Life transitions and women’s desired number of children: the impact of motherhood, relationships and employment

ABSTRACT

To better understand the gap between women’s childbearing aspirations and actual levels of childbearing, this paper investigates the importance of employment, relationship and motherhood transitions for predicting women’s desired number of children. Women born in 1973–78 participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health were asked, at three-time points over six years, how many children they would like to have by the age of 35 years. Women who delayed childbearing, did not marry or enter a cohabiting relationship aspired to fewer children, whilst those who married aspired to more children. Notably, the two-way interactions demonstrated that for women without children, and for women who had had their first child between waves, shifting from secure work to being out of the labour force was associated with desiring fewer children. This finding supports the argument that policies which promote women’s attachment to the workforce enable women to more effectively pursue their aspirations for both motherhood and careers. The findings make a new contribution to the field by indicating that life transitions are more important predictors of desired number of children than background and demographic factors that have long been associated with, and used as explanations for, women’s childbearing.

KEYWORDS:

• Aspirations
• childbearing
• motherhood
• relationships
• casual employment
• women’s workforce participation

Acknowledgements

The research on which this paper is based was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, The University of Newcastle and The University of Queensland. We are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing for funding and to the women who provided the survey data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melissa Johnstone

Melissa Johnstone holds a PhD in Health Psychology, and lectures in Health and Human Sciences in the Faculty of Human Sciences at Macquarie University. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods, her research examines key life transitions associated with changes in health and well-being.

J. Lucke

Professor Jayne Lucke is Director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University and Honorary Professor at the School of Public Health, The University of Queensland. Her research examines sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing using qualitative and quantitative research methods.

B. Hewitt

Belinda Hewitt is an Associate Professor in Sociology and Social Policy in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Melbourne. Her research has used a longitudinal and life course approach to understanding the interplay between gender, family and work