On the relation between economic status and family size preferences when status differentials in contraceptive...

Abstract In this paper an attempt is made to formalize the essential elements of a theory of reproductive motivation outlined by Judith Blake in a recent article. On the basis of the results of that exercise, it is argued that the theory, as it stands now, is not specific enough to 'predict' whether the affluent would choose to have fewer children than the poor, if contraceptive instrumentalities were to be equalized among the economic strata. It is also argued that the negative (though weak) association between ideal family size and economic status and the non-negative association between desired number of children and economic status, observed in survey data, are both consistent with the basic premisses of the theory under reference.