ABSTRACT
The imputed motives or rationales say something about the social meaning attached to being a parent of a large or a small family, about the kind of person one signifies oneself to be through procreation and child-tending. From these imputations it is possible to deduce something of the norms which govern family size preference—vague, imprecise, and conflicting though these norms be. In general, middle class men suggest more parental gains with fewer children than do lower class men. They show little concern with more goods, somewhat greater concern with educational gains, and speak much more frequently of parents' desires for more time and less responsibility, or of "selfishness". Upper-middle class women avoid the simple idea that couples have large families because they "like" or "love" children. The pro-natalist sentiments of men and women of all classes are apparent in the rationales they offer for large and small families.
