Fertility of peasant families in the light of mothers' procreative attitudes
Chrominska, M.
Studia Demograficzne 98: 75-103
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0039-3134 PMID: 12345013 Document Number: 379475
1623 Polish families living in matrimony were studied statistically in 1985. The following variables were analyzed: demographic (the current age of the women and age at marriage, the duration of marriage), economic (the area of the farmland in hectares , 1 ha equals .4 acres), and spatial (macroregion of planning). The classical parameters of structural analysis were utilized for presentation of preliminary results. The women though the ideal number of children was 2.99. According to macroregions: northern (3.2), southeastern (3.08), central-western (3.05), capital (3), and central (2.69). Women who got married at age 30 made up 5.8% of this sample (5.6-7.8% depending on region). The differential in the optimal number of children was .3 between women 50 and those of fertile age (25-34). A higher percentage of women (9.1% more, or roughly 20% more of women of fertile age) wanted children among those with 20 ha of land than those farming .51-1.9 ha. The ideal number of children according to mothers aged 25- 34 compared to those aged 50 was 9.7% lower (7.1-21.3% depending on land size). Among those aged 50-54, family size was 2-33% higher than the ideal family size, especially among those with more land. Real family size also exceeded the average among marriage cohorts: by 2-45% up to 1944, by 1-14% up to 1954, and by 3-10% up to 1959. If the standard is the 25-29 age group, a 2.1-10.1% increase of family size is observed through 5-year age segments up to age 55 and over. Large families averaged 8%, or according to macroregions: 15.3% in the north, 13.6% in the south-east, 12.3% in the north-east, 1.7% in the south-west, and 1.8% in the central regions. It is advisable to study the procreational determinants among private farmer families for further research.