Uncertain Motherhood: Family Structure, Socio-Economic Status and Infertility as Predictors of Uncertainty over the Importance of Motherhood

Veronica Roth, Pennsylvania State University

With the prevalence of contraception and the increases in educational attainment, women have faced new choices regarding parenting and work. Increasingly, women have delayed childbearing to establish careers. Given declines in fecundity over time, problems of infertility have become more noticeable to researchers and society. Few studies have focused on the uncertainty over parenthood, however, instead focusing on the importance of parenthood. Using two waves of data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, a nationally representative survey of women aged 25-44, I will explore this topic by focusing on the uncertainty over motherhood. Using mixed effects regression, I will look at the initial level and change of various predictors that could influence uncertainty over parenting, such as the importance of work, marital status, and having a child. I will also assess separate models according to whether or not a woman is subfecund.