Chapter 6

Question 1

transitions

Answer 1

• focus shifts from contraception to getting pregnant
• birth of child = major life transition
• parent role is dictated by age of child and experiences child brings to parent
• 75% of couples have declines in feelings of love after birth of first child (“U”-curve) -> hormones play a role

Question 2

transition point

Answer 2

day/time of birth

Question 3

process of transitioning to parenthood involves

Answer 3

• deciding to have a baby
• conception
• gestation
• birth
• process of adaptation to having a child at home

Question 4

timing norms

Answer 4

• age and duration-graded

- ex. breastfeeding

Question 5

macro-structural causes for wanting children

Answer 5

environment, social norms, economic constraints (we expect fertility to decline in tough economic times)

Question 6

micro-individual causes for wanting children

Answer 6

• conformity (having children is what adults do)
• experience (don’t want to miss out on experience of having kids)
• social capital (having kids adds to network of relationships you have access to)
• security in old age
• entertainment

Question 7

desired/intended fertility

Answer 7

• how many kids an individual would like to have (2.4 in Canada)
• tends to be higher than actual fertility

Question 8

actual fertility

Answer 8

• how many kids an individual has in reality (

Question 9

voluntary childlessness vs. involuntary childlessness

Answer 9

• voluntary: don’t want kids

- involuntary: can’t have kids (due to fertility issues, etc.)

Question 10

crude birth rate (CBR)

Answer 10

• number of live births to women in a year

- problem: includes pre-pubescent women and post-menopausal women

Question 11

total fertility rate (TFR)

Answer 11

• estimate of fertility per woman

- assumes: she will maintain cohort rate of fertility for the past year and she will live to end of her fertility

Question 12

age-specific fertility

Answer 12

• number of children born to women within a specific age range in a year
• ex. 20-24; 25-29

Question 13

population decline

Answer 13

the point at which more people die than are born

Question 14

replacement-level fertility

Answer 14

fertility needed to replace each parent with a child who reached reproductive age (Canada: 2.1)

Question 15

fertility timing

Answer 15

• timing of life events (education, occupation) has important implications for timing and ability to have kids
• if couples put off having kids, they may be left with small window of fertility
• nowadays, fertility rate is increasing for 30-39 year olds and decreasing for other age levels

Question 16

leptokurtic distributions vs. platykurtic distributions

Answer 16

• strong norms about timing of children leads to peaked distributions (leptokurtic)
• weaker timing norms lead to a more spread out distribution (platykurtic)

Question 17

income and age at first birth

Answer 17

• in 1971, couples achieved median family income between 25-30 y/o and then had kids
• in 1996, couples didn’t achieve median family income until 30+ y/o, then had kids
• therefore, people are having kids later now because it takes longer for them to be financially ready for kids

Question 18

fertility and miscarriage

Answer 18

• infertility and miscarriage are associated with mother’s age
• woman in her late 30’s has almost triple the risk of miscarriage as a 20 year-old

Question 19

fertility in Canada

Answer 19

• increasing somewhat
• avg. first-time mother = 29
• children are increasingly being born to cohabitors or single, never-married women
• births to single never married highest in Quebec and Nunavut, lower in Ontario and BC

Question 20

zero population growth

Answer 20

• current rates of fertility in Canada cannot expect to maintain their population relative to death past the year 2030
• after we reach 0 population growth, all population growth must be tied to immigration
• Canada needs to introduce pro-natalist policies (ie. universal daycare, tax breaks, etc.) to prevent this from happening

Question 21

immigration

Answer 21

• population (Jan. 2010) = Population (Jan. 2009) = (births + immigration) - (deaths + emigration)
• newer immigrants tend to follow social norms from their old country -> have higher rates of fertility (and vice versa)

Question 22

transition to parenthood

Answer 22

• parent roles defined by both formal (ie. laws governing parent abandonment, neglect, and abuse) and informal norms (ie. expectation that parents will nurture their children)
• parent roles are more gendered (women increase caregiver status while men increase provider status)
• transition to parenthood may also be accompanied by declines in areas of marriage
• have to re-negociate marital tasks

Question 23

deciding/planning

Answer 23

• initiating sex with goal of pregnancy

- more prepared throughout other phases of transition to parenthood

Question 24

sliding

Answer 24

• stop using birth control and let whatever happen

- less prepared throughout other phases of transition to parenthood

Question 25

primiparous

Answer 25

first-time mother

Question 26

infertility

Answer 26

- males: low live sperm count | - females: ovulation disorders, fallopian tube blockages, or pelvic inflammatory disease

Question 27

1st trimester

Answer 27

- time of anxiety -> most probable time for miscarriages | - morning sickness

Question 28

2nd trimester

Answer 28

- most enjoyable | - weight and balance not yet a problem and many adjustments to being pregnant have already been made

Question 29

3rd trimester

Answer 29

- preparations such as booking a hospital room, preparing the child's room, and attending prenatal classes

Question 30

likes and dislikes about being first-time parents

Answer 30

- like: baby smiling, just having the baby | - dislike: lack of sleep, not knowing what to do

Question 31

4 factors that make transition to parenthood hard for moms

Answer 31

1. lack of support for lifestyle other than motherhood 2. shift in emphasis from martial role to mother role 3. abruptness of transition 4. lack of guidelines and support for parenthood

Question 32

how wives report relationship decline vs. how husbands report it

Answer 32

- wives report decrease love, increased conflict, less effort on relationship maintenance, and more ambivalence about the marriage - husbands report same things, other than increased conflict

Question 33

shifting roles

Answer 33

- before baby, marital roles are egalitarian | - parental roles are gendered (ie. mom taking parental leave)

Question 34

how to decide who will take parental leave

Answer 34

- who is earning highest salary - who needs rest from labour of birth - breastfeeding

Question 35

demographic transition of fertility

Answer 35

- decline in total fertility rate - as we move from agrarian period (which favoured large families) into an urban-industrial period (favouring small families), kids become an economic liability, so number of children will decrease

Question 36

birth curves

Answer 36

- have recently become more platykurtic -> suggests overall weakening of social norms favouring having children

Question 37

role of hospitals

Answer 37

- hospitals help socialize new parents about early childcare (ie. breastfeeding, holding and bathing baby, etc.) - unlike previous generations, first-time parents haven't had as much experience with infants because they haven't had to care for infant siblings during their childhood (anticipatory socialization)

Question 38

Cowan and Cowan's intervention strategy

Answer 38

assisting couples during pregnancy to talk realistically about their expectations for post-partum division of labour as well as social values and expectations of friends and family

Question 39

Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

Answer 39

program recognizing hospitals and maternity facilities that provide optimal levels of care for moms and infants and encourages and helps women initiate and continue to breastfeed