chapter 5 Flashcards
trend: number of children women are having has gone ___ from 1930-2011
down
trend: crude birth rate has gone ____ between1959 and 2013
down
trend; number of births a women can expect to have in their lifetime has _____
gone down
trend of less children:
Delayed Childbearing
1997 – age specific fertility rate highest among women aged 25 to 29 years
2011 – age specific fertility rate highest among women aged 30 to 34 years
2. Decrease in Family Size
3. Compression of Childbearing
why declining fertility?
Increased education and labour force participation by women
2. Increased age at childbearing
3. Decreased infant mortality
4. Later age at marriage
5. Increased divorce rates
6. Improved birth control
7. Economic factors
8. Psychosocial reasons
Value of children (VOC) framework is a classification scheme that includes three satisfactions (or values) of children
Instrumental assistance (E.g. help in old age)
Rewarding interactions (E.g. companionship, love)
Psychological appreciation (E.g. living through children)
Also includes costs
Financial costs (E.g. the cost of education)
Child-rearing demands (E.g. emotional strain and pregnancy)
Restrictions on parents (E.g. being tied down)
Costs to social relationships (E.g. marital strain)
the one child famiy:
increase of one child families
- -most common
- Myth of “spoiled” child not supported
- Being an only child has advantages and disadvantages
voluntary childlesness
Those choosing not to have children face scrutiny
Outsiders may become intrusive, wanting to know why someone remains childless
Women who choose not to have children are often considered antisocial or psychologically defective
Couples’ marriages may be considered unsatisfying, and they may be perceived as being selfish
–increase of married or cohabiting couples with no children
Despite social pressure:
Some couples fear marital relationship will be damaged
Some women fear having to give up the equality they have established in marriage relationship if there are children who require care
Some women don’t want to sacrifice career to which they are dedicated
Some people are interested in learning more about the world than raising children
Some people don’t have a partner with whom they want to have children
unwanted children
Some pregnancies, of both single and married individuals, are unwanted/unplanned. A pregnant woman has three options Abortion Adoption Raising the child herself
adoption
The legal transfer of parental rights and obligations from birth parent/s to adoptive parent/s
Open adoption
A form of adoption where the adoptive parents and the birth parents know each other and exchange information
Closed adoption
The biological and adoptive parents know little or nothing of each other
foster care
The provision of care by a family, other than a parent or guardian of a child, approved and arranged by a child welfare authority
2011 Census counted foster children for the first time
Among all children in private households aged 14 and under, 29,590 (.5%) were reported as foster children
Approximately 85,000 children are currently in foster care in Canada
Manitoba is the province with the highest number of children in care
Children entering care tend to be older than in previous years and have more emotional and physical problems
Aboriginal children and children with special needs are overrepresented in foster care
involuntary childlessness
The condition of wanting to conceive and bear a child but being physically unable to do so (Riedmann, Lamanna, & Nelson, 2003)
Defined in terms of being unable to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sexual intercourse
Infertile couples may have a sense of being defective, which reduces their overall sense of self-worth
Usually women feel the lack of children more than men, because of gendered social pressure
Men may see their own infertility as an assault on their manhood
In past, only choices available to infertile people were to adopt or remain childless
Now, options are wider because of medical advances
assisted reproductive technologies
Surrogacy
Artificial Insemination
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
Donor IVF
assisted reproductive technologie – issues
The use of reproductive technologies raises social, legal and ethical issues:
Commercializes reproduction
When performed for profit, dehumanizes prospective parents and children
Legal issues regarding parental rights
Social class and equality issues
assisted reproductive technologies - important questions
Do surrogate mothers truly understand what they are agreeing to?
How long should frozen embryos be kept?
What should be done with embryos if the prospective parents both die?
What happens if the couple divorces and one ex-partner no longer wishes to have a child?
Should IVF be available for women over 55?
Should prospective parents be tested to determine whether they are qualified to raise a child?
