Chapter 12 Society’s Influence ● Society has a pronatalist bias: having children is taken for granted, whereas not having children must be justified. ● One sociologist, Betty Friedan, warned that American society does not support having children o American society is characterized by structural anti­natalism: our values, laws, employment policies and culture are inimical to children and disastrous to committed parents See figure on pg. 255 Fertility Rates ● Total Fertility Rate: average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime o Rates above 2 children indicates a pop growing in size o General Fertility Rate: number of children born per 1,000 women ages 15­44 ▪ Refined rate bc of age and sex group most likely to give birth o Crude fertility rate: number of children born per 1,000 pop ▪ Does not take into account age of pop ▪ See figure on pg. 256 The Decision to Have Children ● Waiting before having children is not the same as thinking in an organized fashion about having children. ● The thinking process would include: o The financial investment o The emotional investment o The energy investment o The time investment How much does it cost? ● Direct Costs: o Pre­natal care: Ultra sounds o Birth and hospital stay costs o Formula, diapers o Clothes o Top 2 costs: housing and food ● Opportunity costs: the economic opportunities for wage earnings and investments that parents forgo when rearing children o See figure on pg. 258 How to have children ● The good old fashioned way ● Fertility treatment o Artificial insemination o In­vitro fertilization o Surrogate mothering ● Adoption o Process: public v. private o Type: closed, open, semi­open Transition to Parenthood ● The transition to parenthood is challenging. 40 to 70% of coupled experience stress, conflict, and a decline in marital satisfaction during this time