About the project

The 'Having Children in Australia' study investigates parents' desire for both a son and a daughter.

In many traditional societies there is a preference to have at least one son. In modern societies it is often found that parents want a child of each sex.

This project centres on whether sons and daughters are valued for different reasons in modern Australia.

It examines whether parents have larger families than they may have originally planned, in order to have a family with at least one son and one daughter. The project also measures the impact of this on completed family size and fertility levels in Australia.

The researchers' analysis of census and other data shows Australia's fertility is kept from being very low because of the relatively high proportion of families with three or more children.

The researchers have also found that:

• the sex of the first born in Australia has no influence on the decision of mothers to have a second child.
• mothers with two children of the same sex are 25 per cent more likely to have a third child than are mothers with a boy and a girl.
• mothers with three children of the same sex are more likely to have a fourth birth than mothers whose three children include both sexes.

Kippen, R., Gray, E. and Evans, A. (2005). The impact on Australian fertility of wanting one of each. People and Place Vol.13(2):12-20.

Fieldwork

The researchers have completed 40 in-depth interviews with parents in three locations: Canberra (ACT), Sydney (NSW) and Bendigo (Vic).

The next stage of the project is to code the interview transcripts and start the process of analysis.

Confidentiality is one of the most important aspects of conducting the research. No interview will be reported in a way that would allow an individual, their family or the information they provide, to be identified.

The study has been approved by the ANU Human Research Ethics Committee. You can read more about the committee on their webpage.

Research papers

Articles and conference papers based on the research.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to everyone who took part in an interview for the project. We appreciate you sharing your stories and giving your time.

The research team would like to acknowledge the Australian Research Council for funding this project (DP0558818).