The Value of the Child
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| Year of publication | 2004 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The chapter presents the findings of representative surveys and qualitative interviews with women of reproductive age in the chapter The Value of the Child. These findings explore the value that a child has for a woman in the contemporary Czech Republic. Women in the Czech Republic continue to view motherhood as a natural part of being a woman, and are convinced that the longing to have a child will one day affect each of them. The construct of motherhood that can be identified from the data suggests that even today the choice between motherhood and other roles is not completely free for women. The pressure on women to become mothers comes from their immediate social environment as well as from the wider society. Although motherhood has become more of a choice than it was in the past (and women are aware of this), it still remains an important source of their status in society. Motherhood strongly influences the nature of their life trajectories and lifestyles, and also has a significant impact on each womans opportunities in life. Despite that, the number of women (as well as men) who consider parenthood the fulfilment of their lives has decreased significantly. Compared to the period of the Communist regime, a clear shift in the evaluation of the value of the child can be detected. The child is no longer understood as an investment aimed at the economic well-being of the parents in old age; there is more stress on the child as a source of emotional support for the parents against loneliness in old age, and on the endurance of the relationship between the partners. This chapter clearly demonstrates that although all of the women in the surveys agreed on much that they expect from the birth of a child, there are significant differences in their expectations depending on their education. |
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