[Relations and childbearing in 1983]

This article deals with relationships and childbearing as observed in the 1983 survey of the well-being of the population (WBP'83), a survey in which a sample of Dutch citizens aged 18 years and over was interviewed. The demographic part of the survey can be considered as a continuation of the Netherlands Fertility Surveys 1977 and 1982 (NFS'77 and NFS'82) as well as the 1980 survey on the well-being of the population (WBP'80). As the fertility surveys consist of interviews with women of reproductive ages, only the well-being surveys are of particular interest as they also consist of interviews with older women and with men. As cohabitation is on the increase and many youngsters expect ever to cohabit, one could wonder whether these phenomena will result in a continuing decrease of marriages or in a delay of marriages until older ages. The latter hypothesis would seem to make more sense, since the majority of the interviewed persons, even among the youngest, is already married or expects to do so. After the sharp decreases in the average number of children per person, a more stable pattern can be observed in the youngest generations. The expected ultimate numbers of children to persons born in the 1950s and early 1960s are, on average, just below the level of replacement. However, a somewhat lower level can even be expected, as research on the reliability of fertility expectations shows that many women, expecially (still) childless women, overestimate their future number of births. The fertility expectations of men and women show remarkable agreement. However, men do not know the future number of children they expect to have in more cases than women. This implies that the men's answers are less suitable for quantitative calculations.