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T; 5:93;: I’ ‘ ' '1 I: ‘_)-'-. u; f‘Z'E‘L. -‘,_A- -_)“I (AH .TéIIA- '_.‘IL'_'£¥-..V.. vi! 7.1:A',;t-d_b,g.l: .5“ fl r’ :1 " , _ .5 IAIIII a“; ,, 5...; I ‘41 Ag“. [17%. 1:13‘IFQ) 3’1": ‘ '1. r I' ‘ A S A 'I A! AAAAA THESS. M Li] um; militant w! :w H mm m a! I [a T 10063 This is to certify that the thesis entitled FEELINGS REGARDING HAVING CHILDREN AGAIN AND PERCEIVED SATISFACTION WITH LIFE presented by Sharon L. Vliet . has been accepted towards fulfillment L of the requirements for ' M-A- degree in Faim'lv and Chiid Sciences Major professor Date June 25, 1979 0-7 539 OVERDUE FINES ARE 25¢ PER DAY PER ITEM Return to book drop to remove this checkout from your record. 5 u .' ‘ét‘ .- FEELINGS REGARDING HAVING CHILDREN AGAIN AND PERCEIVED SATISFACTION WITH LIFE By Sharon L. Viiet A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partiaT fulfiiiment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Family and Child Sciences 1979 To Rodney, Danai and Melanie ii ABSTRACT FEELINGS REGARDING HAVING CHILDREN AGAIN AND PERCEIVED SATISFACTION WITH LIFE By Sharon L. Vliet The primary objective of the current study was to investigate the strength of parental feelings about having children again and its relationship to perceived satisfaction with the domains of children, family life and perceived overall quality of life (POQL). The demo- graphic variables of total number of children in the family, family income, race and age of parents were used to look at the perceptual variables. Reasons stated by respondents for feelings about having children again were also examined. Both perceptual and objective indicators were used to measure parental feelings as related to the domain satisfaction areas. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized and completed by respon- dents in a larger research project conducted by Bubolz and Slocum (1977) of which this study is a part. A sample of 178 husband-wife' couples were included in this study who had at least one child living at home. The strength of parental feelings was determined by scoring each response on a l to 6 scale. Reasons stated by husbands and wives were coded into six major categories for evaluation. Statistical and descriptive measures are used to test the hypotheses in the study. Pearson product-moment correlations, analysis of covariance, Sharon L. Vliet chi-square tests and detailed descriptive analysis were utilized to measure the hypotheses. Results indicate that feelings about having children again are significant at the .001 alpha level for both husbands and wives when correlated with satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. Agreement between husbands and wives regarding having children again was found to be significant at the .05 level for husbands and wives when correlated with satisfaction with children and family life. It is significant for husbands when correlated with POQL at the .05 alpha level but was not significant for wives (.063). The analysis of covariance revealed that the null hypothe- sis was rejected for wives in relationship to parental feelings, children and family life but was not rejected for wives in relation- ship to POQL or for husbands in any of the domain areas when co- varied with the variables of age, income, race, and number of children. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Alice Whiren, Chairperson of my thesis committee and advisor during my work at Michigan State University for her many hours of critical and in- sightful evaluation in producing this research study. A special thank you is also extended to Dr. Margaret Bubolz for providing im- petus to the study, helping to define the nature of the project, providing materials for the study and for her gracious nature in serving on my committee. I also wish to thank Dr. Donald Melcer for serving on my committee and for his constant encouragement and insights into the study of the family. A debt of gratitude is also expressed to Janet Vredevoogd for her expertise with computers and willingness to c00perate with me in getting the necessary data. A special thank you is given to my husband, Rodney, for his constant encouragement, support and faith in my abilities and to my daughters, Danai and Melanie for their extra support around the house in order for mom to have time to complete this study. I also wish to thank my parents, Dorothy and Sidney Anderson, for instilling in me a desire to attain and to do my best. Thank you also to my mother and father-in-law, Paul and Mildred Vliet who have supported me constantly with their love and concern. Thank you also to the Michigan State University Agricul- tural Experiment Station for providing materials and financial support. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION . . . ........... . . Importance of Study . . . . ..... . . . Statement of the Problem ...... . . . . Conceptual Framework . ....... . . . . Objectives . . . . . . . . . ..... . . . Operational Definitions . . ..... . . Swmmy .. ... .. ....... . ... II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE . ..... . . . . . . Quality of Life Studies ..... . . . . . Family Life Studies . . . ...... . Children and Marriage . ..... . . Value of Children . ..... . . . . . Family Size . . . ....... . . . . Income . . . . ...... . . . . . . . 111. Age of Parents . . . . . . . . . . Race 0 O C O O O O O O O O O O O O I O 0 Summary of Earlier Research and Relationship to Current Study . . . . . . . . . . . . METHODOLOGY Quality of Life Indicators . . . . . . Hypotheses and Research Question . . . Research Design and Instrument . . . . The Sample ... . . . . . . . . . . . . The Overall Project Sample . . . . . . Description of Current Research Sample Questionnaire Measures . . . . . . . . . . Perceptual Indicators . . . . . . . . Objective Variables . . . . . . . iv Page 14 15 17 19 19 24 24 31 41 44 46 46 47 52 52 53 54 54 56 6O 60 68 Chapter Page Data Analysis Procedures ..... . . . . . ....... 7O Swmmy .. . ........... . ... ..... N IV. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...... . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Overall Satisfaction Levels . . . . . . . . . . ..... 74 HypOtheSis 1 O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 77 Hypothesis 2 . . ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Research Question 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Summary 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 112 Hypothesis 1 . . . O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 118 Hypothesis 2 . ........... . . . . . . . . . . 119 Research Question 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 REFERENCES . . . . ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 126 APPENDICES ............... . . . . . . . . . . . I30 APPENDIX A: Questionnaire . . . . . . . . ....... 130 APPENDIX B. APPENDIX C: TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE TABLE A: 10"" Andrews and Withey Model . . . . . . . . . 140 Frequency Tables . . . . . . . . ..... 141 Frequency of Responses Concerning Per- ceived Overall Quality of Life ...... 141 Frequency of Responses Concerning Satis- faction with Family Life ......... 142 Frequency of Responses Concerning Satis- faction with Children .......... 143 Respondents' Age in Years ........ 144 Race of Respondents ........... 144 Income Level of Family in Dollars . . . . 145 Number of Children in Family ....... 146 Children Born to Family ......... 146 Frequency of Responses Concerning Feelings Regarding Having Children Again ..... 147 Chapter Page TABLE J: Frequency of Husband and Wife Reasons for Feelings About Having Children Again . 148 TABLE K: Frequencies of Stated Reasons for Feel- ings About Having Children Again by Code Numbers ............... 149 TABLE L: F-Tests for Working vs. Nonworking Wives on Parental Feelings, Satisfaction with Children, Family Life and POQL ...... 150 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. 11. 12. 13. Frequency Distribution of Age Categories of Husbands and Wives ...................... Summary of Perceptual Measures Used to Test Hypotheses ..................... Classification Codes Obtained from Responses to the Open-Ended Question, "Why do You Feel as You Do About Having Children?" (Item 6.4d) ....... Frequency of Scores of Satisfaction Levels of Husbands and Wives on POQL, Satisfaction with Family Life and Satisfaction with Children ........... Correlations Between Statements About Feelings Regard- ing Having Children Again and Satisfaction with POQL, Family Life and Children ........... Crosstabulation of Couples Strength of Agreement About Feelings Regarding Having Children Again ...... MANCOVA Summary Table: Perceptual Variables Covaried with Age, Number of Children, and Family Income by Race ....................... Summary Table: Stepdown Regression Analysis F-Tests for All Perceptual Variables Covaried with Age, Number of Children and Family Income by Race Crosstabulations Between Parental Feelings and Age Crosstabulation Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and Age ............... Crosstabulation Between Parental Feelings and Race Crosstabulations Between Reasons for Having Children Again and Race ................... Crosstabulation Between Parental Feelings and Family Income .................... vii Page 58 60 64 75 78 81 86 87 88 91 94 97 Table Page 14. Crosstabulation Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and Family Income ........ 100 15. Crosstabulation Between Parental Feelings and Number of Children ............... 101 16. Crosstabulation Between Reasons for Having Children Again and Number of Children ......... 104 17. Crosstabulation of Feelings Regarding Having Children Again and Reasons Given for Feelings ...... 107 18. Crosstabulation Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and Satisfaction with Children . 109 19. Crosstabulations Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and Satisfaction with Family Life ................ 110 20. Crosstabulation Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and POQL ............ 111 21. Summary of Hypotheses Results ............. 117 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Basic Model of the Relationship Between Objective Environmental Characteristics and the Experienced Level of Satisfaction with a Domain ........ 2. Income Level of Family in Dollars ........... 3. Percentages of Husbands' and Wives' Feelings About Having Children Again ............... 4. Frequencies and Percentages of Agreement Scores of Couples Stated Feelings Regarding Having Children Again ............... ix Page 59 79 83 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Families have been studied in a variety of ways over the centuries from various philosophical vantage points. Mothers' re- sponses were sought in some empirical studies, others sought child- rens' responses, a few others have obtained data from husbands and fathers, and still others have incorporated data from various com- binations of these groups or individuals. The quality of life of Americans has been a concern of governmental and social agencies in the past two decades. Measure- ment of objective aspects of quality of life have been implemented by the government in the form of the Gross National Product index which gives to goods produced and services rendered a dollar value. These economic indicators, however, cannot measure adequately the affective aspects of the we11 being of Americans. How pepple feel or perceive their quality of 1ife, reflecting their value system, is an equally important ingredient to a complete assessment of the quality of American life. (Satisfaction with one's perceived quality of family life has been determined by Campbell, Converse and Rodgers (1976) to pre- dict how satisfied one perceives overall quality of life to be) In the International Year of the Young Child, it would seem appropriate to investigate how American parents feel about the importance of children as well as how these children influence their parents' per- ceived overall quality of life. Importance of the Study In the past few decades we have heard much concerning this planet's critical problem of overpopulation. Even though this may be true, very little seems to be actually known about just what reasons influence individuals' desire to produce children. In the United States in the past few decades married couples seem to be deciding not to have as many children or in some cases to remain childless. Looking at this phenomena from a holistic perspective, we might assume a number of reasons for this decline. The know- ledge and ease of obtaining contraceptives could be a major reason. The increasing number of working women may also influence this de- cision as well as the fact that couples are tending to marry at a later period in their life. Economic factors may motivate others to limit their family size. Zill (1976) and Christensen (1968) have recognized that an understanding of what motivates people to have children could be most helpful in giving direction to prediction of fertility trends in this country. Indices of childrens' quality of life as well as those for adults are being sought by researchers such as Campbell, enggL. (1976) and Zill (1976). In the report of a study conducted by the National Survey of Children (Zill, 1976), children were asked to respond to the quality of their lives. Christensen (1968) examined the role of parenthood and how it affects the marriage relationship. A study which examines how strongly parents feel about having children again if given the opportunity could be useful in determining if these feelings influence parents' quality of family life and also their perceived overall quality of life. Examining the reasons stated by parents for desiring retrospectively to have children could provide useful information concerning the impact of children on the family life of Americans. Christensen comments in his study: In many societies--particu1arly those of the historical past and of the non-Western world today--blood bonds are stronger than marital bonds, and hence the parent-child re- lationship is considered more important than the husband- wife relationship. Not so in the contemporary Western family system, however, and particularly "not so" within the United States today. Here, the consanguine or extended family, which cuts across several generations, has given ground to the nuclear family of husband, wife, and immediate children; kinship ties have been greatly weakened, and children have come to be regarded almost as an appendage to, rather than the reason for, the mar— riage. In other times and places, asking how parenthood af- fects the marriage would likely be considered inappropriate. Here and now the question is quite relevant (p. 284a). It appears that norms concerning marriage and parenthood have changed dramatically over the last twenty years. Today marriage and parenthood are not viewed as necessary as they once were and people who do not choose those roles are not considered as socially deviant as once was the case. The U. S. Department of Commerce's Social Indicators 1976 illustrates that while family roles have changed, the change may not be nearly as great as once was expected. They found in 1960 husband-wife families made up 87.8 percent of the American papulation. In 1975, husband-wife families made up 84.3 percent. We still find that while divorce is more common and there is an increase in the number of families headed by single parents, and societal attitudes are more tolerant, most people do still marry and have children. (The Foundation for Child Development conducted a study between September and December 1976 in which opportunity was pro- vided for children to communicate how they perceived their quality of life in many domains of their livesr As part of the study, re- searchers, directed by Zill (1976) interviewed mothers of the children in the study asking whether the mothers "wanted to become pregnant at that time." They found that one out of seven children was an unwanted pregnancy. Less than half of the children in the survey were a result of a planned pregnancy. They reported dif- ficulties experienced by some of these unpianned children:. These children were reported to be in significantly poorer health than their planned counterparts, had more learning problems in school and were prone to have more accidents or injuries. This is not to say that the differences are caused by being an unwanted child alone; the social and economic situ- ation of the family also plays a part. Nevertheless, the state of American children as a whole would be better if these mothers had been successful in controlling their fertility p. 19 . This study points out the importance of looking more ex- tensively at various aspects of the childs' quality of life. Be- cause it is very difficult to look at the quality of life of very young children apart from their families, particularly their parents, I have chosen to examine an aspect of the family that would measure in part the quality of life of tre family, realizing that if(parents -n ,r . perceive their quality of life as satisfactory, their children may be more likely to also perceive their quality of life to be satisfactory.I An awareness of the various satisfactions parents gain from having children may lead to a better understanding of the parent-child relationship. An examination of reasons husbands and wives give for their feelings about having children again may indi- cate qualities that influence parental satisfaction which in turn may influence family life satisfaction and POQL. Statement of the Problem Parents will be examined in this study because they repre- sent that segment of society which impacts most directly on the well-being of children. More specifically, responses of husbands and wives to the question "if you had it to do over again would you have children?" will be examined. The strength of husband-wife re- sponses are looked at as well as the reasons stated for feeling as they do about having children again. Perhaps in this way some in- dicators can be determined which may predict satisfaction or dis— satisfaction with perceived overall quality of life. John Clausen (1966) stresses the importance of the family system by stating: In all societies, the nuclear family is the initial social matrix within which personality is rooted and nourished. It insures continuity of child care and the primacy of certain relationships above all others. The nuclear family of husband, wife, and children is always a part of a kinship system, which, in turn, is an element of the larger social structure and cul- ture. The family orients the child first to his kin and then to community and society (p. l). The term "socialization" designates the process whereby the infant and child is led to take on the way of life of his family and of the larger social group in which he must relate and perform adequately in order ultimately to qualify for full adult status. Perceptual as well as objective indicators are utilized as measures in the study in order to include both aspects of the individual's external physical world and also feelings about that external world. Primary emphasis is placed on the perceptual mea- sures. Campbell (1977) stresses the importance of perceptual in- dicators when he states: We must take account not only of the objective circumstances in which our people live but of the desirable and undesirable impact these circumstances have on their life experience. . . . There is no doubt that we should extend and refine the accounts we keep on standard of living and the objective circumstances of life. They tell us a great deal and they are indispensable. But we will need a different set of accounts to inform us about the subjective experience of life. They will not be as precise or as elegant but they will be measuring the right thing (pp. 7-8 . Both objective and perceptual indicators have been viewed as interrelated as reported by Withey (1974) who concluded that "both the circumstances of people's lives and their feelings about these conditions are woven together so tightly that it is very arti- ficial to talk about them as separate entities" (p. 21). Conceptual Framework The domain-satisfaction model developed by Campbell, Converse and Rodgers (1976) is utilized in this study as a framework for examining the importance of the affective evaluations on the development of the external "real" world of parents. These authors developed this framework in structuring their quality of life study which assumes that experience as well as behavior is a product of the interaction of people with their environment. While people exist in an objectively defined environment, they also perceive a subjectively defined environment. It is the latter psychological environment which the authors term "life space" that people respond to. Both objective and subjective indicators of quality of life are conceived as necessary in the measurement of quality of life. Each provide information important to the other in gaining a global view of satisfaction with life. In this way human mean- ings are given to "cold," objective data. On the other hand, sub- jective data alone could conceal the realities of the human condi- tion of a portion of the population because some people in some situations could adapt to living under extremely adverse conditions. It is also possible to classify indicators by their degree of generality or specificity. In other words, it is possible to look at the value placed on a particular area of the life space of an individual or group as also having relevance in perceptions of quality of life. More specific indicators are generally more useful than the broader measures because they indicate areas of life that may be looked at more closely as impacting on the quality of life and thus provide impetus for public policy changes in more valued areas of life. Campbell, Converse and Rodgers (1976) state: We cannot say with confidence why the domain assessments are more stable and probably more reliable than global reports of well being. However. . . it would not be surprising if evaluations at this familiar and concrete level are more fre- quently rehearsed and settled upon in the respondent's own mind than the more sweeping evaluations of life as a whole. Further- more, if as we suspect, domain satisfactions cumulate in a mean- ingful way to shape the general sense of well-being, it is easy to imagine that the salience of various domains relative to one another may vary rather widely according to the situation at the time of the interview, so that different accumulations might arise from the same domain satisfactions at neighboring points in time (p. 138). Figure 1 illustrates the role of one's perceptions, i.e., standards of comparisons, aspirations and expectations on the objec- tive environments experienced. We thus see demonstrated the analy- sis of linkages between attributes of objective environments and experiences on perceptions of satisfaction. Standards of Comparison Aspirations, Expectations, Etc. Attribute Attribute Attribute Satisfaction v The Objective The Perceived The Evaluated H Domain Figure 1. Basic Model of the Relationship Between Objective Environ- mental Characteristics and the Experienced Level of Satis- faction with a Domain. SOURCE: Campbell, Angus: Converse, Philip E.; Rodgers, Willard L. The Quality of American Life. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1976, p. 13. Assessments of the various attributes of a specific domain are considered to influence satisfaction in the broader domain. For the family domain and the domain of children, for example, examined in this study will be the personal needs and values of husbands' and wives' feelings regarding having children again and the reasons ex- pressed by them for their feelings. There are also objective life conditions that may influence the individual's perceptions of children. While the total number of variables that could influence one's feelings for having children are unknown, it is assumed that an individual comes to some cogni- tive perception of feelings for having children again deriving from pragmatic experiences which determine perceptions of satisfaction regarding the domain of children. How an individual perceives his own condition regarding having had children may determine his satis- faction with the domain of children examined in the present study. How an individual assesses a particular aspect of a specific domain is considered to be dependent on two things: (1) how one perceives the attribute and (2) the standard against which one judges that attribute. Campbell, et a1. (1976) in discussing the relationship of attributes to domains states: The concept of a standard of comparison or a frame of reference for such judgments is admittedly difficult to define and probably depends on multiple criteria at once. The indi- vidual's assessment may derive from any or all of the follow- ing bases of evaluation: aspiration levels, or the situation that a person hopes eventually to attain, where a given domain is concerned; expectation levels, or the situation he feels he is likely to attain in the fairly immediate future: e uit levels, or what he thinks should be true of his situation if perfect justice prevails, given how much he invests in it rela- tive to others; reference group levels, or what he believes to be true of the situation of others with whom he identifies, such as friends and family or others of his income, race, or occupation; personal needs, or the amount of a particular re- ward he may require, such as how much savings to feel secure, how much housing to be comfortable. how much police protection to feel safe; and personal values, concerning such intangibles as freedom, equality, and the—liie. This list, which could be lengthened still further, emphasizes the fact that the con- cept(of a reference level or standard of comparison is a complex one p. 4 . Cross-sectional data can also provide useful information about differences in the perceived quality of life of various parts of the population. Differences between demographic subgroups --~—.——V 10 regarding parental feelings about having children will be utilized as a measure of the domain of satisfaction with family life. Rea- sons stated by parents for their feelings about having children again will also be examined. The concept of a standard of comparison or a frame of reference for making judgments is admittedly difficult to define and probably is dependent on the concurrent interaction of multiple criteria. Parental feelings regarding having children again will be examined in this study to determine if a relationship exists be- tween those feelings and parental feelings of satisfaction with the domains of children,fami1y life and POQL. An individual's perception of any domain attribute is shown to be dependent on, but distinct from, the objective environ- ment. Value systems differ from individual to individual indicating significant variance in perceptions of their respective environments. Experiences, social location and personality traits also serve to differentiate the perceptions of the respective environments. These variables have a significant bearing upon the separate steps in the model. People of distinctive personalities put themselves into specific jobs, homes, and other areas of the objective environ- ment illustrating the impact of perception even in the objective environment of individuals. Participation in any given objective environment creates in turn life experience characterized by such demographic variables as age, income, race, and social status. Rokeach (1973) discusses the difficulties in the approach to the study of human values. He recognizes that two distinct ap- proaches have been utilized in value studies. One looks at values 11 as a personal perception, such as when we say that a person "has a value.“ On the other hand, others view objects as "having values." Values are seen by Rokeach (1973) as enduring. He says: If values were completely stable, individual and social changes would be impossible. If values were completely unstable, con- tinuity of human personality and society would be impossible. Any conception of human values, if it is to be fruitful, must be able to account for the enduring character of values as well as for their changing character (pp. 5-6). Rokeach (1973) suggested two ways of looking at values; "modes of conduct" refer to what Rokeach terms instrumental values, while "end-states of existence" are termed terminal values. Regard- ing these two value concepts he says: This distinction between the two kinds of values--instru- mental and termina1--is an important one that we cannot afford to ignore either in our theoretical thinking or in our attempts to measure values. For one thing, the total number of terminal values is not necessarily the same as the total number of in- strumental values. For another, there is a functional relation- ship between instrumental and terminal values that cannot be ignored (p. 7). In relating the study of values to the standards which are conceptualized by Campbell, et a1. (1976), values are regarded as multifaceted standards that guide conduct in various ways. Rokeach (1973) refers to several ways in which values serve as standards: They (1) lead us to take particular positions on social issues, and (2) predispose us to favor one particular political or re- ligious ideology over another. They are standards employed (3) to guide presentations of the self to others (Goffman, 1959), and (4) to evaluate and jud e, to heap praise and fix blame on ourselves and others. (5? Values are central to the study of comparison processes (Festinger, 1954: Latane, 1966); we employ them as standards to ascertain whether we are as moral and as competent as others. (6) They are, moreover, standards employed to persuade and influence others, to tell us which beliefs, attitudes, values, and actions of others are worth challenging, protesting, and arguing about, or worth try- ing to influence or to change. 12 Finally, (7) values are standards that tell us how to rationalize in the psychoanalytic sense, beliefs, attitudes, and actions that would otherwise be personally and socially unacceptable so that we will end up with personal feelings of morality and competence, both indispensable ingredients for the maintenance and enhancement of self-esteem (p. 13). Rokeach (1973) concludes that only man can be meaning- fully described as possessing values. He says, "values are the cognitive representations and transformations of needs, and man is the only animal capable of such representations and transfor- mations"(p. 20). He goes on to conclude that "values are the cognitive representation not only of individual needs but also of societal and institutional demands" (p. 20). Christensen (1968) examines the nature of values in re- lationship to satisfaction by asking the question, "Children, who needs them?" He states: The implication of this question is that some parents want or need children more than do others, and most importantly, that the values parents place on children determine to some extent how these children affect the parents. Elsewhere we have labeled this intervention of values into the picture "The Principle of Value Relevance"--meaning that the values people hold are relevant to their behavior and to the consequences of this behavior (p. 284a). Morrison (1974) looks at the role of the socio-psychological environment from an ecological framework which also recognizes the interdependence of values and perceptions with the environment. She defines this socio-psychological environment as "those aspects of the behavioral environment which are the human behavior processes which consist of values, attitudes, expectations, customs, tradi- tions, etc., which make up the information and decision-making patterns of individuals and groups" (p. 174). It is from this 13 environment that the perceived evaluated information shapes the environment of the individual and reflects the satisfaction or non- satisfaction with the domains of the individual's life. Human needs are fulfilled after the process of value per- ception is integrated with the environment. The needs that serve as a criteria for evaluating the success or failure of the environ- ments of families in this study are provided by Abraham Maslow (1954) listed below: 1. Physiological needs. The need to survive, need for food, clothing and shelter. These are referred to as the ele- mental needs. Safety and security needs. After the primary needs are satisfied, man desired to keep and protect the things that he had. Social needs. The environment becomes more stable and man seeks to be part of something larger than himself. He has social needs to belong, for sharing and associa- tion with other human beings, for giving and receiving friendship and love. Ego needs. These are needs for developing self-confidence, interdependence, achievement, competence and knowledge. Self-fulfillment needs. These needs express the highest of achievement needs expressing man's desire to realize the full range of his individual potential as a human being. There are also social factors in the environment of the family that influence the performances of the family and affect the 14 value system which in turn affect the satisfaction levels of indi- vidual members of the family. Morrison (1974) suggests that those social institutions have a great deal of direct control over both the behavioral environments of man and also man's human-built en- vironment. She states: This control is expressed by society in the form of rules, regulations and codes of conduct which are standards for human behavior and interaction. Institutions also affect control over material and energy flows by setting standards for use, quantity and quality as well as standards of performance. Institutions reflect the collective values and attitudes of man and society; their function is to protect both human and environmental in- terests and well-being (p. 175). Reasons stated by parents for having children again if given the opportunity are felt to reflect the attitudes and values of those parents regarding the value they place on children. An attempt will be made in this study to determine if a relationship exists between parental feelings about having children again and their satisfaction with the domains of children, family life and perceived overall quality of life. Objectives The objectives of the research are: 1. To investigate the relationship between the strength of parental feelings about having children and satisfaction with the domains of children, family life and perceived overall quality of life. 2. To investigate the strength of feelings of husbands and wife pairs regarding having children again and its relationship 15 to the domains of children, family life and perceived overall quality of life. 3. To investigate if there is a relationship between the demographic variables of total number of children in the family unit, family income, race and age of parents and parental feelings about having children, satisfaction with children, family life, POQL and reasons stated for having children again. 4. To investigate if a relationship exists between hus- bands' and wives' reasons for their feelings about having children again and satisfaction with the domains of children, family life and POQL. Operational Definitions Affective Evaluation: A person's response, selected from seven on— scale categories and three off-scale categories on the Delighted- Terrible (D-T) Scale, to questions pertaining to quality of life domains and overall quality of life. Perceived Overa11_Quality of Life (POQL): Is the simple average of the responses using the D-T Scale to the question "How do you feel about your life as a whole?" (Items 1.1 and 9.2, Appendix A). This item, asked twice in the questionnaire, is referred to as POQL. Satisfaction with FamilygLife: Is the average of the responses (using the D-T Scale) to the question "How do you feel about your own family--your husband or wife, your marriage and your children, if any?" (Items 1.3a and 9.1, Appendix A). This question was asked twice in the questionnaire at approximately half-hour intervals as was the POQL question. 16 Perceptual (or Subjective),1ndicators: Those indicators of well- being based on personal, subjective evaluations of individuals (Andrews, 1974). Objective Indicators: Those indicators of well-being which measure external physical and social conditions of the individual's existence and do not require a personal evaluation of the re- porting individual (Andrews, 1974). Domains: "Places, things, activities, people and roles" (Andrews and Withey, 1976, p. 11). The domains included in this study are POQL (Items 1.1 and 9.2, Appendix A), family life (Items 1.3a and 9.1, Appendix A), and children (Item 6.1b, Appendix A). Parental Feelings: The affective feelings of parents concerning their desire to have children again if given the opportunity as measured by respondents' answers to the following questions: (1) "If you had it to do over again would you have children?" (Item 6.4b, Appendix A) (2) "How strongly do you feel about your answer?" (Item 6.4c, Appendix A.) (3) "What are some of the reasons you feel as you do about having children?" (Item 6.4d, Appendix A.) Values; An enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence (Rokeach, 1973, p. 5). Value System: An enduring organization of beliefs concerning pre- ferable modes of conduct or end-states of existence along a continuum of relative importance (Rokeach, 1973, p. 5). 17 Families: Those interacting human units which consist of a father, mother and at least one child living concurrently in the same household. Summary Families are being studied today by researchers represent- ing numberous interest groups on a national as well as cross-cultural basis. Governmental agencies have looked objectively at aspects of life that attempt to measure the quality of life of Americans. Social agencies have added the dimension of perceptual or subjective indicators to the measurement of quality of life. The primary objectives of the current study are (1) to in- vestigate the strength of parental feelings about having children again and its relationship to satisfaction with children, family life and POQL; (2) to investigate the strength of feelings of hus- band-wife pairs regarding having children again and its relationship to satisfaction with the domains of children, family life and POQL; (3) to investigate if there is a relationship between the demographic variables of total number of children in the family unit, family in- come, race and age of parents and parental feelings about having children again, reasons for those feelings and satisfaction in the domains of children, family life and POQL; and (4) to investigate if a relationship exists between husbands' and wives' reasons for feelings about having children again and satisfaction in the domains of children, family life and POQL. In attempting to observe and predict trends in fertility among Americans, researchers have looked at the family in many of its component areas. Overpopulation and economic limitations have 18 been recognized as important to Americans in making their decision to have children. Parental feelings regarding having children again could also influence the perceptions of the quality of life of both children and adults. Husbands and wives who feel good about having had children could also feel good about their family life in a broader sense and may experience greater satisfaction with their POQL. In the present study families will be examined to deter- mine both husbands' and wives' feelings regarding having children again, how strongly they feel about it, and the reasons for their decision. An examination of stated reasons of husbands and wives regarding having children again may also provide pertinent infor- mation concerning the value placed on having had children. The variables under examination will be viewed using the Campbell, Converse and Rodgers' (1976) model emphasizing the role of perception on the objective environment of individuals. Both husband and wife responses will be utilized to establish similari- ties and differences that may exist between their feelings regarding having children again as well as their reasons for their feelings. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Quality of life research as well as family research is examined in this chapter. Specifically, quality of life indicators, family impact studies and parent-child relationship studies are dis- cussed. Special emphasis is put upon those studies which combine aspects of several of these related areas. Quality of Life Studies There are many ways of determining how a person feels about his "life as a whole." Gurin, Veroff and Feld (1960), were pioneers in asking such questions when they asked: "Taking all things together, how would you say things are these days--would you say you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?" Gurin, §£_§l,, (1960) found that 35 percent of the respon- dents in the study felt "very happy" about their life as a whole, 54 percent were "pretty happy," and 11 percent were "not too happy." A total of 2460 respondents participated in his study. Since that initial study several other researchers have devised similar measures to assess the quality of life of other samples. Rodgers and Converse (1975) report that in six separate studies between 1957 and 1972 a decline occurred in the percentage 19 20 of respondents reporting that they are "very happy." In 1957 more than one third of the respondents said they were "very happy." One- fourth or less of those responding in 1972 indicated that they were "very happy." An increase was found in responses during this same time period in the "pretty happy" category. No consistent pattern was found over time for those respondents who indicated they were "not too happy." Those reporting they were “not too happy" ranged from nine percent of the population in the Spring of 1972 in Campbell, §t_gl,'s (1976) study to as high as 17 percent of the population re- ported in Bradburns' (1969) study. While the percentages of those who are dissatisfied with life remain small, a significant portion of the population is reflected in this statistic. Rodgers and Converse (1975) used personal interviews of 2164 people, 18 years of age and older, living in households in the United States as well as in countries bordering the United States to obtain data for their study. The research was conducted during the summer of 1971. The overall response rate was about 80 percent. A one-in-six sample of the respondents in the study were reinter- viewed in the Spring of 1972. Most of the questions asked during the first interview were repeated and additional questions were included. Of the 364 people in the subsample, 285 reinterviews provided data. Rodgers and Converse (1975) measured the "satisfaction" level of respondents rather than "happiness" levels. They deter- mined that happiness carried an affective connotation and wanted to avoid such implication by use of a satisfaction scale which implies a more cognitive process. They asked the question: 21 "We have talked about various parts of your life, now I want to ask you about your life as a whole. How satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?" Respondents were asked to place themselves on a seven- point scale which was labelled from "completely satisfied" to "com- pletely dissatisfied." The middle point on the scale was labelled "neutral." The majority of responses on both the satisfaction and happiness scales indicate respondents are generally contented with their quality of life. Rodgers and Converse (1975) report: However, we do not know at this stage how adept pe0ple are at stepping back from the specifics of their everyday ex- periences to make an overall evaluation of their lives. Per- haps the low apparent reliabilities of these measurements stem in part from the fact that "life as a whole" is a concept of such breadth that few people are accustomed to think of their satisfactions in such a way. Moreover, the utility of global assessments is somewhat limited, unless they are fleshed out with more detailed information about reactions to more speci- fic domains of life. Common sense would suggest that if a person feels disappointed with his current life situation, it is because certain features of his life-~a marriage turning sour, a job below expectations--are particularly dissatisfying. More generally, we might expect that whatever global report an in- dividual gives to his overall sense of well being should be some compound of his gratifications and disappointments with more specific features of life; his housing, his financial situation, his friendships, and the like (p. 136). Respondents in this study were asked to assess their levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with each of a set of fifteen domains of their lives as well as their overall quality of life. Semantic-differential types of scales were used to determine specific areas that might predict more accurately than others one's overall perceived quality of life. Responses to individual domain areas were similar to those on the overall quality of life measurement. More respondents answered ,22 on the positive end of the scales. They found the very low average scores on the overall index reported by divorced and separated in- dividuals. Single respondents were also found to be low, especially among those who are under 30 years of age. Of those respondents who were married, those with young children were found to be least satisfied and those whose children were grown were among the most satisfied. Overall, they found correlations to exist between mari- tal status and satisfaction. In the analysis of the data from Campbell, et_al, (1976) and Andrews and Withey (1974), it was determined that overall life satisfaction can be adequately explained in terms of "a simple linear additive combination of the domain satisfaction" (p. 141). They state: No appreciable gain in explanatory power could be gained by using techniques that do not assume relationships to be linear or by allowing for interactions among the domain satis- factions. Such interactions would be expected from models, such as Maslow's (1954), which spell out various hierarchies of human needs (p. 141). Campbell, gt_gl, (1976) determined that even when the number of component domains was reduced, the explainable variance between the domains and the Index of Well-Being was not diminished significantly. The unemployed and divorced subgroups of the popu- lation were found to be conspicuously low in their scores on the Index of Domain Satisfactions. Blacks were also found to be less likely to register high scores on the index than were whites (Rodgers and Converse, 1975). The reliability of the measures of the Index of Domain Satisfaction and the Index of Well Being is acceptably high. 23 Eicher, Bubolz, Evers and Sontag (1978) examined the quality of life of a rural p0pulation in 1977. Studied were 65 respondents who were originally studied in 1956 and were alive and still residing in the three communities of Ewan, Greenland and Mass in Ontonogan County in Michigan's upper peninsula. The respondents were reinterviewed to obtain data regarding their feelings of com- munity satisfaction, community adequacy, identification of needed improvements and evaluations of alternative life situations. Al- though these were the primary focus of the study, the perceptions of the respondents' quality of life over the past twenty years was also sought. The respondents were asked "How would you compare the way you feel about your life in general now with how it was twenty years ago?" The majority of respondents (55 percent), felt "better off;" 25 percent felt "about the same," and 20 percent felt "worse off." Most of those who felt "worse off" cited personal ability and health associated with increased age as reasons for dissatis- faction. Also listed as reasons associated with being “worse off" were categorized as referring to the cost of living and limited resources. Those who felt better off cited reasons such as "better living circumstances," "more secure, debt free, better off finan« cially," "change in personal and/or family life,“ and "more employ- ment opportunities,” as influences on their quality of life. High values were placed by the respondents on family life, health, safety, their homes, financial security, work, religion, accomplishing something and independence. In their preliminary report on the broader quality of life study of which this is a part, Sontag (1979) found: 24 The life concerns which affected the respondents' quality of life reflect the importance of both material and human re- sources in fulfilling needs and values. For example, satisfac- tion with income was a significant factor in both men's and womenés POQL, but family life was a more significant predictor p. . Family Life Studies Children and Marriage What impact do the presence of children in the family have upon the marriage relationship? Findings from several studies are examined here for relationships which may exist between having child- ren and satisfaction perceived by parents regarding their family life. The life cycle variable is in part related to the age of the respondent, but the most dramatic distinctions among life cycle groups are those based on marital status. Divorced and separated respondents as well as single people under the age of 30 generally reported very low average scores on the quality of life scales. The least satisfied among the married respondents are those with young children and the most satisfied are those whose children are grown as reported by Rodgers and Converse (1975). Blood and Wolfe (1968) have indicated that marital values in the United States show that successfulness of the husband-wife relationship is generally considered to be a determinant of family stability and the success of family procreation. They state: Our American ideals represent what approaches a cultural extreme, both in the reduction of family size and in the great value placed on the success of the marriage relationship. Even with the many changes undergone by American marriage, and even with the increased availability of divorce, the institution of marriage in the United States appears to be increasing in strength. In fact, American marriage rates are among the highest in the world; and currently, the population of single 25 people in the United States is at the lowest point since the start of the Twentieth century. While in 1900, two of every three women in the total population of the United States had been married at some time in their lives, at the present time this is true for four out of every five women, and over 90 percent of all Americans will be married at least once before they die (p. 59). Blood and Wolfe (1968) looked at marriage relationships by interviewing wives in the suburban Detroit area and rural sec- tions of Michigan. They point out that some problem may be caused by limiting their interviews to women because husband's might define their marital situations somewhat differently. The study is impor- tant, however, in assessing strengths and weaknesses of marriages in America as perceived by wives. Four areas which predict a satisfactory marital relation- ship are suggested by Blood and Wolfe (1968): (l) family's social status, (2) the couples' homogamy, (3) the extent to which they meet each other's needs, and (4) children-~in moderation. Marital satisfaction involves feelings of the husband and wife about the way their marriage functions including such things as how the husband meets the needs of his wife and vice versa, meet- ing each others' needs for companionship, children, understanding, love, and a comfortable standard of living. Christensen (1968) indicates that there is little doubt that parenthood in some ways affects the quality of marital inter- action. It has been assumed that children impact causally upon marital happiness. Many people have indicated that they would keep their marriage together "for the sake of the children." But just 1 how often this happens is open to question. Whether this staying together improves or hinders the marriage or makes the couple more 26 satisfied may have been assumed to occur, with the children acting as a bonding unit. Perhaps this does happen in certain cases, but children may in other instances act as a destructive influence on the marriage. If the latter occurs perhaps looking at the reasons pepple give for having children again may assist us in knowing what is necessary to improve the quality of life of children. Christensen (1968) quotes LeMasters and Dyer when discuss- ing the impact of the birth of the first child on the family unit. He states: Before the advent of parenthood there is only one relationship, husband and wife. With the first child the number is increased to four: husband and wife, father and child, mother and child, and the interacting triad composed of all three. Furthermore, with each additional child, relationship combinations within the family increase in this same exponential fashion, making for greater and greater complexity and fundamentally changing the interactional pattern of the original married pair (p. 284b). Smith (1975) looked at the relationship of marital agree- ment and attitudes toward play and concluded: Marital agreement on child's play activities was a signifi- cant predictor of marital agreement on attitudes toward play. The independent variables of marital agreement on knowlege of play concepts and developmental/traditional conceptions of childhood and parenthood were not predictors of marital agree— ment on attitudes toward play. The amount of money spent on home play materials was a predictor of marital agreement on attitudes toward play (p. 129). Couples who spend more money on home play materials were more likely to disagree on their attitudes concerning play. Blood and Wolfe (1968) found that disagreements between spouses differed over the life cycle. They disagree more about money as children are added to the family. Some of the reasons 27 cited include the husbands' working overtime which may cause the wife to feel more tied down by dependent young children. However, children themselves do not seem to become serious matters of dis- sension until they are old enough to get into "deliberate" trouble. Between the ages of six and eighteen, disciplinary questions are liable to divide the husband and wife even more than financial ques- tions. An interesting finding reported by Blood and Wolfe (1968) is that an unusually large proportion of the permanently childless couples report no disagreements whatsoever, "reflecting the smooth continuity of their pattern of living. When they do conflict, they resemble childless 'honeymoon' couples--disagreement preeminently about their leisure-time dating" (p. 71). Again, when wives are asked how often they have disagree- ments with their husbands, those who state problems with children, report the highest frequency. These authors caution: A marriage need not be devoid of disagreements to be strong. However, few marriages can stand attacks on a part- ner's personal behavior without serious consequences. Such attacks loom large in the alienation which leads to divorce. Personal attacks hurt the ego too much to be easily repaired or easily forgiven. The damage they do lives after them to haunt attacker and victim alike. If any particular disagree- ments are symptomatic or crippling stresses in marriage, per- sonality conflicts are the ones (p. 72). It also appears that wives who claim few disagreements with their spouses are also more satisfied with other areas of their life relating to their marriage such as their standard of living, the companionship felt, the understanding perceived, and the amount of love provided by her husband. 28 Some of the authors examined in this study thus far have indicated that disproportionately low marital adjustment is cor- related with having children that were desired by them. Christensen (1968) says regarding this: To say that couples who desire children tend to be better adjusted than those who do not is one thing; it supports the reasonable assumption that family-mindedness contributes to mari- tal harmony. But what of the connection between desires and practices and of the effect of this combination (balance of desires with practice) upon marital success? We would hypothe- size that if the parental values of husband and wife were ade- quately taken into account and treated as intervening variables against which the relationships between family size and marital adjustment were studied, the research results of the various studies would be more consistent and the relationship sought would show up more clearly. Continuing research is likely to reveal that it is not either values (desires for children) or behavior (children actually born) considered alone that are the crucial variables affecting the marriage, but rather the "value-behavior discrepancy" (or lack of it) which leaves married couples in varying states of harmony or dissonance (p. 285b). On the other hand those few wives who felt that they have more disagreements than other couples are conspicuously dissatisfied with their husbands. This also impacts negatively on their life as a whole. They also exhibit the greatest discrepancies in their childrearing experience, especially in the direction of unwanted children. Blood and Wolfe (1968) comment: Lack of enthusiasm for their children is partly a feedback from the unhappiness of their marriages, but the objective evidence shows that they average 2.34 children born compared to 2.19 for wives who claim average disagreement rates of 1.96 for those who disagree less than usual. In view of the fact that disagree- ments are more frequent among couples whose chief problem is children, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that child- ren are a potent source of conflict between husbands and wives (p. 72). 29 With the addition of each new child into the family unit the marital relationship must change in several ways. Some that have been suggested include: 1. Husbands and wives find it more difficult to have free time for themselves as individuals and as a couple. 2. More interference with their sexual relationships. 3. Less time for shared activities. 4. More move toward greater role specialization which may include a move toward a more authoritarian approach. Udry (1966) found "there is no reliable relationship be- tween presence or absence of children and marital adjustment" (p. 489). Burgess and Wallin (1953) also believed that children do not significantly affect the success of a marriage. They state: The research evidence presented in this chapter established with considerable if not complete conclusiveness that the fact of having or not having children is not associated with marital success. What is associated with marital success is the atti- tude of husbands and wives toward having children. Persons with higher marital success scores do tend to have a stronger desire for children, whether they have them or not, than those with lower marital success scores (p. 722). Glenn and Weaver (1978) performed multiple regression analy- sis with data from three United States national surveys in order to estimate the direct effects of each of ten independent variables on the reported marital happiness of white males and females from the ages of 18 through 59. They conclude: Contrary to predictions based on theory and previous evi- dence, all of the estimated direct effects are weak or nil. . The strongest estimated effects in which we can have much con- fidence are from presence of very young children and being middle- aged for females (negative). We speculate that propensity to enter into an unsatisfactory marriage is correlated with pro- pensity to terminate an unsatisfactory marriage and that the 3O latter has increased substantially in recent years. If so, it is not surprising that some strong predictors of the success of marriages appear no longer to bear any important relation- ship to the happiness of persons in intact marriages (p. 269). Rokeach (1973) used his Value Survey to measure quantita- tively the values of a national sample drawn from all strata of American society. It was administered in the latter part of April 1968 by the National Opinion Research Center to adult Americans over twenty-one. Eighteen terminal and eighteen instrumental values were arranged in separate lists and respondents were asked to rank each list separately and to rank the individual items in order of importance to them. Family security was determined by both men and women to be of importance to their quality of life. "A world at peace" and "family security" were heavily skewed toward the higher ranks. Findings concerning the impact of children on marital happiness (see Feldman, 1971; LeMasters, 1957; and Rosenblatt, 1974) suggest that negative effects of children on marital happiness may grow out of interference with the companionship and intimate inter- action of the spouses. The husband and wife find it necessary to use energy to take care of children that might otherwise be used to support their own relationship. In addition, conflict may arise be- tween spouses regarding childrearing practices which may strain the marital relationship. Continuing to add other persons to a dyad also creates a more complex social system where jealousy and com- petition factors may cause potential disagreements between spouses. It may even be that the spouses are remaining in an unhappy marriage situation "for the sake of the children." 31 Value of Children Continuing the human species is one reason for couples de- ciding to have children. However, this reason is not one of the pri- mary concerns to parents. Espenshade (1977) lists reasons for desiring children as sources of joy and happiness, companionship and pride. At the same time, children have an economic impact on the family--they cost money. They can also limit the activities and opportunities of parents and thus put pressure on the resources of the family. Expenshade (1977) reviews recent research on the value and cost of children done by economists, sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists in a cross-cultural analysis. He defines the value of children as "the functions they serve or the needs they fulfill for parents" (p. 4). The specific terms that appear in the litera- ture include satisfactions, benefits, utilities, gains, rewards, gratifications, advantages and positive general values. He states: "Thus, the value of children is used to mean that collection of good things parents receive from having children" (p. 4). Hoffman and Hoffman (1973) developed a detailed value system which outlines eight categories of social and psychological values associated with having children. They include: 1. Adult status and social identity, Having children is tangible evidence that one has reached adulthood, perhaps more so than completing school, taking a first job, or even getting married. This is especially true for women, for many of whom raising a family represents the fulfillment of a socially defined and acceptable role. 2. Expansion of the self, tie to a larger entity, "immor- tality." Generally children outlive their parents and this may 32 furnish parents with a sense of immortality, realizing that their characteristics, as reflected in their offspring, will survive after they are gone. In addition, children may contribute to the personal growth of their parents by unlocking such latent emotions as the feeling of being needed. 3. Morality. This dimension refers to the subordination of self-interest to a higher goal. Children afford parents the opportunity to sacrifice for the good of someone else. 4. Primary group_ties, affiliation. The family has his- torically been a stable and permanent institution, and affiliation with it may offer a sense of emotional security. This could be es- pecially important in modern societies where increased geographic mobility and growing bureaucracies threaten individual identities and enhance feelings of impersonality. 5. Stimulation,_novelty, and fun. A birth creates the sense that something new and different is happening, and in so doing may help to relieve the tedium of everyday life. Also, playing with children can be pleasurable for parents and can give them the experi- ence of reliving their own youth. 6. Creativity, accomplishment, competence. The challenges involved in raising children may fulfill the needs for creativity, achievement, and accomplishment that emerge when society has passed well beyond the bare minimum standard of living and most of its mem- bers possess the necessities of life. 7. Power, influence,,effectance. Having children enables parents to influence the course of others' lives. 33 8. Social comparison, competition. Where offspring are a sign of prestige or wealth, large numbers of children may elevate the parents' position in the community. This may also attest to the parents' sexuality. These motives are perhaps most commonly found in nonindustrialized societies. Hoffman and Hoffman (1973) also suggest a ninth category which includes children as an economic asset. Leibenstein (1963) has also delineated two types of economic benefits of having children: 1. Children as a source of financial security in old age and in emergencies. This type of economic assistance may take the form of supplemental income transfers from children to their parents, or it may involve income in kind, such as parents sharing the living quarters of their grown children. 2. The value of children asgproductive agents. While they are young, children may participate in the productive and ser— vicing activities of the household. Sons may help on a family farm or in a family business. Daughters aid in performing routine house- hold chores. Other types of activities in which children can be economically useful include caring for younger siblings, tending the animals, carrying firewood, and the like. In his analysis of economic reasons for having children, Espenshade (1977) concludes: There is a tendency to assume that the economic values of children are most salient in the developing countries, es- pecially in rural areas. In fact, it is widely believed that this is the major reason parents in such regions want large families. As a society modernizes and achieves higher levels of economic and social development, the economic value of children declines in importance. The extension of compulsory schooling and the enactment of child labor laws reduce the 34 economic contribution from children. Similarly, to the extent that social security becomes institutionalized in such programs as public health and welfare measures, pension plans, and pri- vate annuity and life insurance programs, parents can relax their)dependence on children as a source of old-age support p. 5 . Arnold and Fawcett (1976) attempted to measure the perceived costs and satisfactions of children in the Value of Children (VOC) project. This study is being coordinated through the East-West Cen- ter in Honolulu and is cross-cultural in scope. The study consisted of personal interviews with approximately 400 couples (husband and wife) in each of six countries: Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States (Hawaii only). Included in the sample were parents who had at least one child. Wives had to be between 20 and 34 years of age and husbands had to be aged 20 to 40. Respondents were selected from three socioeconomic groups: urban middle class, urban lower class and rural. The primary purpose of the VOC study was to obtain cross- cultural comparative data on perceived costs and benefits of child- ren and also to relate these measures to fertility and family planning behavior. Motivations for parenthood, therefore, were the emphasis of the study. The investigators were interested in parents' percep- tions of the pros and cons of having children, both why couples want children and why they want the number they do. Based on an analysis of the collected data from the six countries in their sample, the researchers identified fifteen major dimensions of the value and cost of children. Included in the posi- tive values were such categories as emotional benefits, economic benefits and security, self-enrichment and development, identification with children, and family cohesiveness and continuity. These 35 categories were delineated from a frequency count of the actual re- sponses of the interviewed peOple. Negative values or costs of children included emotional costs, economic costs, restrictions or opportunity costs, physical demands, and family costs. Zill (1978), in his survey asked the respondents to re- Spond to the question, "Would you choose to have children again?" He found that more than nine out of ten mothers that he surveyed indicated that they would have children again. Most of these -mothers felt "very strongly" about their decision. "An even higher percentage felt that having children had made their lives better or made them better people" (p. 19). Zill (1978) also found that more educated mothers and families with higher income levels were more likely to feel posi- tively about having children again. He states: \ Mothers in unhappy marriages, never-married mothers, separated and divorced mothers, were significantly less likely to say that they would do it over again than happily married mothers. Nevertheless, a majority of mothers in all these groups still said they would do it over (p. 19). In this same study there was a correlation found between the marital situation of the mother and her attitudes toward parent- hood. Depressed or often tense mothers are also more likely to have negative feelings about being a parent, and were more likely to lose control of their feelings in dealing with their children. This research also asked respondents the question: "If you had it to do over again, would you have children?" They found a majority of the mothers in all marital groups answered 36 affirmatively, but the minority who responded negatively was sub- stantially larger among never-married, unhappily-married, and separa- ted or divorced mothers than among happily-married mothers. Women in these groups were also more likely to say that they "sometime" or ”often" had times when they lost control of their feelings and felt they might hurt their child. Once again, however, only a minority of mothers in all groups reported such loss of control over their feelings. Hoffman and Manis (1978) have completed a study in the United States in which they interviewed 1,569 married women between the ages of 15 and 39, and the husbands of about a third of the women. The study's purpose was to learn more about the psychologi- cal satisfactions of having children. Similar studies were also conducted in Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and West Germany. These researchers found that loss of freedom was the most common disadvantage reported by parents in their study for not want- ing to have children again. This response was reported by fifty- three percent of the mothers and forty-nine percent of the fathers who indicated they would not wish to have children again. This reason was also reported most frequently by women without children but men who were childless cited the financial cost of having child- ren as the biggest disadvantage. They state: Nonparents are less likely to see children as essential to achieving satisfactory adult status, and they are more con- cerned about the economic costs associated with having a family. Women who held traditional values about sex roles-«that women generally should not work outside the home--were more likely to say that having children provided the woman with an appropriate adult role. In contrast, women who were employed, especially those employed in a professional or higher status 37 job, were less apt to cite children as a source of stimulation in their lives (p. 7b). In gaining information, Hoffman and Manis (1978) asked the women in the study how many children they would like to have and then asked them to state the reasons they would not want to have more than that number. The most common reason given was a financial one. Larger families were sought by those mothers who counted having "some- thing useful to do" as one advantage of having children. This re- sponse was more often given by mothers not employed. More than half of the surveyed women were employed and forty-nine percent of the women with children were employed. Women who did not work and did not anticipate working in the future ex- pected to have larger families and were more apt than other women to feel that large families are desirable. Since four-fifths of the women who were not working said they would like to work sometime in the future, the authors concluded that smaller families could be likely. Also asked of respondents by Hoffman and Manis (1978) was the question, "What would you say are some of the advantages or good things about having children, compared with not having child- ren at all?" The responses were coded into nine basic groups of values. The responses indicating a desire for love and affection and the feelings of being a family were the most often cited advan- tage of having children. "Among the respondents who were already parents, sixty-six percent of the women and sixty percent of the men gave this type of answer; among the nonparents, sixty-four per- cent of the women and fifty-one percent of the men made that reply" (p. 7a). 38 Coded as the second in importance was the response "stimu- lation and fun." This category included remarks such as "children bring liveliness to your life," or "we love playing with them.” Those people who reported having children were more likely to men- tion this advantage than those without children. "Expansion of self" was reported by about one-third of the respondents in the study. These answers were expressions such as "having someone to carry on after you are gone," or "having new growth and learning experiences." Economic advantages of having children were reported by only about ten percent of respondents in the United States study, but in other parts of the world such as Thailand and the rural areas of the Philippines this was the most common response. Yankelovich, Skelly and White, Inc. (1977) conducted a similar study. The universe was defined for the study as all families in the United States with children under 13 years of age. They used the census definition of a family as a "household with two or more members related by marriage, blood or adoption." Total sample studied was 1,230 households. They asked people in their study to respond to the question, "If you had it to do again, would you still have children?" Responses, again, tended to be primarily in the affirmative. Overall, 90 percent answered yes, they would have children again. Of the fathers who responded, 91 percent said they would have children again; nonworking mothers reporting affirma— tively represented 90 percent of the population: 83 percent of working mothers said yes, 73 percent of single parents and only 72 percent of minority parents answered affirmatively. 39 The United States belongs to a group of countries that, at the current time, represents an advanced form of economic and social development. The economic benefits to be expected from child- ren are negligible in such a setting. Hoffman and Hoffman (1973) stress that "there is no evidence in the United States that child- ren are raised for profit" (p. 60). Modernization is accompanied by a shifting balance between the benefits and costs of children. The economic benefits from children decline as the role of the children changes in society and children are no longer the primary financial support of their aging parents. The VOC study conducted by Arnold and Fawcett (1976) en- compassed six countries, one of which included Caucasian respondents from Hawaii. The conclusions from this segment of their population sample would approximate the sample in the current research study most closely. The VOC sample of Caucasian respondents in Hawaii had usually been born on the U.S. mainland and spent their entire lives in urban areas. Their average age was 29 and, having married at age 21 or 22, they had approximately two children. They were generally well educated, with an average of two years of college. The average family income was above $15,000 annually. Husbands were primarily employed in professional jobs. Parents in the urban lower-class families had been born either on Oahu (which contains Honolulu) or on the U.S. mainland and had lived predominantly in urban areas. They were slightly younger than middle-class parents, had married earlier, and had more children--between two and three. Their education was more likely to have stopped with high school and husbands worked more often as craftsmen. Income for this group 40 was about $9,000 annually, which was below the median for all families on Oahu. Couples were asked open-ended questions about what they considered to be advantages of children. Most eventually distin- guished three or four different advantages. The most general re- sponse emphasized the emotional benefits from children. More than half of the middle- and lower-class groups mentioned happiness, love, companionship, personal development of the parents, and childrearing satisfactions. However, economic benefits and security from having children were seldom mentioned as an important value to the parent. Religious and social influences were also not mentioned often. Compaionship and avoidance of loneliness, love and affec- tion, and the fun and avoidance of boredom that derives from playing with children were viewed as specific advantages most frequently within the major category of happiness, love and companionship. The primary benefit associated with the personal development of parents was learning from the experiences of raising children. Satisfaction in childrearing was seen primarily as pleasure in watching children grow and mature. A high percentage (94 percent) of Caucasian parents in the middle-class group said they did not expect to rely at all on their children in old age in contrast to 73 percent of the lower-class parents. Only one out of 20 Caucasian parents thought that having another child would help the family economically. Rural Filipino respondents in Hawaii, however, agreed with the statement 19 out of 20 times. 41 The disadvantages of having children as perceived by Caucasians in the VOC study centered around restrictions on alterna- tive activities, which was mentioned by 71 percent of the respondents. Emotional costs were cited by about 59 percent, and financial costs by 46 percent of the respondents. In all of these the middle-class respondents were more likely to see them as disadvantages. Espenshade (1977) suggests several possible reasons for this: This could mean that such disadvantages were felt more intensely by the higher socioeconomic status families. Or it could simply be that families with less education had more trouble articu- lating disadvantages. Of all the specific categories of dis- advantages, eneral financial costs (as opposed to educational costs per se) and the general lack of flexibility and freedom imposed by children stand out as being of greatest importance to Caucasian parents (p. 20). Family75ize Campbell, Converse and Rodgers (1976) found that satisfac- tion with one's marriage is also modestly associated with the number of children in the family. However, the relationship does not run in the direction one might have assumed. They state: The highest levels of expressed satisfaction are found among families with no children in the home and decline moderately but consistently with increased numbers of children among both women and men. The people with no children in the home are a very heterogeneous group, made up of young couples who have not yet started their families, older couples who are volun- tarily or involuntarily childless, and people whose children have grown up and left them in the "empty neSt" (pp. 325-326). Hoffman and Manis (1978) found that seventy percent of the childless couples in their study eventually wanted to have children. Most of these couples would prefer only two children. Seven percent of the respondents indicated they did not want children 42 and another eight percent were uncertain. The remainder of the respondents were already expecting a child. These researchers also found strong sentiment that one- child families are not a very good idea. Couples were more opposed to one-child families than nonparents. Seventy-six percent of the mothers and seventy-eight percent of the fathers indicated that one- child families were not a good idea as compared to seventy percent of the women without children and sixty-one percent of the men without children. An interesting finding was that both mothers and fathers would rather have six children than none at all. Blood and Wolfe (1968) conclude that children are a source of strength in marriage--provided there are not too many of them. "Children are like medicine--in proper doses they create health, but an overdose can be detrimental" (p. 85). Both for the number of children ever born and for the number currently living at home, three seems to be the magic number. More than three and satisfaction declines rapidly. Blood and Wolfe (1968) offered the following suggestions about why this may be the case. (1) Mothers of more than three or four children often wish they didn't have so many. This is not a universal reaction but occurs often enough to impair average satisfaction. (2) There is a rare but perceptable tendency for some women who are dissatisfied with their husbands to want extra children. Having more children makes them happier personally, but doesn't make them any more satis- fied with their husbands. (3) The kind of people who have large families are often those whose marriages are less satisfactory any- way. Low-status, poorly educated, immigrant women (to cite a few 43 relevant groups) would not have much more satisfactory marriages if they had fewer children; although it might help. This status handi- cap applied more to the older generation than to the younger, hence, the eSpecially low-satisfaction rating of women who have borne more than four children (most of whom are too old to have that many still around). On the other hand, one reasons that mothers of three child- ren may be more satisfied is that this is the number most often pre- ferred by high status women. Blood and Wolfe (1968) state, however: "there is more to this business of numbers than just selectivity. Wives with many fewer children than three often feel unfulfilled and disappointed" (p. 86). They point out, too, that the fault does not lie with the husband. They attribute the wife's difficulties to the strain that "extra" children place upon the husband-wife relation- ship. They state: "If they are not to neglect their childrens' needs, they must lose touch with each other to some degree. They can't have as much companionship, enjoy as many romantic evenings, take as much time to talk to each other because of the competing demands of the children" (p. 87). These authors also conclude that this does not necessarily mean that the couple is any less happy. Perhaps this is what the couple desired. Most of the mothers of large families said they would have the same number of children again if they had their choice. In conclusion, the authors state: The point of diminishing returns in this particular sample is four. For other cities or at other times the precise turning point may differ. Doubtless in every modern community, some such turning point will be found, beyond which it's hard for a husband and wife to continue to see each other "across a crowded room” (p. 87). 44 Christensen (1968) found that marital adjustment seemed to be lowest where a discrepancy existed between what a couple de- sired regarding number and spacing of children and what actually occurred. In citing Reed's earlier finding, Christensen concluded that marital adjustment increases in proportion to the ability of couples to control fertility and bring it in line with their de- sires. Christensen also concluded that as more research is done on the impact of number and spacing of children upon the marriage rela- tionship, it will be found that it is not a specific pattern of number of children or spacing that influences marital success, but rather the ability of the couple to control spacing and numbers to suit their desires. Again it seems that how the parent "feels" about his condition, will impact upon his overall quality of family life and also on how he views his life as a whole. The Arnold and Fawcett (1976) VOC study found that most families felt that one or two children could be raised fairly easily. Three children were considered to impose somewhat of a financial burden by a majority of respondents. A heavy financial burden was perceived for more than three children. Income A frequently used objective indicator of the quality of life is income. Rodgers and Converse (1975) demonstrated a clear relationship between reported family income and scores on the In- dex of Domain Satisfaction Scale. Children who areliving with a separated or divorced mother are quite likely to be living in or very near poverty. Zill (1978), for example, found: 45 Even when their financial circumstances are not so dire, mothers without husbands are likely to be under considerable financial strain. Two-thirds of the separated and divorced mothers in the survey said they worried about money all or most of the time. This is an aspect of the single-parent experience that the "creative divorce" books don't emphasize much (p. 20). Zill (1978) demonstrates that the median family income in 1975 and the percentage of families with annual incomes of less than $5,000 for families in each of the marital status categories and family living arrangement groups show some interesting results. For example, the median family income reported by divorced mothers was $5,200, with thirty-seven percent under the $5,000 per year level. On the other hand, the median income for intact mother-father families was $15,200 and only four percent earned less than $5,000. More than half of the separated mothers and seventy-one percent of the never- married mothers were below the $5,000 mark. The median for all mothers living alone with their children was $5,300, or about one- third that for two parents in a "very happy" marriage. Family income, according to Zill (1978) also seems to be a determinant of marital happiness. The median income drops steadily from the "very happy" marriages ($15,800) to "fairly happy" ($13,900) to "not too happy" ($10,000). He comments: And the proportion of mothers who report frequent money worries rise: from 23 percent for "very happy" married, to 37 percent of the "fairly happy," to 58 percent of "not too happy" married mothers. Indeed, when we combine reports of money worries with other related questions, the mothers in "not too happy“ marriages seem even less financially secure, on the average, than the separated and divorced mothers, particularly when their actual incomes are taken into account (p. 12). Andrews and Withey (1976) also report that respondents that had both low income and low education tend to be less satisfied 46 with other aspects of their life. They also report less satisfac- tion than average with their marriages but still an overall satis- faction with their marriage: It is just that better-off people still said that they are pleased or delighted, and all groups, except those with broken marriages, put marriage and their families high on their list of gratifications (p. 304). Age of Parents Andrews and Withey (1976) found that the quality of life decreased for respondents with their increasing age when children were present. They concluded, however: . . satisfaction with one's children shaded down a little with advancing years but generally stayed so high (average above Pleased) that such a meager difference as is found cannot have much importance (pp. 287-290). In Glenn and Weaver's (1978) study they concluded: The only statistically significant partial relationship is for women and for a child or children under age 6, for which the mean is the second highest of all of the mean partial coeffi- cients. . . . Unless an improbable amount of sampling error is reflected in the data or the relationship is spurious, the presence of very young children is distinctly detrimental to the marital happiness of white women, as a whole. The effects of older children on both spouses and of very young children on husbands may also be negative but apparently are not very substantial (p. 279). Race Black children, according to Zill (1978), have more dif- ficulties than their white counterparts. He found, for example, that only 27 percent of all black children were living with two parents in a "very happy" marriage, compared with 62 percent of nonminority children. Thirteen percent of all black children were 47 living with mothers who were never married. He states, "given current out-of-wedlock birth rates, this proportion is likely to rise sharply in future cohorts of black school-aged children" (p. 21). Summary of Earlier Research and Relationship to Current Study Reviewed in this chapter were studies focusing on quality of life, selected family studies, particularly those dealing with the impact of children on their parents. Emphasis was placed on those which combined aspects of quality of life of parents, child- ren and families. Much of the literature on research to date relating to satisfaction with having children has focused on the measurement of objective variables. This approach appeared necessary because data were not available until the past few years relating to the values perceived by parents about having children. Researchers such as Capbell, Converse and Rodgers (1976), Bubolz and Eicher (1976), Andrews and Withey (1976), Zill (1978), and Hoffman and Hoffman (1973) have added the dimension of percep- tual or subjective indicators to quality of life studies in an ef- fort to measure an individual's perceptions about life qualities more holistically. These authors have recognized the difficulties in using measurement techniques that would adequately measure an individual's attitudes or perceptions. Several methods were de- vised, most including some form of a rating scale to measure either happiness or satisfaction on a global level as well as on more specific aspects of life satisfaction. 48 In the present study a modified Andrews and Withey (1976) model was developed by Bubolz and Slocum (1977) to measure satisfac- tion with life as a whole as well as other life concerns important to the quality of life of the family. The overriding theme that seems to appear throughout both the family studies and the quality of life studies is that individuals are generally satisfied with their overall quality of life and most people would desire to have children again. A smaller proportion of the population, however, remains dissatisfied with their life as a whole and some of them also would not desire to have children again.. Results are similar when either measurements of happiness or satisfac- tion are utilized. Gurin, et a1. (1960) found 34 percent of respondents in his study felt “very happy," about their life as a whole, 54 percent were "pretty happy" and 11 percent were "not too happy." Campbell, Con- verse and Rodgers (1967) measured satisfaction witH life as a whole and found similar results using a 7-point scale. Each of the studies reports a heavy negative skewing indicating that a majority of indie viduals are satisfied with life as a whole. There remain, howeVer, a large number of people who report dissatisfaction ranging from 9 to 17 percent of the population in different studies over a period of approximately ten years. The influence of children and family on POQL was concep- tualized by many authors (Andrews and Withey, 1976; Campbell, Con- verse and Rodgers, 1976; Bubolz and Eicher, 1976; Hoffman and Hoffman, 1973; Zill, 1978;°and Yankelovich, Skelly and White, Inc., 1977). Each of these studies has approached the quality of life from a- 49 different perspective. Some have measured family life and children peripherally as a component of a larger quality of life study, while others have focused primarily on the family and others have focused primarily on the quality of life of children. Respondents sampled have included adult men and women from a variety of social strata, both nationally and cross-culturally. One study (Zill, 1978) in- cluded children in the sample. The Arnold and Fawcett (1976) study focused on husband and wife pairs, as does the sample in the current study. Both husband and wife scores were utilized to determine the quality of life satisfaction, realizing that how strongly parents feel about having had children may influence their satisfaction with the domains of children, family life, and POQL. Also examined in the current study is the relationship between husband-wife agree- ment about having had children and its relationship to husbands' and wives' satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. Husband-wife consensus was hypothesized to impact on satis- faction with quality of life. Blood and Wolfe (1968) for example, found that wives who claimed few disagreements with their spouses are also more satisfied with other areas of their life. Christensen (1968) found that wives who expressed more disagreements than other couples with their spouses felt more dissatisfied with their marriage. This also was found to impact negatively on life as a whole. These wives exhibited greater discrepancies in their childrearing experience, especially in the direction of unwanted children. Studies examining children and marriage indicate a rela- tionship between the number of children in the family and satisfac- tion with marriage. Respondents with young children were found to 50 be least satisfied with POQL and those whose children had grown were most satisfied. The value of children has been examined with a number of reasons given by respondents for wanting to have children. Some researchers (Hoffman and Hoffman, 1973; Hoffman and Manis, 1978; and Zill, 1978) asked males and females to tell them in personal interviews why they wanted children or why they had children or what the advantages or disadvantages were of having children. Many reasons were stated and categorized by these authors. In the current research project, which is a component of a larger quality of life research project, the question proposed by Bubolz and Slocum (1977) replicates that used by Zill (1978) and others which asks “If you had it to do again would you have children?" This question was also asked by Yankelovich, Skelly, and White, Inc. (1977) in the General Mills Study and findings confirmed results of other studies also showing that respondents generally answered affirmatively (90 percent said yes). A unique aspect of the current study is the strength of feelings measure which asked husbands and wives to indicate how strongly they felt about having children again. It is hypothesized that the strength of husbands' and wives' satisfaction with feelings about having children again may indicate satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. Espanshade (1977) in the Value of Children cross-cultural study of men and women, asked respondents about the advantages or disadvantages of having children and respondents were encouraged in personal interviews to give several answers, only the first of which 51 was used for analysis purposes in their study. In the present study both husband and wife listed in response to an open-ended question- naire item the reasons for their feelings about having children again. These responses were coded with up to four separate reasons, all of which are incorporated into the present research project analy- sis. The initial coding was done for the larger research project. This researcher developed the categories of reasons for the current research porject. Many demographic variables have been used in the litera- ture for looking at the satisfaction with life and the value of child- ren. A limited number are incorporated in the present study which have been examined in the literature and found to be significant in the study of quality of life. A number of other variables could also be used which may have an interaction effect; however, race and age of respondents, number of children in the household, and family income were determined to be representative. Espanshade (1977) suggested that it would be helpful to disaggregate "parents" in the study of parental satisfaction with having children by inquiring into the differences between husbands and wives as they perceive the value of children. In the present research parental attitudes regarding having children are examined by disaggregating them and looking at differences between husbands and wives as well as their similarities in their strength of feel- ings about having children again and also how they differ regarding reasons stated for having children again. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY This chapter contains a discussion of the research design used to examine parental feelings about having children again as well as reasons stated for those feelings. Independent and depen- dent variables are outlined. The design of the instrument and its sample are described. Data analysis procedures are explained. Quality of Life Indicators ~ The factors that measure how individuals or groups per- ceive their quality of life have been termed by various researchers as subjective or perceptual measures. Perceptual measures may be- gin to measure quality of life more holistically than objective variables alone. Both will be utilized in the current study. Hypotheses and Research Question The hypotheses and research question developed below are statements reflecting the overall objectives of the research study. The hypotheses are stated in both null and alternative form because of the direction of the relationship believed to exist, and as sup- ported by the literature. H = There is no relationship between the strength of parental 1 feelings about desiring to have children again and 52 53 perceived satisfaction with children, satisfaction with family life and POQL. Alternative HI = There is a relationship between the strength of parental feelings about desiring to have children again and perceived satisfaction with children, satis- faction with family 1ife and POQL. H2 = There is no relationship between the demographic variables of age, race, family income and number of children in the family and parental feelings, satisfaction with children, family life, POQL and reasons stated for having children. Alternative H2 = There is a relationship between the demographic variables of age, race, family income and number of child- ren in the family and parental feelings. satisfaction with children, family life, POQL and reasons for having children. Research Question 1: Is there a relationship between reasons stated by husbands and wives for desiring to have children again and satisfaction with children, family life and POQL? Research Design and Instrument This study is a component within the broader research study incorporating objectives of two capperative research projects developed and directed by members of two departments within the College of Human Ecology at Michigan State University. The development and measurement of objective and subjective indicators of the perceived quality of life with emphasis on clothing and family indicators was the focus of both studies. 54 A survey research design was employed by developing a ques— ~ tionnaire which was self-administered by wives and husbands living in Oakland County, Michigan who had school-age children (5 through 18 years old) living at home at the time of the study. The data were collected during a four-month period between November 15, 1977 and March 10, 1978 including the holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. The data reported here represents the analysis of items re- lating to husbands and wives reports about feelings regarding having children again, a set of items within the larger questionnaire. The overall questionnaire was designed to encompass the goals of an inter- disciplinary family research team. The Sample The Overall Project Sample The sample for the initial study consisted of respondents ran- domly selected from three areas of Oakland County, Michigan, including a rural, a suburban and an urban area. Included in the sample were only those families whose income was $12,000 or more as determined by the 1970 census tract in order to inCrease the probability of obtaining a sample with enough education to satisfactorily complete the questionnaire. Since the probability of obtaining a black sample from these tracts was extremely low, the median income criteria was reduced in the Pontiac/ Royal Oak areas to approximately $6,000 in 1970. This also allowed sam- pling of 7 census tracts, three of which were 90 to 98 percent black, thus increasing the chances of obtaining black reSpondents. A two-stage systematic random sampling procedure with clustering was utilized with probability-proportionate-to-household count. 55 A market research firm was employed to draw the sample, ex- plain the study to participants, obtain consent of both husbands and wives, and distribute and collect the questionnaires. A total of 243 husband-wife pairs completed questionnaires as well as 7 female-headed single-parent families. Six of these were dropped for the following reasons: (1) Four because the family did not meet age criterion of child, (2) One because respondent did not answer questions seriously, and (3) One because husband's and wife's question- naires contained identical responses. Age, Race and Household Composition. All respondents were in the child-rearing stages of the family life cycle. Women were slightly younger than men, ranging from 22 to 59 years of age with an average of 37.5 years. Men ranged in age from 24 to 63 with an average age of 40.2 years. Eighty-one percent of the respondents were white and eighteen percent were black. One percent of the sample contained individuals of other races including American Indians. The majority of respondents were a part of an intact family. The number of children living at home ranged from a low of one to a maximum of nine with an average of three children per household. Fifty- one percent of the families had three or more children living at home while forty-nine percent had one or two children. More than one-third of the families (36 percent) had children five years of age or younger. The oldest child at home in 53 percent of the families was fourteen or older. Almost one-fourth (22 percent) of the sample had some children who were not living at home. Seven percent of the families had other relatives living with them. Emplgyment Status and Occupgtions. The majority of men (92 percent) were employed outside the home. Four percent were unemployed, 56 Laid off, on sick leave, or on strike. Women who worked away from home represented forty percent of the respondents and an additional ten per- cent were actively seeking jobs. A relatively large proportion of the men were employed as professional/technical workers (engineers, accountants, secondary school teachers). An almost equal number of men were employed as managers and administrators (such as bank officers, sales managers) and craftsmen (tool and die makers and foremen). I Women who were employed were equally distributed between pro- fessional or technical workers and clerical workers (ten percent). Seven percent of employed women were service workers. Six percent were employed as machine and transport operators. Family Income and Education. Incomes in the middle range make up 39 percent of the respondents indicating an income between 20 and 30 thousand dollars. Women and men were found to be educationally active. Over half of the women and men had been enrolled or were currently participating in an educational course or program beyond their reported level of highest formal education. Some are participating or have participated in voca- tional programs, some are completing college or working on advanced de- grees and-still others are taking adult enrichment classes. Half of the men and more than one-third of the women had some college education. Description of Current Research Sample From the total number of cases responding in the overall research study, selection of families was made for inclusion in the 57 present study, intorporating only families consisting of husband, wife, and at least one child. Thus all seven of the single-parent families were eliminated. Defining families in this way will assist in providing a more accurate account of husbands' and wives' paired statements regarding feelings about having children in order to compare data between husbands and wives. For the purpose of this study those couples whose questionnaires contained missing data for any of the items examined were also eliminated. Discrepancies were determined to exist in 23 families between the reported number of children born to the wife and hus- band (Item 6.4a, Appendix A). Each of these families was examined individuallyixidetermine inclusion in the sample. Responses to Item 6.4a "How many children have been born to you," were compared with data in Items 15.1 appearing in the back of the wife's ques- tionnaire asking about the family composition. If no agreement or logical explanation could be determined for the discrepancy, the families were eliminated. An additional thirteen families were eliminated from the sample because they were determined to have colluded on their re- sponses. Again, each of those families' questionnaires were examined individually to determine inclusion. A total sample obtained for the present study consists of 356 respondents with 178 husband-wife pairs. Eighty-eight per- cent of the couples were white: 11 percent were nonwhite and 1 percent was a mixed-race family. 58 Ages of husbands ranged from 27 to 63 and wives were generally about two years younger than their husbands. The mean age of husbands was 39.7 and for wives it was 37.6. The mode age for husbands was 37 and the mode for wives was 35. Table 1 presents the distribution of respondents in each of the age categories. Table 1 Frequency Distribution of Age Categories of Husbands and Wives Husbands Wives Total Age categc’r)’ N % N % N % 20 - 29 19 10.67 25 14.04 44 12.36 30 - 39 78 43.82 90 50.56 168 47.19 40 - 49 58 32.58 49 27.53 107 30.06 50 - 59 20 11.24 14 7.87 34 9.55 60 - 69 3 1.69 -- -- 3 .84 N = 356 (178 husband and wife pairs). Mean income levels reported by respondents is found to be $27,350, while the mode income shown is $22,500 as illustrated in Figure 2. The median income is $27,069. This population sample is considerably above the national sample reported in Social Indicators 1276, which indicates the median income for Americans in 1974 to be $12,836 and the mean income to be $14,502. Sixty-six families had two children representing 37 percent of the sample. Families with three children represent 27.5 percent of the respondents with a total of 49 families. Fourteen percent of 59 45‘ 41% <23? , 27% 21% Percentages mmw U1 1 J _a ..a O 0" l l 6% [...—1 5% Under $10.000- $20.000- $30.000- $50,000w $10,000 19,999 29,999 49,999 and over U1 L Figure 2. Income Level of Family in Dollars (N = 178 families). the families had four children and nearly 13 percent had one child. (See Appendix 0, Table G for frequency distribution.) Eighty-six percent of the families sampled indicated that the children living with them were all born during their current mar- riage while 14 percent said they had children living with them that were born prior to their current marriage with 25 families indicating this response (See Appendix 0, Table H for frequency distributions). This sample is quite similar to the data presented in Social Indica- tors 1976 taken from census reports indicating that nearly 86 per- cent of white children and fifty percent of black children live in families with both parents in the home. 6O Questionnaire Measures Perceptual Indicators Table 2 thlines the perceptual indicators used to test the hypotheses in this study. Item 1.1 and 9.2 (See Appendix A) were developed by Sontag and Bubolz (1977) who modified it from Andrews and Withey's (1976) model. This global evaluation of life as a whole is one of many global assessments of well-being that have been used in numerous studies. A complete listing of these items is found in Andrews and Withey (1976). /——' Table 2 Summary of Perceptual Measures Used to Test Hypotheses Item . . . Number Construct Measured and Spec1f1c Questions 1.1, 9.2 General evaluation of life-as-a-whole--POQL. How do you feel about your life as a whole? 1.3a, 9.1 Satisfaction with Family Life ‘How do you feel about your own family life--your husband or wife, your marriage, and your children, if any? 6.1b Satisfaction with Children How do you feel about your own family life if you considered only your children? 6.4b, 6.4c Feelings About Having Children Again 6.4b: If you had it to do over again would you have children? Yes No 6.4c: How strongly do you feel about the answer you gave to the above question? ___Very strongly, ___Somewhat strongly, ___Not strongly? 6.4d Reasons for Statements about Feelings Regarding Having Children Again What are some of the reasons you feel as you do about having children? (Open-ended question) 61 Andrews and Withey (1976) determined only construct validity for their general evaluation of life as a whole. They believe that "appropriate criterion variables do not exist for validating affective evaluations of life conditions" and therefore concurrent and predic- tive validity cannot be determined. In July, 1973, their Toledo data consisting of 222 respondents, yielded a construct validity coeffi- cient of .79 which was determined by a multitrait-multimethod matrix analysis. The test-retest coefficient reliability observed in three national surveys by Andrews and Withey (1976, p. 192) were: May 1972: .61; November 1972, Form 2: .71; April 1973: .68. Each of the responses measuring POQL, satisfaction with family life and satisfaction with children were responded to by rating individual answers along the contimuum scale developed by Andrews and Withey of l, Terrible, to 7, Delighted (Appendix 8 con- tains Andrews and Withey Model). A modification of their scale was included by Bubolz and Slocum (1977) in the more general study of which this study is a component which allowed the respondents to also respond with one of the following off-scale responses: A. Neutral--neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. 8. Never thought about it. C. Does not apply to me. General evaluation of life-as-a-whole. POQL is the simple average of the responses (using the Delighted to Terrible Scale) to the question "How do you feel about your life as a whole?" (Items 1.1 and 9.2). This question was repeated at a later point in the questionnaire and designed to be separated by about thirty minutes 62 in response time. The correlation between responses 1 and 2 on the POQL item can be regarded as a short-term test-retest reliability co- efficient. Correlations between responses of .5787 were obtained for husbands and .6741 for wives, both significant at the .01 level. If a respondent answered on scale to one of the "Life" items but off scale on the other, POQL was assigned the on-scale response. This assumes that people are not normally neutral to life in general, that most have thoughts about it, and that the question applies to every- one. Whenever the term "perceived overall quality of life” (POQL) is used in this study it refers to the global evaluation of well-being. POQL has been found by Andrews and Withey ". . . to provide a more reliable and valid indicator of respondents' true feelings about life- as-a-whole than either of its constituent parts" (1976, p. 80). General affective evaluation of family life domain. The do- main of family life is measured in several ways. The satisfaction with family life score is obtained by simply averaging the two responses (using the D-T Scale) to the question, "How do you feel about your own family life--your husband or wife, your marriage, and your children, if any?" (Items 1.3a and 9.1, Table 2). Satisfaction with family life was derived in the same fashion as POQL with the intent of creating a more valid and reliable indicator of respondents' feelings about family life than separate responses to the question would yield. Correlations be- tween responses yielded a score of .6952 for husbands and .8059 for wives, both significant at the .01 level. Satisfaction with family life is used as an independent variable with respect to the global evaluation of well-being (POQL), but also as a dependent variable when considering parental feelings about having children again (Items 6.4a,b,c,d). 63 General affective evaluation of children domain. Satisfac- tion with children is measured (using the D-T Scale) by responses to the question, "How would you feel about your own family life if you considered only your children?" (Item 6.1b). The domain children is a subset of family life. In this case children is an independent variable with respect to the larger domain of family life but is a dependent variable with regard to the measurement of feelings about having children again. This measurement is designed to give us a satisfaction level with children on a broad scale. Affective indicators regarding havinggchildren. Questions 6.4a,b,c,d were developed by Bubolz (1977) and were adapted from similar questions used in a National Suryey of Children (Zill, 1978). Item 6.4d was added to gain information about why people felt as they did about having children. Item 6.1b (your children) was also used by Andrews and Withey (1976). Each of these questions is designed to measure respondents' statments about feelings specifically about their children. Item 6.4d was an open-ended question which asked "What are some of the reasons you feel as you do about having children?" Each of these independent variables will be examined in regard to the dependent variables of the domains of children, family life, and POQL. Construction of variables for reasons for feelings about having children again. In order to determine the nature of the value respondents placed on their feelings of satisfaction with having children, a coding frame was used to determine the value content of responses to the question, "What are some of the reasons you feel as you do about having children?" (Item 6.4d). The coding 64 frame was developed empirically from the responses of the subjects. Table 3 presents the classification codes assigned the responses by the researcher. Table 3 Classification Codes Obtained from Responses to the Open-Ended Question, "Why do you Feel as you do About Having Children?" (Item 6.4d) Code Number r“ r l Responses 13 14 15 19 43 46 47 49 54 73 31 32 33 34 35 52 61 62 Reason 1: Self-Fulfillment Self-fulfilling, rewarding, experience everyone should have Self-purpose, challenge, need, being needed Self-heritage, extension of self, carry on my life, hope for future, investment Other They give me love, comfort Companionship, doing things with, relationships now, keep from being lonesome Companionship, caring, later in life Other Helpfulness of children and family to respondent No complaints, absence of problems Reason 2: Love and Enjoy Children and Life Love and like children, people (in general) Love and like my children ("love them" interpreted to be "my children.") Positive attributes of children (in general) Positive attributes of my children Love life Watching them grow and develop, achieve goals Fun, amusement, entertainment, humor Enjoyment, enjoy them, pleasure, joy, happiness, delightful 65 Table 3. Continued Code Number Responses 63 69 71 72 79 93 97 11 12 36 42 44 45 39 53 41 51 53 59 21 22 23 24 25 26 Interesting, make life interesting. Other Pride in children, in children's accomplishments Satisfaction, turned out OK, turned out well Other Would have more children Have the right number, have enough Reason 3: Mutual Sharing in Family and Marriage Family complete, makes a family, makes a home, en- hances family Marriage purpose, makes complete, love of husband and wife Love family life Sharing, giving and receiving love, mutual love, bonds of love Sharing (other than love) in general Closeness of family, warmth, warm relationship Other Learning from them, learning together Reason 4: Giving, Helping to Grow Love, I give love Helping them grow, doing things for them Giving experience Other Reason 5: Spiritual or Moral Obligation or Duty Christian duty, God's will, God's purpose God's gift, God's blessing Gift, blessing Woman's duty Man's duty All part of life 66 Table 3. Continued Code Number Responses 29 Other Reason 6: Problems, Dissatisfactions 81 Problems, troubles, too hard to raise, mistake 82 Responsibilities (if seen as problem) 83 Limit freedom 84 Expense, time, money 85 Emotional drain 86 Fear of future, gamble 87 Qualified with any problem or reservation 89 Other 90 Not able to have children 91 Timing, would have them later 92 Timing, would have them earlier 94 Would have fewer children for personal reasons 95 Would have fewer children for overpopulation of world 96 Sex of child 98 Other (including came from a large family and was an only child) Classification of the reasons given by respondents to the open-ended question, "Why do you feel as you do about having children?" (Item 6.4d), was determined by the researcher to fall into six major categories which are outlined in Table 3. Also represented are those response codes which were determined to apply to that particular major category. Frequencies for each of the categories will be dicussed later. Reason 1 was entitled "Self-Fulfillment" and included those responses which seemed to indicate a reason directly proportionate to 67 meeting a need of the respondent in a personal aspect of their life. These included such responses as "they give me love," "they give me companionship, caring in later life," "the helpfulness of my child- .ren," I'self-purpose," "they are an extension of myself," and "they carry on my life." "Love and Enjoy Children and Life" is designated as Reason 2. These responses seemed to indicate a more passive relationship with one's children with such responses as "I love and like children," “I like the positive attributes of children," "I love life," "I en- joy watching them grow and develop," “they are fun," and "I am proud of their accomplishments.“ Reason 3 was entitled "Mutual Sharing in Family and Mar- riage” denoting responses that indicated a give-and-take relationship between family members. These responses included "children make a family complete," "they are the purpose of marriage," "I love family life," "it is a sharing," and "I like the closeness of my family." I'Giving," was the title given Reason 4. These responses represent feelings of giving to one's children and include responses such as "I give love," "I like helping them grow," "I enjoy doing things for them," and "I give them experience." Reason 5 contains responses which indicate the respondents' spiritual reasons for having children as well as felt obligation and is entitled "Spiritual or moral obligation or duty." These include responses such as "it is my Christian duty," "it is God's will and purpose," "they are God's gift," "it is a woman's duty," and "it's all part of life." 68 The final category, Reason 6, is entitled "Problems and Dissatisfactions." Any response which indicated reservations about having had children are included in this category. Some of the re- sponses include: "they are too hard to raise," "the responsibility is difficult," "they limit my freedom," "children are too expensive to raise," "I fear for their future," "I would have had them later," or "I would have had them earlier." All of these could be further categorized into several subgroups, but it was determined that the general feelings expressed by the individual respondents are incorporated in these major cate- gories. Objective Variables The demographic variables which will be utilized for analysis in this study include age of parents, number of children in the household, race and total family income. These are defined or derived for this study as follows: Age of_parents: The age in years reported by individaul respondents (Items 13.2a and 13.2b). Family Size: The number of children reported as being born to an individual respondent (Item 6.4a). In cases where discrepancies were reported by husbands and wives regarding number of children born to them, each case was ex- amined individually. When appropriate, husbands and/or wives' scores were adjusted to reflect the number of children the couple interacted with during the course of their marriage, if this number was greater than the number reported as born to them. In cases where the couple 69 is not in their first marriage, and the children are not presently in the family, either because they are grown or because living with a previous spouse, the discrepancies in scores were left as reported. Only one case reported having had four children die very shortly after birth in a previous marriage and was recoded to reflect the interaction over time of total number of children in the household. Race of parents: The race specified for individual re- spondents (Item 13.4). Total family income: An estimate of 1977 gross money in- come from all sources received by the respondent and all other family members living in the household. This amount included income from wages, property, stocks, interest, welfare, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, child support from previous marriage, and any other dollar income. When discrepancies occurred between wives' and husbands' reported family income, the decision was made to code the higher of the two income categories. This decision was based in part on an examination of the working status of the wife and husband. In most instances in which the wife was not employed, the husband re- ported a family income larger than the wife's estimate and at least one income category greater than his personal income. The assump- tion was made that the employed member would know the family income with greater accuracy than the unemployed member. In cases in which both wife and husband were working, a comparison of the personal in- comes of both wife and husband with the total family income reports generally indicated that the higher of the two estimates was more realistic than the lower one. In several cases, husbands tended to 7O underestimate total family income when the wife was employed. Data Analysis Procedure Both descriptive and statistical analysis techniques are utilized to implement testing of the hypotheses under investigation in this study. Pearson product moment correlations were computed between feelings about having children again and POQL, satisfaction with family life and satisfaction with children in testing the first hypothesis. An alpha level of .05 was chosen for testing the signi- ficance levels for hypothesis 1. To arrive at a score indicating the degree of agreement between husband and wife responses to the questions "if you had it to do over again would you have children?" (Item 6.4b) and "how strongly do you feel about your answer?" (Item 6.4c), the following codes were assigned the responses: (1) = no, very strongly, (2) = no, somewhat strongly, (3) = no, not strongly, (4) = yes, not strongly, (5) = yes, somewhat strongly, and (6) = yes, very strongly. The amount of discrepancy between husbands and wives is obtained by sub- tracting the husband's score from that of his wife. A score of O was given in cases where the husband and wife pair were in agreement. Negative scores indicated husbands felt more positively about having children again than did their wives. By performing a crosstabulation of scores, the specific frequency can be illustrated. Because of the interactional nature of the demographic variables utilized in the study, an analysis of covariance was used to examinethe relationship between the demographic variables and 71 feelings about having children again, satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. Crosstabulations provide additional descrip- tive data in examination and testing of Hypothesis 2. Each respondent was coded with as many as four separate responses to the open-ended question "Why do you feel as you do about your answer?" (Item 6.5d). It was possible that all four coded responses could appear in the same Reason category or be spread out over four separate categories. Because of the multiple- response nature of this item a cross-tabulation was used to measure the frequencies of responses. A detailed descriptive examination of Research Question 1 is used with particular emphasis given to the minority group of individuals who expressed reasons falling into Category 6, Problems. Summary It is the purpose of the present research to examine the domain of children by looking at the perceived feelings of husbands and wives both as couples and as individuals concerning their de- cision to have children again and to examine the reasons cited by parents for their feelings in order to determine if a relationship exists between these variables and husbands' and wives' perceptions about satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. Both perceptual and objective indicators are utilized in the current study. A lengthy, self-administered questionnaire was completed by more than 300 husband-wife pairs who had at least one school age child living at home. These couples were respondents in a larger research project conducted by Bubolz and Slocum (1977) 72 at Michigan State University, of which this study is a component. The current sample was limited to 178 couples who responded to each of the questionnaire items employed in the current study. Several couples were eliminated because there was evidence of collusion in their answers and others were eliminated because of inconsistent information reported by the couple regarding the number of children born to them. The strength of parental feelings was determined by scor- ing each response on a l to 6 scale. To arrive at an agreement score for couples the husbands' score was subtracted from his wife's score. Those couples in total agreement scored 0 and those who were at extreme opposite poles received a score of 5. If the score was negative, it indicated that the husband felt more positively than did his wife. The measurement of the reasons for feelings regarding having had children was used to determine specific values placed on children by husbands and wives. These were coded into six major categories with several sub-groups. Three other perceptual measures used were POQL, satisfac- tion with family life, and satisfaction with children. Each of these was measured using a modified Delighted to Terrible Scale (1 - 7) developed by Andrews and Withey (1976) and adjusted by Bubolz and Slocum (1977) for use in the questionnaire. The objective measures are used to examine relationship between the demographic measures of age of parents, family income, race, and number of children and the feelings about having child- ren, satisfaction with children, family life, and POQL. 73 Statistical and descriptive measures are used to test the hypotheses in the study. Pearson product-moment correlations are used to measure the relationship between strength of husbands' and wives' feelings about having children again and satisfaction with children, family life, and POQL. An analysis of covariance is used to test the relation- ship between the demographic variables and the feelings about having children again, satisfaction with children, family life, and POQL. Chi-square tests were also performed to provide additional informa- tion about the impact of the demographic variables on the dependent variables. Detailed descriptive analysis was used to discuss the re- lationship between reasons cited by respondents for their reported feelings about having children again and satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. Several contingency tables were implemented to assist in providing information relevant to the discussion of the variables. CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Findings and discussion for each of the measured hypo- theses in this study are included in this chapter. Because of the nature of the descriptive data used in the study, the discus- sion is included with the findings. Overall Satisfaction Levels The majority of husbands and wives in the sample expressed satisfaction with their POQL, family life, and children. Table 4 illustrates the distribution for both husbands and wives. More husbands expressed high and medium satisfaction with POQL while more wives expressed low satisfaction with POQL. Thirty— seven wives said they did not feel satisfied with their POQL which represents nearly 21 percent of the wives in the study as compared to 32 husbands (nearly 18 percent). Husbands also expressed more satisfaction with family life with 116 (65 percent) feeling highly satisfied and 45 (25 per- cent) expressing a medium level of satisfaction. Seventeen husbands (nearly 10 percent) said they were not satisfied with their family life, again fewer than the wives, 30 of whom said they were not satisfied (nearly 17 percent). Wives were basically satisfied with 74 Frequency of Scores of Satisfaction Levels of Husbands and Wives on POQL, Satisfaction with Family Life and 75 Table 4 Satisfaction with Children Satisfaction Categories satizjgfglona POQL Family Life Children Nb %C N % N % fligh_ Husbands 48 29.97 116 65.17 137 75.84 Wives 66 37.08 100 56.18 121 67.98 1199.199. Husbands 98 55.06 45 25.28 28 15.73 Wives 75 42.13 48 26.97 35 19.66 Lay, Husbands 32 17.98 17 9.55 15 8.43 Wives 37 20.79 30 16.85 22 12.36 Meafl§_ Husbands 5.264 5.826 Wives 5.374 5.638 aResponses 1-4 on the 7-p0int scale are included in the low category: responses 4.5-5.5 are included in the medium category and responses 6-7 are included in the high satisfaction category. b N = 356 (178 husbands and 178 wives). cPercentages are calculated on total number of husbands and total number of wives respectively. 76 their family life but not quite as much as the husbands. One hundred wives (56 percent) said they were highly satisfied while 48 (27 per- cent) were found in the medium category. An F-test was performed to determine if employed wives in the study perceived their quality of life differently than unemployed wives. No significant difference was found between working and non- working wives in relationship to strength of feelings about having children again 01: .645), satisfaction with children Ox= .663), family life hx= .555), or perceived overall quality of life (a: .404). (See Appendix C, Table L for summary data.) Perhaps this reflects the more overall perceived involvement of wives in the life of their families. Whether employed or not wives may be more involved with the day-to-day struggles and responsibili- ties of the family system's operation and may regard this aspect of her life as one which is her domain than her husband. Further re- search in this area may provide more definitive information. More husbands and wives express greater satisfaction with their children than either their family life or POQL. More husbands report a high level of satisfaction with children (135 or 76 percent) than did the wives (121 or 68 percent). More wives (22) indicated they were not satisfied with their children than did their husbands (15). This may also indicate a perception of greater responsi- bility for wives. It may also reflect the total amount of time spent directly with the children particularly during the times when child- ren are very young and demand much care and constant supervision. Because the "goodness" or "badness" of children if often perceived by wives and mothers to reflect a mothers' ability as a caregiver 77 and thus provide a link to her identity as a person, she may find that children are more of a burden than perceived by her husband. Some wives may experience more severely the social mandate to stay home and care for children. An examination of the reasons reported for feelings about having had children may show how strongly husbands and wives are influenced by the presence of children. It should be noted that most of the individuals responding in this survey indicated that they were basically satisfied with their POQL, their family life and their children. While those indi- cating low satisfaction is not as great, the number seems to be large enough to make note of. Nineteen percent of the respondents perceived themselves in the low satisfaction categories on their POQL. A few less placed themselves in the low category on their satisfaction with family life (13 percent) and still fewer placed themselves in the low category on satisfaction with children (10 percent). An examination of the individual hypotheses may indicate the relationship of the impact of children on family life and POQL. Hypothesis 1 H = There is no relationship between the strength of parental feelings about desiring to have children again and the perceived satisfaction with children, satisfaction with family life and POQL. 1 Alternative H = There is a relationship between the strength of parental feelings about desiring to have children again and the perceived satisfaction with children, satisfaction with family life and POQL. A Pearson product-moment correlation was implemented to test this hypothesis. Table 5 illustrates the findings regarding the relationship between feelings about having children and husbands' and wives' satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. Each 78 Table 5 Correlations Between Statements About Feelings Regarding Having Children Again and Satisfaction with POQL, Family Life and Children Satisfaction Category Respondents POQL Family Life Children 1‘ O. 1‘ O. Y‘ . a Feelings about having children again Husbands .2758 .001 .3661 .001 .4155 .001 Wives .2303 .001 .4121 .001 .3808 .001 Agreement between husbands and wives about having children again Husbands .1913 .005 .1404 .031 .2190 .002 Wives .1152 .063 .2228 .001 .1839 .007 a = level of significance. of the three categories is significant at the .001 alpha level. It also appears that the spouses' agreement concerning their feelings about having children again also influences the satisfaction level in the three areas of life satisfaction. The only area shown in which the null cannot be rejected at the .05 level of significance is found between wives' feelings and POQL. The alpha level for the relation- ship between agreement of husbands and wives about having children again and POQL reported for wives is .063. Thus we reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alter- native hypothesis recognizing that a relationship is present be- tween parental feelings about having children and perceptions of 79 satisfaction with children, satisfaction with family life and POQL. Figure 3 illustrates the feelings of husbands and wives regarding having children again more graphically. The heavy skew- ing of the distribution can be seen more easily in this form. Nearly three quarters of the respondents, both husbands and wives, feel very strongly that they would have children again which is very close to the percentages of husbands' and wives' feelings of satisfaction with children. Conversely, a pattern appears with regard to those husbands and wives who state that they would not have children again. These individuals appear to also be unhappy with their life as a whole, their family life, and also their satis- faction with children. Figure 3 indicates that fewer husbands and 150 - 74% 72% 125 '- Key: H1 .3 m = Wives . 0’100. :5: = Husbands > U) 82 75 - 44. O t ’ jg 50" , P E; 18%_ 18% ’ 25 - fl . a _- A No No No Yes Yes Yes very somewhat not not somewhat very strongly strongly strongly strongly strongly strongly Figure 3. Percentages of husbands' and wives' feelings about having children again. (Percentages are figured on total number of husbands and wives respectively.) 80 and wives feel that they would not have children again than express dissatisfaction with any of the three categories of life satisfaction. This would seem to indicate the presence of other variables which would affect the perceptions of quality of life. Family life, for example, would also be affected by the marital relationship as well as other family relationships. We would expect, if this were the case, that feelings about having children again would most closely approximate the percentages found for the satisfaction with children domain. In fact, a comparison of Tables 4 and 6 would ap- pear to substantiate this phenomenon. The perceptions, therefore, of the near environments of the individual seem to indicate a greater degree of relationship. Those respondents who specified that they would have child- ren again but said they did not feel very strongly about that deci- sion were reported by five wives and seven husbands. This response seems to represent feelings that indicate little more than tolerance about desiring to have children again. One couple (Table 6) agreed that they would have children again but did not feel strongly about that decision. In two families one of the partners said no, very strongly, while the other said yes, somewhat strongly. One family indicated that one spouse would not have children again and felt somewhat strongly about the decision while the other spouse said yes, they would have children again and felt somewhat strongly about doing so. Again, a majority of the families stated that they would have children again and 102 couples (57 percent) agreed with each other on that decision. The second highest category was that in which one spouse said yes, somewhat strongly and the other said 81 Table 6 Crosstabulation of Couples Strength of Agreement About Feelings Regarding Having Children Again Wives' Feelings Husbands' No No No Yes Yes Yes Row Feelings very somewhat not not somewhat very Totals strongly strongly strongly strongly strongly strongly (l) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (1) No 0 O O O O 2 b 2 very (1-1) (1-1) strongly (2) No l O O l 3 2 7 somewhat (.6) (.6) (1.7) (1.1) (3.9) strongly (3) No 0 O O O O 2 2 not (1.1) (1-1) strongly (4) Yes 2 O O O 4 . 1 7 not (1.1) (2.2) (.6) (3.9) strongly (5) ' Yes 2 l O l 6 22 32 somewhat (1.1) (.6) (.6) (3.4) (12.4) (18.0) strongly (6) Yes 1 1 2 3 19 102 128 very (.6) (.6) (1.1) (1.7) (10.7) (57.3) (71.9) strongly Column 6 2 2 5 32 131 178 Totals (3.4) (1.1) (1.1) (2.8) (18.0) (73.6) (100) N = 178 husband-wife couples. aParentheses indicate number assigned to each response for pur- pose of measuring agreement between husbands and wives. b Percentages 82 yes, very strongly. Ten of the couples were mixed with one spouse indicating they would have children and the other saying, no, they would not. Figure 4 summarizes and illustrates the distribution of agreement scores between spouses regarding having children again. If husbands' and wives' agreed about their decision either to have or not to have children again, the absence of discord on this issue in their marriage could also show greater satisfaction with family life, children and POQL. Table 5 would indicate that the agreement between spouses does generally correlate with perceptions of satisfaction with life concerns. Husband and wife agreement about having children again was found to be significant at the .05 level for satisfaction with children and family life. It was also significant at the .05 level for husbands for POQL but not for wives. The significance level for wives was found to be .063. As can be observed from Figure 4, 102 couples agreed yes, very strongly, while none of the couples agreed at the same strength about not having children again. One couple, however, were in agreement about not having children again, but differed on the strength of that decision. A total of ten other couples disagreed with one partner saying yes and the other no, as opposed to 157 couples saying yes, but in varying degrees of strength. Six couples agreed that they would have children again and felt somewhat strongly about their decision. This may indicate that they had had second thoughts about making the decision; however, we cannot determine from the current data if their agreement was done in a conscious decision-making process or simply is representative to two separate opinions. It is assumed that at some time in their marriage they 83 .622: we; e_e can» gamma case_w;u mcw>mc uaoam >Pm>_uwmoa mace p_mm ccmnmzc mgu Hosp muwovucw wrongs: m>wummmc och .mwwz we; 6o umzu soc» broom .mucmamsc may mcwpumcpazm coca .Axpmcocom xcw> .mm» H o .zpmcocpm amgszom .mm» H m .xpmcocgm no: .mwz n w .xpmcocum we: .0: n m .apmcocum pmszmsom .0: u N .xpmcocum xcm> .o: u Fv mmwcommumu mcwpmmm on msmnEzc mcwcmwmmm >5 pm um>wcem mam: mocoom A.mopn:oo mmwzlocmamac mmp u zv .zmmm< cmcupwsu mcw>mz mcwocmmom mmcwpomu powwow mmpaaou mo mmcoom acoeomcm< mo mommucmocma ucm mowocmsaocu .e «gnaw; x_m>wuwmoa mace Foo» mw>w3 xpm>wuwmoa «cos Foot mccmnmzz m e N . N F «cusabcoe _- N- mm a- .m- ANF._V ANF._V ANN.NV AN_._V ANN._V ANN.NV ANN._V 2N6.V N N m N m m m . op _rIIIIL_ . om ANN.F_V “No.52v _N .om 8N m" . oemw a J .8» a. .oofl 0 U .on. U a. wow ..om .oo_ ANN.oow .o_, No, 2 84 have discussed the status of their children and that they do have a cognitive realization of their own desires. The reasons that are stated for these desires about children may assist in providing further information about the framework of families in each of the satisfaction categories outlined in this study. The reasons cited will be examined more closely in discussion of Hypothesis 2 and Research Question 1. From Figure 4 it can be seen that overall a few more wives feel more positively about having children than do husbands. However, the differences seem minimal. This may be attributed to the more central place of children in the life of the wife. A definitive explanation would have to be inconclusive in this area because of the closeness of the scores. It is interesting to note that 21 husbands and 26 wives differed only 1 degree from their spouse. Only three couples were found at the extreme ends of the matrix with one of the spouses saying yes very strongly and the other saying no, very strongly. Hypothesis 2 H = There is no relationship between the demographic variables of age, race, family income and number of children in the family and parental feelings about desiring to have child- ren again, satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. 2 Alternative H = There is a relationship between the demographic variable; of age, race, family income and number of child- ren in the family and parental feelings about desiring to have children again, satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. 85 An analysis of covariance which permits the analysis of the effects of metric independent variables (covariates) in conjunc- tion with nonmetric factors on a given dependent variable, was used to test Hypothesis 2. The effects of the covariates (family income, age, and number of children) were examined concurrently with the effects of the treatment factor of race becuase both factor and covariate effects were of equal interest in this study. A MANCOVA computer test was utilized for measurement of these interactions. The alpha level for testing the primary effects and interaction effects was set at .05 for the MANCOVA program. Tables 7 and 8 summarize the results of this analysis. Table 7 illustrates that for wives the null hypothesis is not rejected for POQL (.07501) at the .05 alpha level. For family life, children, and parental feelings, however, the null hypothesis is rejected for wives, with alpha levels of .00005, .00449 and .02446 respectively. The alternative hypothesis is thus accepted for the three perceptual variables, but rejected for POQL. For husbands, however, none of the significance levels fell below .05. Consequently, the null hypothesis is not rejected for POQL (.97771), family life (.10435), children (.07654), or parental feel- ings (.22591). Table 8 shows the stepdown regression analysis for each of the perceptual variables which illustrates the high degree of inter- action among all of the perceptual variables. On this test the level of significance for wives on family life was found to be .00005 and for husbands it was .05451. The significance level for husbands on parental feelings was .01781. The alpha levels in the other areas would indi- cate the great amount of interaction between perceptual variables. 86 Table 7 MANCOVA Summary Table Perceptual Variables Covaried with Age, Family Income and Number of Children by Race _;—: ‘— J I 5::gggfgg] Coefficient Stgnifird T-Value a EENN: Husbands .00276 .09849 .02799 .97771 Wives .17565 .09805 1.79138 .07501 Family Life Husbands .16984 .10402 1.63273 .10435 Wives .43619 .10453 4.17297 .00005 Children Husbands .20313 .11400 1.78184 .07654 Wives .39764 .13807 2.87998 .00449 Parental Feelings Husbands -.15168 .12481 -1.21531 .22591 Wives .29756 .13108 2.27007 .02446 N = 178 husbands and 178 wives. df = 1. However, when the demographic and perceptual variables are controlled for interaction effect in the analysis of covariance, we find generally lower alpha levels, especially for the domain of children and parental feelings. This does seem to show that a great deal of interaction is present between the perceptual variables. In an effort to determine which of the demographic variables may have had the greatest impact on these results several crosstabula- tions and chi-square tests were performed. Examination is made of each demographic variable individually in relationship to parental feelings 87 Tab1e 8 Summary Table Stepdown Regression Analysis F-Tests for All Perceptual Variables Covaried with Age, Family Income and Number of Children by Race Perceptual Hypothesis Error Stepdown Variables Mean Square Mean Square F a POQL Husbands .00054 .68501 .OOO78 .97771 Wives 2.11577 .65932 3.20902 . .07901 Familnyife Husbands 1.99846 .53345 3.74627 .05457 Wives 5.99492 .34583 17.33485 .00005 Children Husbands 1.12126 .74333 1.50843 .22108 Wives .52090 .91125 .57163 .45067 Parental Feelings Husbands 4.90525 .85665 5.72605 .01781 Wives .14468 .97715 .14806 .70088 N = 178 husbands and 178 wives df = 1,172. and stated reasons for their decision to have or not have children again. In Table 9 the age categories of the respondents are delineated and compared with feelings about having children again. As might be ex- pected, the majority of all age groups indicated they would have child- ren again and felt very strongly about that decision. A lesser number said yes, somewhat strongly and a few said yes, but did not feel strongly about that decision. Of the three husbands who fell in the 60 to 69 age 88 Table 9 Crosstabulations Between Parental Feelings and Age Age Categories ___‘—_‘_ Parental Feelings T Row] 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 °ta S No, very strongly Husbands O 2 a O O O 2 (1.1) (l l) Wives l 4 l O O 6 (.6) (2.2) (.6) (3.4) No, somewhat strongly Husbands l 4 l l O 7 (.6) (2.2) (.6) (.6) (3.9) Wives O l 1 O O 2 (.6) (,6)y_ (1.1) No, not strongly Husbands O 2 O O O 2 (1.1) (1.1) Wives O 2 O O O 2 (1.1) (1.1) Yes, not strongly Husbands l 2 2 2 O 7 (.6) (1.1) (1.1) (1.1) (3.9) Wives O 3 1 l O 5 (1.7) (,6) (.6) (2.8) Yes, somewhat strongly Husbands 7 ll 11 3 O 32 (3.9) (6.2) (6.2) (1.7) (18.0) Wives 7 l4 8 3 O 32 _(3.9), (7.9) (4.5)_ (1.7) ,(18.0) Yes, very strongly Husbands 10 57 44 14 3 128 (5.6) (32.0) (24.7) (7.9) (1.7) (71.9) Wives 17 66 38 10 O 131 (9.6) (37.1) (21.3) (5.6) (73.6) Column Totals Husbands 19 78 58 20 3 178 (10.7) (43.8) (32.6) (11.2) (1.7) (100) Wives 25 90 49 14 O (14.0) (50.6) (27.5) (7.9) N = 178 husbands and 178 wives. aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives respec- tively. xzraw score 15.41842 with 20 df: a = .7520 for husbands. 2 X raw score 7.73423 with 15 df; a = .9340 for wives. 1 :1 1.1.14 151111.11." 89 group, all of them said yes, very strongly. Only one husband in the 50 to 59 age group said no, somewhat strongly about desiring to have child- ren again. In the 20 to 29 age group one wife said no very strongly and one husband said no, somewhat strongly. A similar distribution of no re- sponses was found in the 40 to 49 age group with l husband saying no, somewhat strongly as well as 1 wife and 1 wife saying no very strongly. However, the primary grouping of no responses can be observed for both husbands and wives in the 30 to 39 age group. A total of 8 husbands and 7 wives in this age range said no in varying strengths to having children again. In contrast, the largest number of yes answers were also found in this age range, representing a larger percentage of answers for both husbands and wives in the yes, very strongly category (32 percent of husbands and 37 percent of the wives). The larger percentage in the 30 to 39 age range of respon- dents who said no to having children again may be explained by realiz- ing that this age group includes parents with younger children and possibly more children currently in the home. The age group 20 to 29,0n the other hand, has fewer children. The older age groups would consist of parents whose children were older and some may have left home. Consequently, the indirect and less constant con- tact ”and interaction with family members in the older age groups may mellow perceptions of the difficulties involved in raising young children. It would seem that the older an individual gets, the more satisfied perceptions of his children may be and the less influence his satisfaction with children will have on his satis- faction with family 1ife. Table 9 would appear to support this with wives feeling slightly better than their husbands, although 9O minutely for older age groups. (See Appendix C, Table 0 for fre- quency of age groups for the entire sample.) The chi-square tests did not show significance at the .05 level for either husbands or wives between parental feelings and age. Therefore, the null hypothesis on this demographic variable is not rejected. An examination of reasons expressed for decisions made about having children may indicate what motivates people from various age groups to feel as they do. Table'Nloutlines the six categories of reasons and shows their distribution over the age groups of the respondents. The largest number of responses were found for the 30 - 39 age group in the Love and Enjoy category, for both husbands and wives. These reasons seemed to be mentioned most often by all but the respondents in the 60 - 69 age group. (For a frequency break- down of responses in each of the six reason categories see Appendix C, Tables J and K). Forty-eight responses falling in the Self-fulfillment category were recorded by wives in the 30 - 39 age range. Problems were mentioned 31 times by women in the 30 - 39 age range, repre- senting the third most often indicated response in that age range. Men, on the other hand, in this age range indicated Family Sharing as the third most often referred to response, and they mentioned Problems as the fourth most indicated response. Fourteen responses were reported in the Problem category by wives in the 40 - 49 age group and 11 times by wives in the 20 - 29 age range. Seven re- sponses in the 40 - 49 age range and four in the 20 - 29 age group also were reported by husbands in the Problems category. 91 Table 10 Crosstabulation Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and Age Age in Years Categories of Row Reas°ns 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 T°ta15 SeTfifulfillment Husbands 8 37 25 7 O 77 (4.5)‘1 (20.8) (14.0) (3.9) (43.3) Wives 10 48 36 6 O 100 (5.6) (27.0) (20.2) (3.4)» (56.2) Love and Enjgy Husbands 14 65 33 14 l 127 (7.9) (36.5) (18.5) (7.9) (.6) (71.3) Wives 17 58 31 6 O 112 (9.6) (32.6) (17.4); (_(3.4) (62.9) Family Sharing Husbands 3 15 23 4 2 47 (1.7) (8.4) (12.9) (2.2) (1.1) (26.4) Wives 5 25 18 5 O 53 (2.8) (14,0)_ (10.1) ((2.8), (29.8)) Giving Husbands 2 10 8 4 O 24 (1.1) (5.6) (4.5) (2.2) (13.5) Wives 6 15 7 1 0 29 (3.4) (814) (3.9) (.6) (16.3) Moral Husbands O l 5 2 O 8 (.6) (2.8) (1.1) (4.5) Wives 3 8 6 3 O 20 ((1.7) (4.5) (3.4) (1.7) (11.2) Problems Husbands 4 l3 7 4 O 28 (2.2) (7.3) (3.9) (2.2) (15.7) Wives 11 31 14 5 O 61 (§.2)) (17.4)_ (7.9) (2.8)) (34.3) Column Totals Husbands 19 78 58 20 3 178 (10.7) (43.8) (32.6) (11.2) (1.7) (100) Wives 25 90 49 14 O 178 (14.0), (50.6)_, (27.5) (7.9) (lOQ)_ N = 178 husbands and 178 wives aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives respectively. 92 Two responses are reported for husbands in the Family Sharing category for those in the 60 - 69 age range and one re- sponse was reported in the Love and Enjoy category for husbands in this age group. No Problems were reported for those in the 60 - 69 age category. One husband, as compared to 8 wives in the 30 - 39 age range reported responses in the Moral category. Five husbands and six wives in the 40 - 49 age range reported Moral rea- sons for their feelings. Three wives in each of the 20 - 29 and SO - 59 age groups reported Moral reasons, but no husbands in these two age groups cited this reason. As was thought might be the case, wives between 20 and 49 years of age reported Self-fulfillment responses more often than did their husbands, while it is likely that husbands cite Love and Enjoy reasons more often than do their wives in the 30 - 49 age group. Wives indicate Family Sharing and Giving responses more often than do their husbands as motivators of their feelings regarding having children again. These responses may be an indication that wives are more directly involved in the daily care of the children and per- ceive their role in society to be that of a "giver" and to take pride in sharing in their families. As has been mentioned previously, wives may find more of their identity from their family while husbands and socialized to receive their primary identity from their job, explaining perhaps the larger number of responses in the Self- fulfillment category for wives. It should be noted, however, that 37 men (20.8 percent) in the 30 - 39 age group also expressed a Self-fulfillment response and 25 responses were found in this cate- gory among men in the 40 - 49 age range. 93 In analyzing the relationship between race and feelings about having children, it is again recognized that the majority of both white and nonwhite families felt very strongly or somewhat strongly about wanting to have children again. Table 11 shows the distribution of responses. It is interesting to note that only one nonwhite husband said he would not want to have children again (.6 percent of husbands), as compared to 10 white husbands. Three nonwhite wives indicated they would not want to have children again as compared to 7 white wives. Proportionately, the nonwhite wives appear to be less satisfied in regard to having children than their white counterparts. The Chi-square alpha level for husbands was found to be .4199 and .2491 for wives. Because they are not significant at the L .05 level, the null hypothesis is not rejected for the variable of ' race for either husbands or wives on the relationship between race and parental feelings. White as well as nonwhite husbands stated reasons in the Love and Enjoy category most often as motivation for having child- ren, as illustrated in Table 12. However, nonwhite wives cited Problems most often as motivation for their feelings about having children again. For white respondents both husbands and wives listed Self-fulfillment reasons as being important to them (75 and 95 responses respectively) while nonwhite husbands cited this rea- son only twice and wives cited it five times. Family Sharing rea- sons appear to be more important to the nonwhite families than to the white families. However, Family Sharing was found to be the answer given for husbands as third most important, while for wives 94 Table 11 Crosstabulation Between Parental Feelings and Race Race . Row Parental Feelings White Nonwhite Totals No, very strongly Husbands 2 0 2 (1.1)a (1.1) Hives 4 2 6 (2.2) (1.1), (3.4) No, somewhat strongly; Husbands 6 l 7 (3.4) (.6) (3.9) Wives l l 2 L6) (.6) (1.1) No, not strongly Husbands 2 0 2 (1.1) (1.1) Wives 2 O 2 4(1,l)_ ,(l.[) Yes, not stroggly Husbands 7 0 7 (3.9) (3.9) Hives 4 l 6 (2.2) (.6) (2.8)_ Yes, somewhat strongly Husbands 31 l 32 (17.4) (.6) (18.0) Hives 27 5 32 (15.2) (2.8)_ ((18.0) Yes, very strongly Husbands 109 19 128 (61.2) (10.7) (71.9) Wives 118 13 131 (66.3) (7.3) (73.6) Column Totals Husbands 157 21 178 (88.2) (11.8) (100) Hives 156 22 __(87.6) (12.4) N = 178 husbands and 178 wives. aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives re- spectively. xzraw score = 4.96730 with 5 df; a .4199 for husbands. 6.63676 with 5 df; a = .2491 for wives. 2 X raw score 95 Table 12 Crosstabulation Between Reasons for Having Children Again and Race Categories of Race Row Rea5°ns White Nonwhite T°ta15 Self-fulfillment Husbands 75 2 77 (42.1)3 (1.1) (43.3) Hives 95 5 100 (53.4) (2.8) (56.2), Love and Enjgy Husbands 110 17 127 (61.8) (9.6) (71.3) Hives 105 7 112 (59.0) g(3.9) (62.9) Family_$harigg Husbands 41 6 47 (23.0) (3.4) (26.4) Hives 49 4 53 (21.5) (2.2) (29.8) Giving Husbands 21 3 24 (11.8) (1 7) (13.5) Hives 27 2 29 (15.2) (1.1) Q68) Moral Husbands 5 3 8 (2.8) (l.7) (4.5) Hives 15 5 20 (8.4) (2.8) (11.2) Problems Husbands 27 l 28 (15.2) (.6) (15.7) Hives 50 ll 61 ,(28.1) A(6.2)_ (34.3) Column Totals Husbands 9 157 21 178 (88.2) (11.8) (100) Hives 156 22 (87.6) 2(12.4) N = 178 husbands and 178 wives. aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives respectively. 96 followed behind Problems. The small number of nonwhite families in the study makes it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions; nevertheless, the trend seems to indicate that few nonwhite husbands and wives receive as much self-fulfillment from raising children as do their white counterparts. Conversely, more nonwhite wives indi- cated Problems proportionately than did white wives. This may be due in part to income level and other environmental factors as well. Table 13 shows the distribution of scores on feelings regarding having children again and family income level. As can be seen, generally the higher the income level the better individuals feel about having children. However, when examined by means of a Chi-square test the significance level (.0758) does not meet our criterion of a .05 level and therefore the null hypothesis is not rejected. When examined in light of the frequency distribution pre- sented in Table F in Appendix C, the only family with an income between $5,000 and $5,999 said yes, they would have children again and felt very strongly about their decision. Two families are re- ported to fall in the $5,000 to $5,999 income level and both of them felt they would have children again, one very strongly and the other somewhat strongly. Husbands and wives in the $7,000 to $7,999 level seemed to be divided. Two husbands said yes, very strongly and two said no, very strongly. All four of the wives said yes, very strongly, indicating a wide range of disagreement in two of these families. This may be viewed as a heavier financial burden perceived by the husband who is generally considered the primary breadwinner and in this case must provide for his family on a 97 Table 13 Crosstabulation Between Parental Feelings and Family Income Income Levels aPercentages are based on total number of husbands respectively. and wives . Row Parenta1 Fee““95 $5,000- $12,000- $35,000- Totals $11. $34,999 $89,999 No, very strongly Husbands 2 0 0 2 (1.1)a (1.1) Wives 0 4 2 6 (2.3)g (l.l)_ _(3.4) No, somewhat strongly Husbands 0 6 1 7 (3.4) (.6) (4.0) Wives 0 1 l 2 (,6) (:6) (1.1) No, not strongly Husbands 0 2 0 2 (1.1) (1.1) Wives 0 2 0 2 (1.1) Qfl Yes, not strongly Husbands l 4 2 7 (.6) (2.3) (1.1) (4.0) Wives 0 l 4 6 (.6) (2.3)_ (2.8) Yes, somewhat strongly Husbands 1 21 10 32 (.6) (11.9) (5.6) (18.1) Wives 4 24 4 32 2(2.3)g (13.6) (2.3) (18.1) Yes, very_strongly Husbands 10 96 21 127 (5.6) (54.2) (11.9) (71.8) Wives l0 _ 97 23 130 (6.6) (54.8)_ (13.0L (73.4) Column Totals Husbands 14 129 34 177 (7.9) (72.9) (19.2) Wives l4 129 34 ,(7.9) (72.9) (19.2)_ .N = 177 husbands and 177 wives. xzraw score = 16.93505 with 10 df; a = .0758. 98 limited income and perhaps a deeper commitment on the part of his wife to receive her identity and happiness from her children more than from an economically "good'I life. As the number of families increase in the middle income ranges the distribution of feelings about having children again be- gins to spread. There remains a heavy skewing, indicating that the majority of individuals would still choose to have children again and most feel very strongly about that decision. The chi-square test yielded a raw score of 16.93505 with 10 degrees of freedom. The alpha level was .0758 which does not meet our criteria of .05. Consequently, the null hypothesis is not rejected in determining relationship between parental feelings and income. Two husbands in the low income category said they would not have children again and felt very strongly about their deci- sion. One husband said yes, not strongly, indicating perhaps some ambivalence. Seven wives said they would not have children and eight husbands said no in the middle income category. Wives felt more strongly about their decision than did the husbands with four wives saying no, very strongly. Two wives in the $35,000 and over category said they would not have children again and felt very strongly about their decision. One husband and one wife also ex- pressed that they would not have children again and felt somewhat strongly about the decision. Evidently the presence of economic security does not ensure positive satisfaction in feelings about having children again. It may be that lower socioeconomic groups derive more fulfillment from their children than from other re- sources in the environment while those in the upper and middle 99 socioeconomic groups find fulfillment from a variety of other environmental sources. The crosstabulation of income and reasons stated for feelings about having children again are outlined in Table 14. The majority of responses fall in the Love and Enjoy category and are distributed proportionately over the three income levels. Self-fulfillment responses follow as the second most reported reason for having children again proportionatly over the three income levels. Giving responses were not indicated for any of the respondents in the low income level but a few mentioned Family Sharing as a reason for their feelings. Proportionately a larger number of high income husbands indicated Giving reasons, but they did not list Moral reasons at all. Problems were indicated for all income levels. Those in the middle income level indicated Problem reasons most often with 23 husbands and 45 wives stating this rea- son. Twenty-five percent of the wives listed Problems which may reflect the interaction of several other variables, one of which may be the stresscrithe family budget during the growing up years of the children, as well as the amount of time and energy involved in raising young children. However, we do find that 3 husbands (1.7 percent) and 14 wives (7.9 percent) in the high income level gave Problem reasons for their decision about having children again. Again it appears that the presence of economic resources in the family does not protect it from difficulties in the raising of children. TablelES indicates the crosstabulation between the number of children in the household and feelings about having children 100 Table 14 Crosstabulation Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and Family Income Income Level Categories of .r3ftl Reasons $5,000- $12,000- $35,000- ° 3 5 $11,999 $34,999 $89,999 Self-fulfillment Husbands 4 54 18 76 (2.3)a (30.5) (10.2) (42.9) Wives 3 81 14 98 (1.7) (45.8) (7.9) _(55.4) Love and Enjoy Husbands 8 97 21 126 (4.5) (54.8) (11.9) (71.2) Wives 6 84 22 112 (3.4), (47.5) ((12.4) (63.3)_ Family_$haring_ Husbands 2 37 8 47 (1.1) (20.9) (4.5) (26.6) Wives 4 38 ll 53 (2.3) (21.5) ((6.2)) ((29.9) Giving - Husbands 0 14 10 24 (7.9) (5.6) (13.6) Wives 0 25 4 29 _(l4.l) (2.3) (l6.4)_ Moral Husbands l 7 0 8 (.5) (4.0) (4.5) Wives 3 ll 6 20 (1.7) (6.2), (3,4) (11.3) Problems Husbands 2 23 3 28 (1.1) (13.0) (1.7) (15.8) Wives 2 45 14 61 (1.1), (25.4)_ (1)9) (34.6) Column Totals Husbands 14 129 34 177 (7.9) (72.9) (19.2) (100) Wives 14 129 34 (7.9) (72.9) (19.2) N = 177 husbands and 177 wives aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives respectively. 101 Table 15 Number of Children Crosstabulation Between Parental Feelings and Number of Children Parental Feelings 1 2 3 4 No, veryystrongly Husbands 0 l 0 (.6)a Wives 0 4 l 1 LL?) (.6) (.6) No, somewhat strongly Husbands l 3 l 2 (.6) (1.7) (.6) (1.1) Wives 0 1 l 0 (.6) (.6) No, not strongly Husbands 0 l l 0 (.6) (.6) Wives 0 0 l l ( 6)_ .(46)_ Yes, not strongly Husbands 3 4 0 0 (1.7) (2.2) Wives 0 3 2 (1,7) (1.1) Yes, somewhat strongly Husbands 6 12 11 3 (3.4) (6.7) (6.2) (1.7) Wives 5 15 6 5 (2.8) (8,4), (3.4) (2.8) Yes, very strongly Husbands 13 46 35 21 (7.3) (25.8) (19.7) (11.8) Wives 18 43 40 17 (10.1) (24.2) ((22.5) (9.6)_ Column Totals Husbands 23 66 49 26 and Wives (12.9) (37.1) (27.5) (14.6) N = 178 husbands and 178 wives aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives re- spectively. x2 raw score = 18.09180 with 35 df; a x2 raw score = 41.04472 with 35 df; a .9919 for wives =.2226 for husbands 102 Row 5 6 7 8 Totals 0 1 0 0 2 (.6) (1.1) 0 0 0 0 6 (3.4) 0 0 0 0 7 (3.9) 0 0 0 0 2 (1.1) 0 0 0 0 2 (1.1) 0 0 0 0 2 413 0 0 0 0 7 (3.9) 0 0 0 0 5 (2.8) 0 0 0 0 32 (18.0) 1 0 0 0 32 (18.0) 7 3 l 2 128 (3.9) (1.7) (.6) (1.1) (71.9) 6 4 l 2 131 (3.4) (2.2) (.6) (1.1) (73.6) 7 4 l 2 178 (3.9) (2.2) (.6) (1.1) (100) 103 again. The Chi-square test revealed alpha levels for wives of .9919 and for husbands .2226. Therefore, the null hypothesis cannot be re- jected at the .05 level for either husbands or wives for the relation- ship between parental feelings and number of children. The distribution in this table would not seem to support findings in the literature that people with two, three and four children are more satisfied than those with larger or smaller fami- lies. One husband with six children said he felt very strongly that he would not have children, but all other respondents in the 5 to 8 children group said they would have children again and all but one of them said they felt very strongly while one said some- what strongly. Six individuals divided evenly between husbands and wives who had three children said no, they would not have child- ren again, one couple in each of the strength categories. Nine re- spondents with two children said no, they would not have children ' again. Four of these wives felt very strongly about their deci- sion, one wife and three husbands felt somewhat strongly and one husband did not feel strongly about his decision. One husband with one child indicated somewhat strongly he would not have children again. It is difficult to draw definitive conclusions regarding the impact of the number of children on feelings about having children again. Table G in Appendix C gives the frequency informa- tion regarding number of children in the family. Table 16 outlines the reasons given for having children again, listing frequencies and percentages for husbands and wives for families with from one to eight children. The average family in the study had two children. Again Love and Enjoy reasons were l04 Table l6 Crosstabulation Between Reasons for Having Children Again and Number of Children Categories of Number of Children Reasons 1 2 3 4 SElf-fulfillment Husbands 9 29 21 14 (5.1) (16.3) (11.8) (7.9) Wives 17 32 35 14 ((9.6) (18.0) (19.7) (7.9))A Love and Enjoy Husbands 12 43 38 23 (6.7) (24.2) (21.3) (12.9) Wives 16 46 29 13 (9.0L (25.8) (l_6.3) (1.3) Family Sharing, Husbands 9 16 13 4 (5.1) (9.0) (7.3) (2.2) Wives 7 15 18 9 (3.9), (8.4), (10.1) ((Sgl) Giving Husbands 4 7 8 5 (2.2) (3.9) (4.5) (2.8) Wives l 12 8 4 (.6), (6.7) (4.5) (2.2) Moral Husbands l 4 2 0 (.6) (2.2) (1.1) Wives 2 5 6 3 (l.l) (2.8), (3.4) ((1.7) Problems Husbands 4 l3 6 4 (2.2) (7.3) (3.4) (2.2) Wives 7 24 14 15 (3.9) (13.5), ((7.9) ((8.4) C0lumn Totals Husbands 23 66 49 26 and Wives (12.9) (37.1) (27.5) (14.6) N = 178 husbands and 178 wives. aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and respectively. wives lOS Row 5 6 7 8 Totals 3 1 0 0 77 (1.7) (.5) (43.3) 1 0 0 1 100 (.6) (.5) (55.2) 7 3 0 1 127 (3.9) (1.7) (.6) (71.3) 3 3 0 2 112 (1.7) (1.7) (1.1) (52.9) 2 1 0 2 47 (1.1) (.6) (1.1) (26.4) 3 1 0 0 53 (1.7) (.5) (29.8) 0 0 0 0 24 (13.5) 2 0 1 1 29 (1.1) (.6) (.6) (16.3) 0 0 1 0 8 (.5) (4.5) 2 2 0 0 20 (1)1) (1.1) (11.2) 0 1 0 0 28 (.6) (15.7) 1 0 0 0 51 (.6) (34.3) 7 4 1 2 178 (3.9) (2.2) (.5) (1.1) (100) l06 were stated most often for feelings about having children again. Wives with one child indicated Self-fulfillment responses most often as did wives with three children. Women with four children listed reasons in the Problem category most often followed by Self- fulfillment and Love and Enjoy reasons. Husbands cited Love and Enjoy reasons most often for any number of children. Self-fulfillment responses were given by husbands second most often. Generally men listed Problems less often than did women. Research_9uestion 1 Research Question 1: Is therea relationship between reasons stated by husbands and wives for desiring to have or not have children again and satisfaction with children, family life, and POQL? By looking at the reasons husbands and wives gave for their feelings about having children again might give some indica- tion of how these perceptions might impact on life-as-a-whole, family life satisfaction and satisfaction with children. Because of the multiple answers given to the open-ended question, a cross- tabulation was thought to yield information that would show trends most closely. Table 17 indicates the distribution of reasons and com- pares the six categories with the strength of feeling categories for both husbands and wives. It can be seen that the majority of the first five reasons appear primarily on the right side of the matrix, indicating that generally all of these seem to be indicated by those individuals who feel that they would have children again. Two husbands gave Love and Enjoy reasons but said no, very TABLE 17 l 07 CROSSTABULATIDN 0F FEELINGS REGARDING HAVING CHILDREN AND REASONS GIVEN FDR FEELINGS Strength of feelings regarding having children Reasons given for feelings regarding)having children No No No L Yes Yes Yes Very Somewhat Not Not Somewhat Very Strongly Strongly Strongly trongly Strongly Strongly Ha wb H w H w H w H w H w Self- H 0 1 O O 23 53 Fulfill- me"‘ u 0 0 0 1 9 90 Love H O 2 0 2 21 102 and E"J°y w 2 0 0 3 14 93 H O O 0 0 ll 36 Sharing W 0 O 0 O 7 46 H 0 O 0 l 5 17 Giving W 0 O O 0 4 25 H 0 0 0 O O 8 Moral W O 0 O 0 0 20 H 2 9 2 5 5 5 Problems W 11 4 5 5 21 15 N = 178 husbands and 178 wives totaling 356. aH = husbands' responses bW = wives' responses NOTE: children. Each respondent could give as many as four separate responses regarding the reasons for their feelings about having l08 strongly. One husband indicated a Htsponse in the Self-fulfillment category that said no somewhat strongly and all other reasons except for the Problem area were reported by those individuals who would have children again. Problem responses appeared for both men and women across all of the parental feeling responses. This was the only category of responses which was mentioned in such a universal way. Neither husbands or wives mentioned reasons in the Family Sharing, Giving or Moral categories who said they would not have children again. In Table 18 the reasons are deliniated for having child- ren again as compared with the three satisfaction levels with children. The largest number of responses are found in the Love and Enjoy category indicated by husbands who also had a high satis- faction with their children. Wives in the high satisfaction cate- gory also reported the largest number of responses in this category. Wives in the high satisfaction level reported 72 responses in the Self-fulfillment area while husbands in the same level reported 65 responses in this area. Wives also reported 41 responses in the Family Sharing category while husbands reported 31 while maintaining a high level of satisfaction with their children. As has been demonstrated previously, a disproportionate number of Problem re- sponses are indicated by both husbands and wives in the low and medium satisfaction levels for children. However, 23 wives and 8 husbands who said they were highly satisfied with the aspect of children in their lives, also indicated Problems. A comparison of Tables 18, 19 and 20 again show that the further away from the domain area of the near environment one looks the less impact a particular indicator has. Table 18 Crosstabulation Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and Satisfaction with Children J I Satisfaction with Children Categories of Row Reasons Low Medium High Totals Self-fulfillment Husbands 4 8 65 77 (2.2)a (4.5) (36.5) (43.3) Wives 9 19 72 100 (5.l)( (lO.Z) (40.4)_ ((56.2) Love and Enjoy Husbands 5 17 105 127 (2.8) (9.6) (59.0) (71.3) Wives 6 15 91 112 (3.4) (8.4) (51.l)( (62.9) Family Sharing Husbands 4 12 31 47 (2.2) (6.7) (17.4) (26.4) Wives 2 10 41 53 ((1.1) (5.6) _(23.0)( _(29,8) Giving Husbands l 5 18 24 (.6) (2.8) (10.1) (13.5) Wives 4 ~6 19 29 (2.2) ((3.4) (10.7)( ((J6.3) Moral Husbands O 2 6 8 (1.1) (3.4) (4.5) Wives 4 2 14 20 (2,2)_ (l.l) (7.9) (ll.2) Problems Husbands l4 6 8 28 (7.9) (3.4) (4.5) (15.7) Wives 20 18 23 61 (11.2) (10.1)( ((12.9) (34.3) Column Totals Husbands 15 28 135 178 (8.4) (15.7) (75.8) (100) Wives 22 35 121 (12.4) (19.7) $8.0) N = 178 husbands and 178 wives. aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives respectively. 110 Table 19 Crosstabulations Between Reasons Stated for Having Children __-: ——:- _—_:— Again and Satisfaction with Family Life I ‘1—1 Satisfaction with Family Life I J Categories of Row Reasons Low Medium High Totals Self-fulfillment Husbands 2 a 23 52 77 (1.1) (12.9) (29.2) (45.7) Wives 5 36 59 100 (2.8) (20.2) (33.l) (56.2) Love and Enjoy Husbands 4 31 92 127 (2.2) (17.4) (51.7) (71.3) Wives 3 4O 69 112 (1,7) (22.5) (38.8) (62.9) Family Sharing Husbands 1 13 33 47 (.6) (7.3) (18.5) (26.4) Wives 2 12 39 53 (l.l) (621)( (21.9) (29.8) Giving Husbands O 7 17 24 (3.9) (8.6) (13.5) Wives 3 7 19 29 (1.7) ((3.9) (10.7) (16.3) Moral 44* Husbands 0 2 6 8 (1.1) (3.4) (4.5) Wives 2 6 12 20 41.1) (3.4g (6.7) (11.2) Problems Husbands 2 18 8 28 (1.1) (10.1) (4.5) (15.7) Wives 14 21 26 61 fig) (11.8) (14.6) (34.3) Column Total Husbands 7 55 116 178 (3.9) (30.9) (65.2) (100) Wives) 18 60 100 (10.1) (33.7) (56.2) N = 178 husbands and 178 wives. aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives re- spectively. lll Table 20 Crosstabulation Between Reasons Stated for Having Children Again and POQL Categories of POQL Row Reas°ns Low Medium High T°ta‘S Self-fulfillment Husbands 2 a 49 26 77 (1.1) (27.5) (14.6) (43.3) Wives 10 62 28 100 (5.6) (34.8) (J5.7) (56,2) Love and Enjoy Husbands 13 79 35 127 (7.3) (44.4) (19.7) (71.3) Wives 6 62 44 112 (3.4)_ (34.8) (24.7) (6233) Family_Sharing Husbands 5 29 13 47 (2.8) (16.3) (7.3) (26.4) Wives 4 23 26 53 ((2.2) (42.3) (14.6) (29.3) Giving Husbands 2 l5 7 24 (1.1) (8.4) (3.9) (13.5) Wives 4 14 ll 29 ((2.2)_ (7.9) (6.2)_ ((l6.3) Moral Husbands 2 1 5 8 (1.1) (.6) (2.8) (4.5) Wives l 9 10 20 (.6) (6,l)_ (5.6)_ ((ll.2) Problems Husbands 9 16 3 28 (5.1) (9.0) (1.7) (15.7) Wives 10 28 23 61 (5.6)( (15.7)( (12.9) (34.3) Column Totals Husbands 21 109 48 178 (11.8) (61.2) (27.0) (100) Wives 19 93 66 (10.7) (52.2)( (37.1) N = 178 husbands and 178 wives. aPercentages are based on total number of husbands and wives respectively. ll2 Summary In this chapter an examination of the findings has been presented and a brief discussion of each hypothesis and research question was given. A Pearson product-moment correlation was used to test Hypothesis 1. It was shown that feelings about having children again was significant at the .001 level of significance for both husbands and wives when correlated with satisfaction with child- ren, satisfaction with family life and POQL. It was also found that agreement between husbands and wives regarding having child- ren again is significant at the .01 level for satisfaction with children for both husbands and wives; it is significant at the .001 level for wives and at the .05 level for husbands when cor- related with family life satisfaction; and it is significant for husbands at the .005 level when correlated with POQL, but was not significant for wives. The significance level reported for wives with POQL was .063. A scale was developed to compare the feelings about having children again between husbands and wives. It was found that 108 couples agreed that they would have children again. Forty-seven other couples differed only 1 point from the score of their spouse and only three couples differed at extremes with one spouse saying yes very strongly and the other saying no very strongly. In order to test Hypothesis 2 an analysis of covariance was utilized to determine the relationship between the demographic variables of age, race, family income and number of children in the family with parental feelings about having children again, ll3 satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. It was found that for wives the null hypothesis is not rejected for POOL (.07501) at the .05 alpha level. For family life, children, and parental feel- ings, however, the null hypothesis is rejected for wives, with alpha levels of .00005, .00449 and .02446 respectively. The alternative hypothesis is thus accepted for the three perceptual variables for wives, but rejected for POQL. For husbands, however, none of the scores fell below the .05 alpha level. Consequently, the null hypothesis is not rejected for POQL (.97771), family life (.10435), children (.07654), or parental feelings (.22591). In an effort to determine if any one of these demographic variables could provide a clearer explanation as to which may impact on parental feelings about having children again, chi-square tests were done with each variables. For age and parental feelings, the chi square scores yielded significance levels of .7520 for husbands and .9340 for wives. Alpha levels of .4199 for husbands and .2491 for wives were reported for the variable of race. The chi-square test for family income revealed an alpha level of .0758. The final vari- able of number of children yielded alpha levels of .9919 for wives and .2226 for husbands. None of these levels were found to be signifi- cant at the .05 level of significance. This would seem to indicate the presence of some intervening variable that would explain the difference between this finding and that found to be the case in the analysis of covariance. There may also be something in the in- teraction of all of the variables that would combine to show the significance level found in the analysis of covariance, which did ll4 not appear in doing the chi-square test with the individual variables separately. Overall the larger part of the sample consisted of husbands and wives in the 30 to 50 age range who felt they would have children again, with more individuals saying they would not have children again in the 30 to 39 age group. The category of Love and Enjoy reasons was found to include the largest number of responses for nearly all age groups, both races, nearly all income levels and numbers of children. Self-fulfillment reasons were also regarded much of the time as important to the respondents. Family income was found to be higher than that of the national norm with a mean income of $27,350.28 and a mode income of $22,500. Relating number of children to feelings about having child— ren again revealed that the majority of the respondents who indicated they would not have children again fell in the category of having two or three children. A greater percentage of responses in the Problem category were cited by wives with four children and those with two children. In examining Research Question 1 a study was made of the reasons stated by husbands and wives for desiring to have or not have children again in relationship to their satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. The majority of the first five reasons were found to correlate with those individuals who would have children again. Responses in the Problem category were found in each of the parental feeling categories but with a larger proportion of respon- ses falling in the portion of the matrix indicating that individuals would not have children again. llS In looking at the reasons as compared with the three satis- faction levels (children, family life, and POQL) more responses are recorded in the high level of satisfaction with children than in either that of family life or POQL, for the first five reason cate- gories. The Problem category seems to be more spread over all three satisfaction levels but is weighted toward the low satisfaction end of the matrix. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS In this chapter the results of the study are summarized. Limitations of the current research project are stated and implica- tions for further study are outlined. The average family in the sample examined in this study consisted of husband-wife couples in their later thirties with wives about two years younger than their spouses. Family income was about $22,500; above the median for Americans generally ($14,502). The majority of families were white with some nonwhite representation. Most of the families had two or three children with a range of from one to eight. In support of the findings of other researchers (Campbell, Converse and Rodgers, 1976; Andrews and Withey, 1976; Bubolz and Eicher, 1980) the majority of respondents reported satisfaction with POQL. Eighteen percent of the husbands and 21 percent of the wives described their lives in the low satisfaction category. These individuals were not satisfied with their family life as well. An even higher percentage of both husbands and wives expressed greater satisfaction with the domain of children than either satisfaction with family life or POQL. Still, eight percent of husbands and 12 percent of wives indicated a low level of satisfaction with the domain of children. ll6 ll7 Table 21 summarizes the conclusions of this study which are outlined to reflect the overall objectives of the research. Table 21 Summary of Hypotheses Results Measurement Implemented Hypotheses Number HYpothe51s Statement Reject Null 1 There is no relationship between Pearson parental feelings about having product- children again and perceived moment satisfaction with children, correlation family life and POQL. 2 There is no relationship between the demographic variables of age, race, family income and Analysis number of children and parental of feelings about having children Covariance again, satisfaction with child- ren, family life and POQL. a. POQL: Husbands Wives b. Family Life: Husbands Wives c. Children: Husbands Wives d. Parental Feelings: Husbands Wives Yes No No No Yes No Yes No Yes N = 178 wives and 178 husbands. ll8 Hypothesis 1 The Pearson product-moment correlation used to test this hypothesis revealed that feelings about having children again are significantly correlated with all three satisfaction domains at the .001 confidence level for both husbands and wives. The null hypo- thesis was therefore rejected and the alternative supported. It was also found that agreement between husbands and wives regarding their feelings about having children again signifi- cantly correlates for both husbands and wives with satisfaction in the domains of children and family life at the .05 level of signifi- cance. It was also found to be significant for husbands in relation- ship to POQL but was not for wives (.063). The uncertainty about the collusion of husbands and wives in completing a self-administered questionnaire in the privacy of one's home, would make any definitive statement about this finding somewhat tenuous. Perhaps the limita- tion of the current study to families with both adults living to- gether would also affect this finding. It may be that a larger portion of those with strong disagreements about children have decided to terminate their marriage thus allowing us to examine families in this study who are basically compatible. Nevertheless. the area of marital agreement about the amount of impact on the satisfaction levels of husbands and wives would seem to warrant further research. While the majority of couples said they would have child- ren again and also felt satisfied with the domains of children, family life and POQL, a smaller number of husbands and wives said they would not have children again and indicated low levels of ll9 satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. Respondents who regarded themselves in the minority group of dissatisfied individuals still represents a large number of the population and may indicate that more research needs to be done with this subgroup of the popu- lation. It would seem that knowledge of what conditions or motiva- tions for having children exist among this dissatisfied group would provide an impetus to social scientists and government leaders in helping to alleviate perceived deficits in the satisfaction level of these individuals. Perhaps some of these individuals operate within a mind set that would prohibit them from being satisfied with any condition of their life and should be considered as a vari- able in itself in studying this subgroup of the population. Perhaps in its early stages a simple awareness of the extent of the problem will provide opportunity for further study. Hypothesis 2 An analysis of covariance was used for testing the second hypothesis, taking all four demographic variables into account at the same time and relating them to parental feelings, satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. In addition, chi-square tests, de- signed to look at the variables individually, provided additional information. As was observed in Table 21, the null hypothesis was accepted for both husbands and wives on the satisfaction with POQL level and for husbands on satisfaction with family life, children and parental feelings. The null hypothesis was rejected for wives on family life, children, and parental feelings. 120 The distribution of positive responses to having children again would appear to indicate that husbands and wives in the later years feel better than do husbands and wives in the middle-age group about the domain of children. The largest number of parents indi- cating unwillingness to have children again was found for parents in the 30 to 39 year age group. Race was also found to impact on feelings about having children again. A larger percentage of nonwhite wives indicated they would not have children again as compared to white wives. Most often cited reasons for feelings about children for both white and nonwhite respondents werein the Love and Enjoy category. Nonwhite wives responses were found more often proportionately in the Prob- lem category than their white counterparts. Generally the reasons most often cited by husbands and wives for their feelings about having children again were found to be in the categories of Love and Enjoy and Self-fulfillment. How- ever, Family Sharing responses were cited most by husbands in the 60 to 69 age group. Wives were found to give responses in the Problem cate- gory more often than husbands in all of the age groups they repre- sented (there were no wives in the 60 - 69 age group). Moral reasons were cited most often by husbands and wives in the 40 to 49 age group and by wives in the 30 to 39 age group. The variable of family income indicates that those families in the middle-income categories of this sample seemed to feel less satisfied with their domain of children than did either those of low or high income. Across all income categories the majority of l2l individuals felt strongly that they would have children again. A few less said they would have children again, somewhat strongly. This again would seem to support the literature, indicating the domains that are most closely associated with the individual--their near en- vironment--and the broader domain of life as a whole. The majority of responses cited by husbands and wives as reasons for their feelings about having children again fall in the Love and Enjoy category and are distributed primarily between the $15,000 and higher levels of income. Self-fulfillment responses are also found often over the same income levels. Families in the middle to high income levels list Family Sharing reasons as third most important. Problems were indicated in all income levels with the greatest number found in the middle income ranges. It appears that the presence of economic resources avail— able in the family does not protect it from difficulties they perceive in the domain of children. For example, 3 husbands (1.7 percent) and 14 wives (7.9 percent) in the high income level gave Problem reasons for their decision about having children again. Giving responses were not indicated for any of the respondents in the low income level but a few mentioned Family Sharing as a reasons for their feelings. Proportionately, a larger number of high income husbands indicated Giving reasons, but they did not list Moral reasons at all. The findings concerning the number of children present in the home does not seem to support findings in the literature. Several researchers examined in the literature review reported that parents with no children, one child, two, three or four children were most satisfied with the number of children they had and were more satis- fied with their life as a whole. However, families with two, three, l22 or four children in this study indicated Problem responses and less satisfaction in the feelings about having children than did respon- dents with more or less children. Wives with one child indicated Self-fulfillment responses proportionately more often than did wives with more children. Because the analysis of covariance yielded significance in looking at the demographic variables together to find any possible effects on parental feelings, satisfaction with children, family life and POQL in some areas, a chi-square test was used to look more closely at each demographic variable separately as to possible impact on par- ental feelings about having children again. For age and parental feelings, the chi-square scores yielded significance levels of .7520 for husbands and .9340 for wives. Scores of .4199 for husbands and .2491 for wives were reported for the variable of race. The chi— square test for family income revealed an alpha level of .0758. The final variable of number of children yielded scores of .9919 for wives and .2226 for husbands. None of these scores were found to be significant at the .05 level of significance. This would seem to indicate the presence of some intervening variable that could explain the difference between these scores and that found to be the case in the analysis of covariance. Perhaps there is something that combines to work together in the analysis of covariance to yield significance that is not easily seen in the separate chi-square tests. Again, this may be an area in which further research could be helpful. The deve10pment of more sophisticated techniques of analysis may give more definitive results. These variables would be of particular value to social scientists and leaders in helping to determine patterns which may l23 indicate the type of social programs most helpful to those in need. For example, knowledge that black wives with more than 2 children, between 30 and 39 and an income of under $8,000 annually also say they would not choose to have children again and cite primarily Problems for their feelings, would give us a good idea of what group of people in our society we need to be assisting. Perhaps better birth control information needs to be made available, and perhaps better education needs to be provided for her to help her find employment, as well as job training, to name only a few. Research Question 1 Because of the multiple answers given to the open-ended question requesting the reasons that husbands and wives feel as they do about having children again, a crosstabulation was used to yield the most accurate information about the relationship of these feelings to satisfaction with children, family life and POQL. The major portion of the first five reason categories were found to correlate with those individuals who expressed the desire to have children again. Responses in the Problem category were found in each of the satisfaction levels but with a greater percentage of responses falling in the portion of the matrix indicating that individuals would not choose to have children again. It was felt that the Problem category would show more reasons appearing in the No category than in the Yes category. While they do appear there they also appear in a large number for some of the respondents reporting that they would have children again. This may be attributed to a number of respondents replying with both a Problem response and also with other responses in some l24 of the other categories, particularly that of Love and Enjoy. These individuals may recognize the difficulties raising a child can pre- sent or perhaps feel a great responsibility with the care of a child but also find satisfaction in the experience. In such cases it would seem that the satisfaction level seems to outweigh the nature of a perceived responsibility or Problem, noticing the number of people in the high satisfaction level categories for children, family life and POQL. More responses are recorded in the high level of satisfac- tion areas for the domain of children than in either that of family life or POQL for the first five reason categories. The Problem category seems to be more spread over all three satisfaction levels but appears to be proportionately larger for those respondents re- porting low satisfaction in all three satisfaction levels. These findings would seem to indicate that the distinction in the reasons comes between all of those stated in the first five categories and the Problems category. Again, only a tentative conclusion can be reached because of the multiple responses to this open-ended ques- tion. It was felt, however, that inclusion of all of the reasons stated by husbands and wives would provide a better indication of overall feelings about having children again than would have been possible with only the inclusion of the first response. This would suggest another possible area of further re- search in development of techniques better able to measure these multiple response items. It could be useful to provide a list of reasons and ask respondents to rank order them in order of impor- tance. Perhaps case studies could also be utilized with some of l25 these families longitudinally to determine if their perceptions change over time. Overall, however, the tendency seems to support the al- ternative rather than the null hypothesis. While the number of respondents in the sample remains large enough to generalize the findings of this study, further research could also look at al— ternative life styles for families which may result in different conclusions that are reported here with families with both husband and wife living together in the home with at least one child. Findings seem to show that the model used to look at the interaction of husbands and wives and their perceptions of their children are useful in determining relationships between feelings about having children and satisfaction levels in the domains of children, family and POQL. It can also be seen that the nearer the domain to the environment of the individual, the better indica- tor it will be of satisfaction in that domain as well as the broader domains. This would indicate that perhaps national priorities need to be changed to help meet the needs of distressed families. 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APPENDICES APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE 13C) GENERAL DIRECTIONS Please read the directions at the beginning of each section before answering the questions. It is very important that you answer each question as care- fully and as accurately as you can. Be sure to respond to all the questions on both front and back of each page. Both you and your spouse are asked to complete separate questionnaires. Please do not discuss your answers before both of you have finished the entire questionnaire. When you have completed the guestionnaire, return it to the manila envelope provided and seal the enve ope. YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT LIFE CONCERNS In this section of the questionnaire, we want to find out how you feel about various parts of your life, and life in this country as you see it. Please include the feelings you have now--taking into account what has happened in the last year and what you expect in the near future. All of the items can be answered by simply writing on the line to the left of each question one of the following numbers 0R letters to indicate how you feel. For example write in “l“ for terrible, “I“ if you have mixed feelings about some question (that is, you are about equally satisfied and dissatisfied with some part of your life), and so forth on to '7” if you feel delighted about it. If you have no feelings at all on the question, write in "A." If you have never thought about something, write in ”B." If some question doesn't apply to you, write in "C." For two of the questions we also ask you to write in some important reasons for why you feel as you do. Please finish this section before going on to the next section. I feel: 1'1 1—1 [—1 [—1 r1 It a; .5 a; J.; at 1.6.. 121-— Terrible Unhappy Mostly Mixed Mostly Pleased Delighted dissatisfied (about satisfied equally satisfied and dissatisfied) [Z] Neutral-~neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Never thought about it E] Does not apply to me 1.1 How do you feel about your life as a whole? 1.2 How do you feel about the freedom you have from being bothered and annoyed? l3l I feel: .r'l r'1 I“LA_ .F—l 2J"1 —£13 L23 L21 Lil fies tea {:1— Terrible Unhappy Mostly Mixed Mostly Pleased Delighted dissatisfied (about satisfied equally satisfied and dissatisfied) E] Meutral--neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Never thought about it E Does not apply to me 1.3a How do you feel about your own family life--your husband or wife, your marriage, and, your children, if any? 1.3b What are some of the most important reasons for nny_you feel as you do about your family? 1.4 How do you feel about the amount of beauty and attractiveness in your day to day life? 1.5 How do you feel about your independence or freedom--the chance you have to do what you want? 1.6 How do you feel about how'much you are accepted and included by others? 1.7 How do you feel about your job? 1.8 How do you feel about your standard of 1iving--the things you have like housing, car, furniture, recreation, and the like? 1.9 How do you feel about your safety? 1.10 How do you feel about what our national government is doing? 1.11 How do you feel about how much fun you are having? 1.12 How do you feel about your house or apartment? 1.13 How do you feel about what you are accomplishing in your life? 1.14 How do you feel about your particular neighborhood as a place to live? 132 MORE FEELINGS ABOUT YOUR FAMILY LIFE CIRCLE THE NUMBER which best describes your feelings about your own family life. For example, circle "1" if you feel terrible about something, circle "4" if you have mixed feelings (that is, you are about equally satisfied and dissatisfied), and circle “7“ if you feel delighted about it. \\\ <\\§Qfl?5 494“?> a I J4 °7 1“ J‘ (at @308 ’Q ‘94 6.1 How would you feel about your own ‘ family life if you considered only: 6.1a Your husband or wife? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.1b Your children? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.1c The love and affection you experience? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.1d The closeness and sense of belonging you feel? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.1a The amount of respect you . receive? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.1f How comfortable it feels to be at home? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.19 Your marriage? 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 6.2 How would you feel about your own family life--your marriage, husband or wife and children--if you considered only: 6.2a The way money is used? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.2b The amount of money available for your personal use? 1 - 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.2c The material goods it enables you to own? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.20 The way decisions are made? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.2e The things you do together? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 l33 a o 6',- 4' ‘ti 9» J", ’9 0 ob 0' 4b 0' " ‘? J? {i 97 {L )‘ 9b 45699 a I- <4 .r i I 4’ r ‘3 ‘99 47 QFW‘ 9F 95 ‘3 ’5 ‘94 97 " " ’ a 97 97 ‘5' 97 6.3 How would you feel about your own family life if you considered only: 6.3a The mutual helpfulness of family members? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.3b The way household work is divided/accomplished? l 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.3c How openly and honestly you can express feelings? l 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.3d The kind of communication you have? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.3e The amount of time the family spends together? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.3f Your sexual relationship? 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 6.39 The time you spend with your children? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.3h The time you spend with your husband or wife? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.3i The friends it enables you to enjoy? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6.4a Have you had any children born to you? [ J NO [ ] YES —9 Nuuber of children born to you: 6.4b If you had it to do over again would you have children? I 1 NO [ ] YES 6.4c How strongly do you feel about the answer you gave to the above question 6.4b ? [ ] Very strongly [ ] Somewhat strongly [ J Not strongly 6.4d What are some of the reasons you feel as you do about having children? '134 Now that you have done some thinking about your family life and your life in general, we would like to ask you how you feel about them. Please write on the line to the left of each question one of the following numbers 0R letters to indicate how you feel. For example, if you feel terrible about TE write in ”1," if you have mixed feelings about it (that is, you are about equally satisfied and dissatisfied) write in “4," and if you feel delighted about it write in "7.“ If you feel neutral about it (that is, you are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied), write in ”A." If you have never thought about it, write in “B." If it does not apply to you, write in "C." I feel: T"l r'n. r'1_, r'1, F'1 —D] 121 or 1.4. 1_-"_r 121 El— Terrible Unhappy Mostly Mixed Mostly Pleased Delighted dissatisfied (about satisfied equally satisfied and dissatisfied) [:1 Neutral--neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Never thought about it [:J Does not apply to me 9.1 How do you feel about your own family 1ife--your husband or wife, your marriage, and your children, if any? 9.2 How do you feel about your life as a whole? 9.3 This study has asked you to tell us how you feel about various parts of life. Are there things which affect your quality of life which have not been included? If so, please write them below. NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO TAKE A BREAK BEFORE GOING ON TO THE NEXT PAGE. 1135 YOUR FAMILY SITUATION This study is about the quality of life of family members. Therefore, we are interested in knowing some things about yourself and your family. As you answer the questions, please consider only yourself and the family sewers 92‘. living in your household. FOR EACH QUESTION. PLACE A CHECK MARK IN THE BRACKETS {9’} OR WRITE THE ANSNER ON THE LINE PROVIDED. 13.1 What is your sex? [ ] Male [ ] Female 13.2a How old were you on your last birthday? ______Age at last birthday 13.2b What is the month, day, and year of your birth? gianth Day Year of Birth 13.3 What is your religion, if any? 1 Protestant: [ [ ] Catholic [ ] Jewish I I (please specify) ] None ] Other: (please speley) 13.4 What is your race? [ ] White [ ] Black/Negro/Afro-American [ ] Other: (please speley) 13.5 00 you (or does a member of your family who lives with you) own your home, do you rent, or what? (CHECK ONE) [ ] Own or buying [ ] Renting [ ] Other: (please specify) 13.6a 13.7a l3.7b 1136 Is this your first marriage? [ ] YES ———> -In what year were you married? [ l "0 _—> 13.55 In what year did your present marriage begin? ' 13.6c How did your last marriage end? CHECK ONE. [ ] Death ——9Year of death: [ J Divorce ——>Year of divorce: [ J Annulment -—-—{5>Year of annulment:________ What is the highest level of formal schooling that you have completed? CHECK ONE. [ J Less than 8 grades of elementary school [ J 8 grades of elementary school [ J 1-3 years of high school I J Completed high school and received diploma or passed high school equivalency exam J 1-3 years of college J College graduate, bachelor's degree J Post bachelor's course work J Master's degree J Post master's course work ] PhD. EdD HHHf—IHHH J Other professional degree (such as MD, 00. JD, 005): (please specify) Are you N9!_attending or enrolled in one of the programs listed above? I 1 YES ——-> 13.7c If YES, is that full-time or part-time? I ] NO I 1 Full-time student [ J Part-time student 13.7d Please specify in which one of the above programs you are now enrolled (such as high school, college, master's program). Type of school or program ‘l37 13.11a What do you estimate will be your total family income before taxes in 1977? Please include income from all sources EEfore taxes. including income from wages, property, stocks, interest, welfare, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, child support from a previous marriage, and any other money incone received by you and all family members who live with you. ESTIMATED TOTAL FAMILY YEARLY IMME, 1977 [ J Under $3,000 [ 1 $12,000 - $14,999 I 1 $3,000 - $3,999 I 1 $15,000 - $19,999 I 1 $4,000 - $4,999 I 1 $20,000 - $24,999 I 1 $5,000 - $5,999 I ] $25,000 - $29,999 I 1 $5,000 - $5.999 I ] $30,000 - $34,999 I 1 $7,000 - $7,999 I 1 $35,000 - $49,999 I ] $8.000 - $9,999 I 1 $50,000 - $74,999 I 1 $10,000 - $11,999 [ ] $75,000 and over 13.1lb About how much of this total family yearly incone do you estimate that you will earn in 1977? ESTIMATED PORTION or TOTAL FAMILY INCOME, 1977, EARNED av vouaseur [ J Does not apply, not employed in 1977 I ] Under $3,000 I 1 $12,000 - $14,999 I 1 $3,000 - $3,999 I 1 $15,000 - $19,999 I I $4.000- $4,999 I 1 $20,000 - $24,999 I ] $5,000 - $5.999 I 1 $25,000 - $29,999 I ] $5,000 - $5.999 I 1 $30,000 - $34,999 I ] $7,000 - $7,999 I 1 $35,000 - $49,999 I ] $8,000 - $9,999 I 1 $50,000 - $74,999 [ ] $10,000 - $11,999 [ ] $75,000 and over 13.12 In the coming year, would you say your financial situation will get worse, stay about the same, or get better? CHECK ONE. [ J Get worse [ J Stay about the same I ] Get better 1138 15.1a In the chart below, please list for their birth date, age at last birthday, sex and mar ta status. any person more than once. Please use the following numbers to indicate marital status: m We would like to know something about the people who live in your household. St [1] Never married [2] Married [4] Separated [5] Divorced, not remarried [3] Widowed, not remarried [6] Don't know l Date of Age at sex birth last (circle ::::::I mo. d r. birthday M or F) SPOUSE (husband or wife) F CHILDREN BORN TO THIS MARRIAGE. LIVING IN THIS HOUSEHOLD Please list in order from oldest to youngest CHILDREN BORN TO WIFE PRIOR TO THIS MARRIAGE. LIVING IN THIS HOUSEHOLD Please list in order from oldest to youngest CHILDREN BORN TO HUSBAND PRIOR TO THIS MARRIAGE. LIVING IN THIS HOUSEHOLD Please list in order from oldest to youngest ADOPTED CHILDREN NOT BORN TO EITHER SPOUSE. LIVING IN THIS HOUSEHOLD Please list in order from oldest to youngest 3333333333333333333333333 mm-n-nmm-n'n-n-nfiiwi'n'n-n'n-nmmmm-n'nm CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE. NOTE: If there are not enough spaces, please finish the list on the last page. 1139 Date of Age at birth last mo./day/yr. birthday Marital Relation status to you i? OTHER RELATIVES 1. H F LIVING IN THIS 2 M F HOUSEHOLD ' (such as niece, 3. N F nephew, grandchild, 4 M F parent, sister, ’ uncle, brother, 5. N F brother-in-law, 6 M F mother-in-law, ' husband's uncle) 7. M F 3, M F OTHER PERSONS 1. '4 F LIVING IN THIS 2 M F HOUSEHOLD ' (such as foster 3. M F child, friend, 4 M F household help. ' boarders) 5. H F 5. M r 7. M F NOTE: If there are not enough spaces, please finish the list on the last page. 15.1b Counting yourself, how many people now live in your household? People 15.2a Are there any other children born to you and/or your spouse (including children from previous marriages) who were not listed in the preceding chart? [ms—9 [1N0 15.2b 15.2c If YES, how many? Males Females Please list their ages at last birthday from oldest to youngest by sex. Males Females APPENDIX B ANDREWS AND WITHEY MODEL l4O .mm .a .mumo xpzo .xooamuou .omump .m>w;oe< wo=m_um meuom cucmmmmm pmwuom cow mpspwpmcu ".wz .Lone< ccmo .mcopom_pmw>cH mpawocwea .amguwz .m cmsampm new mzmgvc< .z xcegm "ouczom 65 cu apnea Ho: moon 0 be 6:588 eeaaoee ea>oz _m _ Anaeemeoammee 25: eoeem_oam Loeoeoev .asoaoz _< _ Aeoeemeeamm_e new cavemeoam zppmzcm eaeemeeam esoeav cavemeeamnee eaeemepoo eamaopa a_emoz eaxez a_omoz engage: opaestoe a e m e m N ...iii mem H APPENDIX C FREQUENCY TABLES 141 TABLE A FREQUENCY OF RESPONSES CONCERNING PERCEIVED OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE* L ! L ‘- m __i fii r w ‘: Numerical Husbands Wives Total RESP°"SE No. % No. x No. % 2.0 l 6 -- -- l 28 2.5 l 6 -- -- l 28 3.0 2 l 1 l .6 3 84 3.5 4 2.2 2 1.1 6 1.69 4.0 13 7.3 16 9.0 29 8.15 4.5 11 6.2 18 10.1 29 8.15 5.0 52 29.2 42 23.6 94 26.40 5.5 46 25.8 33 18.5 79 22.19 6.0 35 19.7 45 25.3 80 22.47 6.5 6 3.4 14 7.9 20 5.62 7.0 7 3 9 7 3.9 14 3.92 Totals 178 100.0 178 100.0 356 100.00 *Perceived Overall Quality of Life (POQL) is also referred to as LIFE 3 which is the simple average of the question "How do you feel about ygur life as a whole?" used twice in the questionnaire (Items 1.1 and 9.2 . Mean for husbands 5.264; mean for wives = 5.374. Mode for husbands 5.0; mode for wives = 6.0. 142 TABLE B FREQUENCY OF RESPONSES CONCERNING SATISFACTION WITH FAMILY LIFE Numerical Husbands Wives Total Response N % N % N % 1.5 1 6 -- -- 1 28 2.0 l 6 -- -- 1 28 2.5 -- -- 1 6 l 28 3.5 2 1 1 l .6 3 84 4.0 3 1.7 16 9.0 19 5.34 4.5 10 5 6 12 6 7 22 6.18 5.0 23 12.9 26 14.6 49 13.76 5.5 22 12.4 22 12.4 44 12.36 6.0 70 39.3 64 36.0 134 37.64 6.5 17 9.6 15 8.4 32 8.99 7.0 29 16.3 21 11.8 50 14.05 Totals 178 100 178 100 356 100 Mean for husbands 5.826; mean for wives 5.638. 6.0; mode for wives = 6.0. Mode for husbands 143 TABLE C FREQUENCY OF RESPONSES CONCERNING SATISFACTION WITH CHILDREN Numerical Husbands Wives Total Response N % N % N % l -- -- l 6 l .28 2 -- -- 2 1.1 2 .56 3 2 1.1 3 1.7 5 1.40 4 13 7 3 16 9.0 29 8.15 5 28 15.7 35 19.7 63 17.70 6 72 40.4 64 36.0 136 38.20 7 63 35.4 57 32.0 120 33.71 Total 178 100 178 100 356 100 aNumbers represent the available scores on the D-T Scale with 1 representing Terrible and 7 representing Delighted. Mean for husbands = 6.017; mean for wives = 5.820 Mode for husbands = 6.0; mode for wives = 6.0. 144 TABLE D RESPONDENTS' AGE IN YEARS Age of Husbands Wives Total Respondents N % N 1 N % 25 - 29 19 10.67 25 14.04 44 12.36 30 - 34 32 17.98 40 22.47 72 20.22 35 - 39 46 25.84 50 28.09 96 26.97 40 - 44 35 19.66 28 15.73 63 17.70 45 - 49 23 12.92 21 11.80 44 12.36 50 - 54 15 8.43 10 5.62 25 7.02 55 - 59 5 2.81 4 2.25 9 2.53 60 - 64 __;3 1.69 -- -- 3 .84 Totals 178 100.00 178 100.00 356 100.00 Husbands' mean age = 39.73; wives' mean age = 37.61. Husbands' mode age = 37; wives' mode age = 35. TABLE E RACE OF RESPONDENTS Race of Husbands Wives Total Respondents N % N Z N % White 157 88.2 158 88.8 315 88.48 Nonwhite 21 11.8 20 11.2 41 11.52 Total 178 100.0 178 100.0 356 100.00 145 TABLE F INCOME LEVEL OF FAMILY IN DOLLARS Income Level Number Percent $5,000 - $ 5,999 l .6 6,000 - 6,999 2 1.1 7,000 - 7,999 4 2.2 8,000 - 9,999 4 2.2 10,000 - 11,999 3 1.7 12,000 - 14,999 6 3.4 15,000 - 19,999 29 16.3 20,000 - 24,999 37 20.8 25,000 - 29,999 36 20.2 30,000 - 34,999 21 11.8 35,000 - 49,999 26 14.6 50,000 - 74,999 7 3.9 75,000 and over 1 .6 Blank __1__ __._6_ Total 178 100.00 Mean income = $27,350.28; Mode Income = $22,500.00. 146 TABLE G NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN FAMILY Number of Children Frequency Percentage l 23 12.9 2 66 37.1 3 49 27.5 4 26 14.5 5 7 3.9 6 4 2.2 7 l .6 8 2 1.1 N = 178 families. Mean = 2.74; mode = 2.0. TABLE H CHILDREN BORN T0 FAMILY Status of Children Number Percent Children born in current marriage 153 86% Children born prior to current marriage 25 14% Total 178 100% N = 178 families. 147 .Amo>es we. nee meeaamee mN_v 8mm . z. m.m FN —._ e m.N m N.N N .mm _muoh e.m op .F N F.— N ¢.m o mm>P2 N.o FF P.p N m.m N p.~ N mvcmnmsz .% o~.¢m mmm e.m NF o.m~ em N.NN mmN .mmw Pouch mp.Ne we, N.N m o.m~ Nm o.mN ”mp mm>wz Fm.e¢ Nap m.m N o.mp Nm m.PN mN_ mucoamzz m.» a z a z a z a z xpacoeum uoz apmcocum uegzmsom apmcogpm ago> mpeuoh mucoammm mcwpmod mo sumcmeum IHI. ‘|lili AJIIH H m4m<= oz~omuzm23mmm 148 TABLE J FREQUENCY OF HUSBAND AND WIFE REASONS FOR FEELINGS ABOUT HAVING CHILDREN AGAINa Category of Husbands Wives Total Reason N %b N %c N %d Self-fulfillment 77 24.8 100 26.7 177 25.80 Love and Enjoy 127 40.8 112 29.9 239 34.84 Sharing 47 15.1 53 14.1 100 14.58 Giving 24 7.7 29 7.7 53 7.73 Moral 8 2.5 20 5.3 28 4.08 Problems 28 9.0 61 16.3 89 12.97 Total 311 100.0 375 100.0 686 100.00 aEach respondent could be coded with up to four separate respon- ses. bRepresents percentage of tota1.husbands' responses. cRepresents percentage of total wives' responses. dRepresents percentage of total husbands' and wives' responses. 149 AmasNz mNN eea anemone; mNNV 8mm . z .coNumuNNNpcmuN sensac muou Low oNamN mama .mmmcoamog csoN up a: m>Nm uNaou Nemucoamoc gmmmo mN eN NN mm>N3 N «N m mucmnmsz mm Nm Ne msmNnoLN .o m e m i- N «N mN mm>N3 m m N N N m mN muceamax me «e Ne mm mm NN NN Nose: .m i- m i- m e -i e oe N NN .. N m oN mN mm>N3 N -- i- e N i- e mm mN mN N m m N oN mccenmaz No mm mN NN NN me no No No Nm mm em mm Nm Nm oeN>Nw .e m N N m N N i- -1 oN m oN m e m N mu>Nz N -1 N i- i- N i- N o N N e e N m mucenmsz mm mm mm cm Na Na om mm Nm mm mm em mm Nm Nm cheegm N.Ntem“. .m i- N i- N m m c mm>Nz -- i- i- N i- e m mucenmaz mN mN mN eN mN NN NN zoncm use m>o4 .N -- m N e oN N N o NN Nm mm>N3 N N i- e m N m mN mN mN mucenmaz acmENNNmNzNiuNmm .N mN em me Ne me me mN mN «N mN mmNLommumu commmm nmcmnsaz «coo mmmmmzsz sou >m zN