AbstractThe prominent theme in today's society is the decreasing number of children born to Australian women. Most social literature is often based on the numbers which show that Australia is experiencing falling fertility rates and the delay of having children has risen.Using the selected group of 6 women to do the questionnaire , the paper explores the link between declining fertility rate and how its is relevant with the focus of women on education and career. Furthermore the paper explains why women choose to focus on particular things in their life whether it is career, education or children and whether there is a link between chosen lifestyle and their satisfaction.Overall we f ...view middle of the document...
However little evidence is collected to see whether having fewer children later on in life is fulfilling. The research also rises the question whether attitudes of women with or without education changes their attitudes to wards this social trend?This paper examine how education and career advancement interlink with choices women make, about the time in there life they choose to have children. Our study will add to the literature, because it explores not only why women have fewer children later on in life, but also there feelings and thoughts about the issue.We have focused on different factors, such as why women make the choices they do today in regard to having children. We looked at education as being one of the main focuses of their lives followed by paid work. These two factor were the most important in deciding when to have children for most women.The importance of this research is to take into account women's feeling about the decisions they make purposely or accidentally in regards to having children. One of the key objectives of the research is to acknowledge women's thoughts about there idea of ideal family and what they have formed. In the research I have tried to not only give their reasons for making their choices, but also get an insight into their experiences and feelings.Literature ReviewThere is a great deal of research already done on the whole issue of declining fertility rate of women in Australia. Most research is very similar and point out the reasons that lie behind women having less children and delaying motherhood for later years of their lives.L. J. Aspin (1999) indicates that there has been a gradual change in women roles in decades. He also explains that the major change is due to women's increased participation in paid work and reliable contraceptive methods. Aspin is not the only one with such conclusions so are (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2002; Bessant and Watts, 2002 ).According to E. Gary (2001) young women generally want smaller families than what their mothers and grandmothers had. Past research (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2002) has found that Australia has been experiencing uninterrupted fertility decline since 1961, and in the last 40 years fertility rate dropped from 3.55 to 1.73. Aspin (1999) suggests that decline in fertility rate has allowed women to pursue other interests and activities.It is also important to note that the age at which women are most likely to have children is in their late 20s early 30s (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2002). Women choosing to having children at this time is very predictable, because they have delayed marriage. During marriage we can assume women are most likely wanting to become mothers. The median age of women marrying for the first time has increased to 26.2 in 1999 Bessant & Watts (2000) from 23.7 in 1986 Victoria Families (1994).After knowing that women are having fewer children and are delaying motherhood, the question...
