Comments on: Heads Blogging, Fertility Desired

By: Sunday Salon « My Life in Books

Sunday Salon « My Life in Books — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:30:02 +0000

[...] to Sunday morning, I spend time with my consumption partner (to borrow a euphemism from the lovely Kerry Howley), because I don’t have much time to do that during the work/school week. Then from about noon [...]

By: Christopher Colaninno

Christopher Colaninno — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:00:48 +0000

It’s a sign that Germans’ shared conception of the ideal family is slowly changing — that even in a world freed from time and wealth constraints, couples would prefer

Is “desired fertility” really free of time and wealth constraints? I would have thought the those issues were embedded together.

Personally if I had responded to a survey about desired number of children I wouldn’t have any considered answering as if money and time weren’t constraints.

By: Kelly Williams

Kelly Williams — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:20:49 +0000

I’m with the Germans. I have one and seven-tenths of a child, and I don’t plan on having any more.

By: Peter Orvetti

Peter Orvetti — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:41:38 +0000

This question does seem to be an interesting economic/psychological indicator — the better times are, the more spawn one seems to want. My wife and I planned for years to have just one child, in part out of global population concerns but primarily because we like spending our money on ourselves. When we ended up with twins, acquaintances who did not know of our single-child plans would say, “Well, you got them both out of the way with just one pregnancy!” — the assumption being that OF COURSE we would want more than one.

I wonder if, just as now it seems assumed a couple would want at least two children, it will soon be assumed that moderately affluent couples will want at least three.