work, family and hobbies in the respondents' lives and the feelings they had when interacting with babies and children (e.g. whether they wanted to have a child after holding a baby or wanted to get as far away as possible when hearing a baby cry). Statements relating to not wanting to have children after interacting with someone else's child or seeing them cry or have a tantrum were presented to both those who had and did not have children.

Health-related questions investigated satisfaction with life, smoking, alcohol use, birth control methods and mental health. Finally, the respondents who were women were asked about their pregnancies and experiences related to pregnancies. The time spent trying to get pregnant, the number of times the respondent had been pregnant, possible fertility treatments and miscarriages were charted.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, year of birth, number of children, marital status, household composition, perceived social class, level of education and annual personal and household income. Information was also collected on the spouse's gender, year of birth, level of education and occupational status.