The Desire to Have More Children Among Young People Increases with Age

14:18, June 28, 2024

This was found out by Ural sociologists, having surveyed more than 8 thousand students

The desire to have a large family increases with age - if only 10 percent of young people at the age of 18 think about it, at the age of 21 it is already 18 percent and at the age of 22 - 30 percent. Anna Bagirova, a professor at the Department of Sociology and Public and Municipal Administration Technologies of the Ural Federal University, told TASS about these and other results of sociological research on the family values of young people.

"We have recently completed a large sociological study in which we surveyed 8,000 students in the Sverdlovsk region studying in the secondary vocational and higher education systems. It turned out that 53 percent of our young people would like to have two children in the future, and 20% already want to create a large family with three or more children. The attitude towards having many children increases with age. We think this is a very good and optimistic trend", explains Anna Bagirova.

Researchers note that young people are taking a responsible approach to starting a family. According to 57 percent of respondents, the best age to have a child is between 25 and 29. This time is optimal because young people at this age are already ready for the moral responsibility of starting a family.

"The main motives for having a child are love of children, desire to continue the family, and sense of duty. Moreover, these motives differ according to the gender of the respondent - and this does not depend on the level of education. It is interesting to note that the motive of love for children is expressed more vividly by female respondents - this is the most likely motive for a girl to have a child. Men have a stronger and more vivid motive when deciding to have a child - the desire to continue the family", explains Anna Bagirova.

Among the reasons why young people delay having children are economic factors, uncertainty about the future, the economic crisis, poor housing conditions, and unemployment. Sociologists believe that these factors put serious pressure on the decision to start a family.

"The reasons why young people decide to start a family are not limited to economic ones. It is the availability in our region of a diverse infrastructure for children - schools, kindergartens, polyclinics, etc. It is interesting that in the list of reasons for having children, financial support from the state is only in the fifth place. An important factor is the parental example, the moral attitude that our young people receive in the parental family", concludes Anna Bagirova.

Sergey Lukyanchenko

The news article was translated by UrFU International Marketing Office.
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