FMST 101 Study Guide - Final Guide: Ambivalence, Mother 3, Pregnancy Discrimination Act
19 May 2018
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Family Studies Final Exam Study Guide Chapters 11-16
Chapter 11: To be or Not to be a Parent: More Choices, More
Constraints
Becoming a Parent
• Partners have different reactions to pregnancy
• 1. Planners
• 2. Acceptance-of-fate couples
• 3. Ambivalent Couples (mixed feelings)
• 4. Yes-No couples
• 60% of American households have 2+ children
Some Benefits & Costs of Having Children
• Benefits
o Bring love & affection
o Bring fulfillment & a sense of satisfaction
• Costs
o Raising children is expensive
o Economic & social costs
• *Complete Bond*
Some Joys & Tribulations of Pregnancy
• Pregnancy
o Exciting & happy when planned
o Arouses anxiety about caring & providing for the baby
o Deepen love/intimacy & draw the couple closer to each other
Some Effects of Parenthood
• “Marital Bliss” when married → baby → 1 year → marital bliss dissolves in
70-90% of couples
o Couples who haven’t married for very long
o “solve problems”
• Marital satisfaction decreases
• Individuals role as a parent takes priority over other roles
• Mothers & fathers face different challenges with their newborns
o Mothers → no bonding; care of baby
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▪ Postpartum Depression (PPD): serious illness that occurs up
to a year after childbirth
o Fathers → experience it too (PPD); important for baby’s development;
think they’re not a good enough dad
Preventing Pregnancy
Unintended Pregnancy
• Pregnancy that either occurs sooner than desired or unwanted
• Incurs emotional costs
o Raising unwanted children
o Man walking out on his pregnant girlfriend
o Increased fathers’ depressive symptoms
o Decreased mothers’ happiness
Pregnancy Intentions
• Solving problems
• Not educated; not using condoms
• Infertile
• Not all teenagers want to avoid a pregnancy
• Ambivalence about having an unintended pregnancy
o 15-19-year-old adolescents; 22% said it was ok
Contraception Usage
• Contraception: prevention of pregnancy by behavioral, mechanical, or
chemical means
• Obstacles
o Reproductive control
o Not educated; child bearing has benefits
o Think they’re not going to get pregnant
• Varies depending on:
o Gender
o Race & Ethnicity
o Social Class
o Age at 1st Sex
Postponing Parenthood
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Why Are Many People Postponing Parenthood?
Micro-level Factors
Macro-level Factors
• Daunting jobs & careers
• Economic reasons
• Single women don’t want a
child on their own
• Disturbed by high divorce
rate
• Attitudes about the ideal
family size have changed
• Women’s reduced concerns
about their biological clock
• Women who enjoy their jobs
are reluctant to take on
balancing child rearing &
paid work
• Abysmal family leave
policies, no national child
care programs, and rigid
work schedules
• Higher educated women
delay childbearing
Some Characteristics of Older Parents
• Advantages
o More likely to be married and highly educated
o Higher salaries, better health benefits
• Disadvantages
o Children face greater health risks
o Pregnant women in their forties are at greater risk of having a baby
with Down Syndrome
Adoption
• Adoption: taking a child into one’s family through legal means & raising
her or him as one’s own
• 2% of U.S children population are adopted
• ½ adopted private source; ½ CPS, Foster Care
• Children’s biological parents may be:
o Dead; unable or unwilling to provide appropriate care
o Missing;
3 Most Common Types of Adoption
• Open Adoption
o Sharing information & maintaining contact between biological &
adoptive parents throughout the child’s life
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find more resources at oneclass.com
