Izvorni znanstveni članak
Correlates and Determinants of Number of Children in the Family
Josip OBRADOVIĆ
Mira ČUDINA-OBRADOVIĆ
Sažetak
A serious problem of low fertility in Central European
countries is discussed and the research was planned with the
aim to find out the determinants of low fertility motivation
(number of children) of married couples in the Croatian
socio-cultural context. Research was performed on a
representative sample of the City and metropolitan area of
Zagreb comprising 505 married couples. Five groups of
potential predictors or correlates of number of children in the
family were defined according to the review of pertinent
research literature: characteristics of marital partners, marital
processes, objective and subjective economic family status, marriage characteristics and partners' experience of social
environment. One hundred and five variables were entered
into equation. By multiple regression 49% of the variance of
the dependent variable has been explained. Logical analysis
of the nature of variables revealed possible positive
determinants of the number of children in the family. These
were: wife's religiosity, wife's ego-involvement, husband's
family involvement, husband's marriage traditionalism and
husband's prosocial orientation, while negative determinants
appeared to be: the importance of security as experienced
by husband and husband's experience of life stress.
Numerous correlates of the number of children in the family
are represented as difficulties of having children, such as:
increased domestic work load for both partners, economic
stress, especially experienced by husbands, and lower
marital harmony in terms of lower social intimacy. The main
conclusion of the research was that in the Croatian socio-
-economic and cultural context a larger number of children
in the family was mostly dependent on the traditional values
system of marriage partners. This system of values gave the
children high priority in reaching a meaningful life in spite of
sacrificing other values and an unconstrained lifestyle.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
19999
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.10.2001.
Posjeta: 3.179 *