The Value of Having Children as an Aspect of Adult Development

Abstract

In an attempt to understand the meaning of parenthood as a function of life-cycle changes, we compared childless men and women in their 20s' perceived values of having children, with childless men and women in their 30s' perceptions of having children. The younger subjects expressed a greater desire to become parents than the older adults did and viewed parenthood as having greater personal value than the older adults did. A discriminant analysis revealed that the costs of parenthood, rather than the benefits, distinguished the older subjects from the younger, but that different costs were important for men than for women. The difference between the younger subjects' and the older subjects' perceived values of having children reflected a tendency toward an androgynous sex role identification, particularly for men.

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