Family ideals in an era of low fertility

This study conceptualizes andempirically measures familyideals across eight low-fertilitycountries that differ significantlyin their institutional settings andcultural contexts. Marriage,children, and income are held upagainst several other dimensionscaptured in a set of familyvignettes. Whereas childlessnessis always considered a negativeattribute of an ideal family,respondents did not prioritizefamilies with multiple childrenover one child families. Goodcommunication among familymembers and grandparents ishighly valued, as is enjoyingrespect in the local community.Though there are importantdifferences across countries, wealso show that respondents thinksimilarly about the relativeimportance of family domains,thereby demonstrating thatfamily ideals are rather uniformacross industrialized countries.