ABSTRACT
Introduction Attitudes about childbearing clearly matter for fertility patterns in the United States. This relevance is convincingly demonstrated by Barber and Axinn (this volume) as they combine theoretical support from Fishbein and Ajzen’s framework on “reasoned action and planned behavior” (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) with fascinating empirical findings based on the Detroit Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children. Some of the key findings presented by Barber and Axinn include the following: (a) attitudes toward children and childbearing are strong predictors of first-birth timing, with positive attitudes increasing and negative attitudes decreasing birth rates; (b) the influence of attitudes towards children and childbearing is limited to maritally conceived first birth; (c) some attitudes seem to influence the first-birth rates of women, but not those of men; (d) positive attitudes towards behaviors that compete with childbearing reduce fertility, specifically premarital fertility; and (e) while education experiences explain part of the effect of attitudes on premarital fertility, early adulthood experiences do not seem to provide much of the impact of attitudes on marital childbearing behavior. Most of the impact of attitudes toward childbearing on marital childbearing is therefore net of experiences with school, cohabitation, marriage, and work.
