Relationship of reproductive behavior of generations in the family

The paper presents the study results on the impact of the number of children in parental family on children’s reproductive orientations, based on the data from the Sample Survey of the Reproductive Plans of the Population (Rosstat). The authors have revealed the dependence of individual’s reproductive orientations on the number of children born to respondent’s mother. Those who grew up in a family with a relatively large number of children have, on average, a higher number of children both desired and expected. One can also assume this influence on the next generation: respondents who grew up in families with a large number of children, on average, would advise their children to have more children. The number of children in parental family partly determines the motives for having children (in the study this was considered in relation to the second and third child). With a larger number of children in the parents’ family, the motive for receiving support from children in old age is relatively more significant, and with regard to the birth of a third child, there are also motives for more household help and financial support to families with three children. Reproductive orientations and motives for having children are largely determined by value orientations. For those who grew up in families with a large number of children, it is relatively more significant to have two and three children in their own family.

reproductive orientations, parental family, motives for having children, value