Scelte Riproduttive tra Orientamenti Valoriali, Costi e Opportunità. Uno Studio Qualitativo in Contesto Urbano

This work presents results from a qualitative study on mothers and fathers with alternatively few (one) and many (three or more) children, aiming to analyse in-depth the mental processes that build up the reproductive choices of couples. The study particularly focuses on some dimensions: lifestyles, parenthood, costs and benefits of children, and policies supporting parenthood. Results suggest that parents are burdened with an excess of costs, especially of psychological kind, deriving from the delay of Italian society in conforming to the changes, occurred in the last decades in industrialized countries, regarding values and women’s role.