title: Family background and perceived marital happiness: a comparison of voluntary childless couples and parents.
abstract: The purpose of theis paper is to examine the previously reported relationships between family background, marital happiness, and voluntary childlessness in light of data collected from samples of intentionally childless couples and parents in Winnipeg.  The findings show that, contrary to earlier assertions, family background factors such as birth order, size of family of orientation, mother's employment, and perceived parental happiness do not predispose individuals to voluntary childlessness.  Further, while the reported level of marital happiness is higher among childless couples, the sources of marital dissatisfaction among parents are not always children.
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Ramu
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000569:Americas; D001290:Attitude; D001519:Behavior; D001722:Birth Order; D002170:Canada; D002668:Child Rearing; D003625:Data Collection; D003657:Decision Making; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D003906:Developing Countries; D004467:Economics; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005195:Family Relations; D008393:Marriage; D009656:North America; D011153:Population; D011154:Population Characteristics; D011584:Psychology; D012067:Religion; D012106:Research; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012919:Social Behavior; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Age Factors; Americas; Attitude; Behavior; Birth Order; Canada; Child Rearing; Decision Making; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Developing Countries; Economic Factors; Educational Status; Employment Status; Family And Household; Family Characteristics; Family Relationships; Macroeconomic Factors; Marriage; Marriage Patterns; North America; Northern America; Nuptiality; Population; Population Characteristics; Psychological Factors; Religion; Research Methodology; Sampling Studies; Social Behavior; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic Status; Studies; Surveys