Fertility Preferences and Social Exchange Theory1

Interviews with 583 married women aged 18 to 49 revealed that a summary index of motivation for additional children was positively related to preference for a/another child and negatively related to future employment intentions. Desire for children, once formed, had an effect on employment intentions; however, neither employment intentions nor satisfaction with employment affected desire for children. Satisfaction with parenthood and the general rewards of parenthood were positively related to present number of children while motivation for an additional child was negatively related to present number of children. Little evidence was found to indicate that a “rational” social exchange model of fertility choice is more applicable for some sociodemographic groups than for others. In general, however, results provided support for the social exchange model expounded.