Reflections on having children in the future—interviews with highly educated women and men without children

Figures & data

Table I. Examples of meaning units, codes, subcategories, and categories.

Meaning units	Codes	Subcategory	Category
‘Children give a lot to you, happiness, joy, love … yeah, a lot' (w2)	Adds many positive qualities	An enriching of life	Pros and cons of family life
‘I think you learn a lot from having kids, that it helps you progress as a human being, you become more responsible and get a new perspective on what's important, and so on' (m2)	Increases responsibility and priority making
‘It's a forever and life-changing decision, so it bears thinking about more than just once' (w19)	An irreversible commitment	A challenge
‘I think that life with a child will be very demanding, I will likely be really tired and worn-out and doubt myself a lot, but at the same time, it will be really wonderful' (m9)	Both exhausting and wonderful
‘But you're afraid of having to change the life-style you're used to, and of losing friends who don't have children and so are more active, while you yourself are locked in' (w16)	Personal forsaking	A sacrifice
‘I understand people who choose not to have children, those who want to do as they please without having to compromise owing to the constraints that come with having a family' (m5)	Restricting	A sacrifice

Table II. Subcategories and categories.

Subcategories	Categories
Being part of the future	Reasons for having children
Settling down to build their own family
Adjusting to social expectations
A stable relationship	Prerequisites for parenthood
Reasonable age
Good living conditions
An enriching of life	Pros and cons of family life
A challenge
A sacrifice

Table III. Basic socio-demographic data on the participating women (n = 22).

Participant label	Age in years	Education	Civil status
w1	27	Economy	Single
w2	27	Economy	Cohabiting
w3	28	Pharmacology	Single
w4	28	Pharmacology	Single
w5	28	Economy	Cohabiting
w6	29	Economy	Married
w7	30	Biology	Cohabiting
w8	34	Political science	Cohabiting
w9	36	Political science	Cohabiting
w10	38	Pedagogy	Married
w11	28	Economy	Single
w12	25	Behavioural science	Cohabiting
w13	28	Medicine	Married
w14	26	Behavioural science	Single
w15	29	Technology	Cohabiting
w16	29	Medicine	Married
w17	34	Economy	Married
w18	29	Pedagogy	Married
w19	35	Biology	Cohabiting
w20	30	Biology	Cohabiting
w21	29	Technology	Single
w22	31	Medicine	Cohabiting

Table IV. Basic socio-demographic data on the participating men (n = 18).

Participant label	Age in years	Education	Civil status
m1	27	Technology	Cohabiting
m2	33	Medicine	Single
m3	36	Medicine	Married
m4	31	Economy	Single
m5	33	Medicine	Cohabiting
m6	24	Technology	Cohabiting
m7	26	Economy	Cohabiting
m8	27	Behavioural science	Married
m9	27	Political Science	Single
m10	30	Economy	Cohabiting
m11	30	Economy	Married
m12	30	Technology	Cohabiting
m13	30	Behavioural science	Married
m14	31	Technology	Single
m15	30	Economy	Cohabiting
m16	32	Biology	Single
m17	29	Biology	Cohabiting
m18	34	Medicine	Cohabiting