Deck 10: Parenthood and Fertility

Question 1

Studies suggest that 85 to 92 percent of adolescents who had a child outside of marriage had no intention to do so.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Teenage marriage and childbearing appears to have both an intragenerational and intergenerational pattern.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Voluntary childlessness was found to have a positive effect on marital adjustment and family satisfaction.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Teenagers who placed their child for adoption suffered far more long term negative psychological consequences than those who raised their children.

Question 5

Involuntary childlessness was found to be a major negative life event that has deleterious effects on the subjective well-being of both women and men.

Question 6

The post World War II baby boom was largely caused by an increase in the proportion of families who were having three or more children.

Question 7

Evolutionary perspectives assert that a gender difference exists in men's and women's interests in procreation.

Question 8

The "baby boomlet" of the late 1980s was attributed solely to births among older persons or couples who delayed childbearing.

Question 9

The 'baby boom' following WWII peaked in the 1970's.

Question 10

Children in the family, irrespective of age, provide a significant delay in and deterrent to divorce.

Question 11

Evidence suggests that with the increased availability and reliability of contraceptives, most pregnancies and births (about 84 percent) are planned.

Question 12

White teenage girls are more likely to end pregnancy through abortion than their Black counterparts.

Question 13

Compared to European countries, the United States has a relatively high total fertility rate.

Question 14

Research suggests a biological instinct between being female and a natural desire for children.

Question 15

Birthrates in the U.S. South are below the national average.

Question 16

Teenagers in the United States are far more likely to become pregnant than are comparable women in other developed countries.

Question 17

Infertility affects 5% of American couples.

Question 18

In 2006, 20% of women ages 40-44 were childless.

Question 19

The low fertility rate in Japan is attributed primarily to contraceptive availability, combined with education about them and lack of stigma against buying and using them.

Question 20

The uncertainty reduction theory of parenthood assumes that having a child reduces the uncertainty of being able to conceive and have more children.

Question 21

School performance (grades, test scores) were found to decrease as sibship size increased.

Question 22

A review of family size effects revealed that in large families, child rearing was more rule driven, corporal punishment was more prevalent, and more delinquents and alcoholics were produced.

Question 23

In general, first-borns tend to be intellectual achievers and have higher levels of self esteem.

Question 24

Unwed parenthood is more common among teenagers than any other group.

Question 25

The percent of births to unmarried women is higher in the United States than any other industrialized country.

Question 26

Explanations for the higher than normal sex ratios in China include

A) gender-specific abortion.
B) the underreporting of male births.
C) male infanticide.
D) all of the above three.

Question 27

The government in China instituted a one-child policy. It was announced that couples with two children should

A) totally abstain from sexual intercourse.
B) put up one of the children for adoption.
C) have one partner sterilized.
D) practice infanticide at any future births.

Question 28

When parental background is controlled, only children do better than children from any other family size.

Question 29

In industrialized countries, cultural pressures to become parents appear to have

A) increased as seen in rising birth rates.
B) increased as seen in an increase in earlier first pregnancies.
C) decreased as seen in the emphasis on one-child families.
D) decreased as seen in the increased ability to control conceptions and birth.

Question 30

The birth rate in the United States

A) increased slightly in the late 1980s resulting in a "baby boomlet."
B) increased steadily since the depression of the 1930s.
C) decreased steadily since the baby boom following World War II.
D) showed no pattern of increase or decrease in the past thirty years.

Question 31

Compared to children with siblings, only children were found to be less happy and score lower on adjustment measures.

Question 32

Illegitimacy and births to unmarried women in Sweden is a significant social problem.

Question 33

Last born or youngest children tend to be the most sexually conservative and more traditionally oriented.

Question 34

The baby boom refers to

A) the boom that occurs when an unwanted pregnancy is revealed.
B) the increase in the number of births that accompanied the depression when men were without jobs and at home.
C) the increase in the number of births that followed World War II.
D) the increase in the number of births that has occurred each year due to the increased number of women existing to have them.

Question 35

More than two of three births (about 72 percent) to African American women were outside of a marital context in 2007.

Question 36

The vast majority (over 90 percent) of teenage mothers live with their husbands or other relatives.

Question 37

National surveys have found no relationship between sibling number and sociability or being affiliative as an adult.

Question 38

Choosing the sex of the child would likely increase the proportion of male births by seven to ten percent.

Question 39

Census data reveal that between 1970 and 2000, unwed mothers, on average, have been getting younger.

Question 40

The idea that children are of value in providing security in old age or in case of divorce, widowhood, or financial difficulties, is referred to as a(n)

A) insurance protection theory.
B) uncertainty reduction theory.
C) survivor's benefit theory.
D) economic conflict theory.

Question 41

Blake and Downey illustrate that increased family size effects each child negatively. Their explanation for this is called a

A) fertility failure hypothesis.
B) resource dilution hypothesis.
C) financial diminuation hypothesis.
D) demographic transition hypothesis.

Question 42

In the United States, infertility is estimated to affect approximately

A) 5 percent of all couples.
B) 10 percent of all couples.
C) 15 percent of all couples.
D) 20 percent of all couples.

Question 43

As of 2007, of all births, the percent that were born to unmarried women was

A) 10 percent or one in ten.
B) 20 percent or one in five.
C) 33 percent or one in three.
D) 40 percent or two in five.

Question 44

Which statement is true?

A) Most Americans prefer to have only one child.
B) The rate of childlessness in the U.S. has increased over the past few decades.
C) About 28 percent of currently married women in the U.S. do not expect to have any children in their lifetime.
D) All of the first three are true.

Question 45

A review of family size effects showed that in large families,

A) child rearing was more rule driven.
B) corporal punishment was more prevalent.
C) more delinquents and alcoholics were produced.
D) all the above three were found.

Question 46

Middle-borns, compared to first- or last-borns, were found to

A) have significantly lower levels of self-esteem.
B) be very similar to first-borns.
C) be very similar to last-borns.
D) have the positive benefits and characteristics of both the first and last born.

Question 47

National data that looked at adults who had no siblings, found that on eight dimensions of well-being

A) all of the effects of having siblings were positive.
B) six of the effects of having siblings were positive.
C) six of the effects of having siblings were negative.
D) all of the effects of having siblings were negative.

Question 48

Adolescents who relinquished (put up for adoption) their children, when compared with adolescents who kept and raised them, were more likely to

A) become pregnant again soon.
B) have lower educational aspirations.
C) suffer negative consequences.
D) delay marriage.

Question 49

Fathers least likely to live with their first child are

A) black teenagers.
B) Hispanic teenagers.
C) disadvantaged white teenagers.
D) nondisadvantaged white teenagers.

Question 50

Which statement is true about the consequences of parenting?

A) Marital satisfaction drops with the presence of children.
B) Children increase anger more for fathers than mothers.
C) Children prevent divorce.
D) All the above three are true.

Question 51

When compared to couples with children, voluntary childless couples were found to

A) have higher levels of marital satisfaction.
B) experience lower levels of health.
C) be of lower socioeconomic status.
D) come to regret their decision in later life.

Question 52

Which statement is true about fertility in Japan?

A) The one child family is the preferred (ideal) family size.
B) The fertility rate has increased sharply since 1980.
C) Almost universal contraceptive use has led to a low fertility rate.
D) Delayed marriage and nonmarriage are the key reasons for reduced fertility rates.

Question 53

In 2007, the country with the lowest percent of births to unmarried women (about one percent) was in

A) the United States.
B) Denmark.
C) Japan.
D) Germany.

Question 54

Black unwed teenagers who become pregnant are more likely than their white counterparts to

A) place their child for adoption.
B) marry the father.
C) end the pregnancy through abortion.
D) do none of the above three.

Question 55

The majority of teenagers who become pregnant

A) have an out-of-wedlock birth and keep the child.
B) have an out-of-wedlock birth and give it up for adoption.
C) marry before childbirth.
D) obtain an abortion.

Question 56

Birth rates among mothers who are not married is lowest among

A) Native Americans.
B) Asian Americans.
C) Hispanic Americans.
D) non-Hispanic white Americans.

Question 57

Blake's research findings on the only child suggest that

A) only children tend to be spoiled, overly dependent and lonely.
B) children with siblings were more satisfied with important aspects of their lives, notably jobs and health.
C) only children do better than children from any other family size.
D) both A and B are true.

Question 58

Research on the effects of birth order has revealed that first-born females tend to be

A) more sexually permissive.
B) more traditionally oriented.
C) more likely to engage in social activities.
D) less conservative on political and social issues.

Question 59

It is known that most women leave their jobs with the birth of a child. The number that have been found to return to their employment within two years after the birth is about

A) 20 percent.
B) 40 percent.
C) 60 percent.
D) 80 percent.

Question 60

The biggest percentage increase over the past twenty years in births to unmarried women was to

A) the very young or those under age 15.
B) teenagers age 15-19.
C) those age 20-24.
D) those over age 25.

Question 61

Studies of the "missing girls" of China tend to focus on three explanations: gender-specific abortion, an underreporting of births of girls, and __________.

Question 62

What are some of the consequences of voluntary childlessness? Involuntary?

Question 63

The chairman of the ethics committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine said that it is sometimes acceptable to choose the sex of their children by

A) selecting male or female embryos and discarding the rest.
B) aborting the fetus after the undesired sex is determined.
C) infanticide.
D) all of the above three.

Question 64

A(n) __________ theory of parenthood suggests that in many developing countries children are of value in providing security and assistance in old age.

Question 65

The __________ was a post World War II event that upset what had been a century long decline in the fertility rate in the United States.

Question 66

By birth order, __________ children have been found to have the lowest levels of self-esteem.

Question 67

Explain the increase in the percentage of births to unwed mothers. Which women are most likely to have a child without being married? Why do they do this?

Question 68

Discuss the accuracy of the statement that "children prevent divorce."

Question 69

White and Booth suggest that although children do not prevent divorce, they may cause couples to approach the divorce decision more slowly. They refer to this as the __________ hypothesis.

Question 70

In terms of family size, for most positive child adjustment, school performance, health, and life satisfaction, the __________ child family does best.

Question 71

What are the social consequences of parenthood?

Question 72

Freeze and others suggest a word of caution on the effect of birth order by suggesting that a better predictor of social attitudes is

A) gender.
B) race.
C) class.
D) All of the above three are better predictors.

Question 73

What do demographers mean when they talk about a "baby boom"? What caused it? What are some of the consequences of it?

Question 74

The __________ hypothesis of Judith Blake predicts, on average, the more children per family, the lower the quality of each child.

Question 75

Among industrialized countries, unmarried teenagers in __________ are most likely to become pregnant.

Question 76

Not having children seems to be a negative life event only for couples who are __________ childless.

Question 77

Studies involving gender preference in the having of children suggest that

A) most couples in the world want two girls and two boys.
B) there is a preference for female children in much of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
C) choosing the sex of the child is illegal in most countries.
D) choosing the sex of children would decrease the proportion of female births.

Question 78

Why is the teenage pregnancy rate in the United States much higher than in other developed countries? Why should this be of any concern?

Question 79

What is the trend in regard to childless marriages? What categories of people are more likely to choose childlessness?

Question 80

About __________ percent of all births are to unmarried women.