The article deals with attitudes toward family planning & children in Slovenia. Results from many quantitative surveys of youth show that they consider a stereotypical picture of the ideal family as ...what they want. These findings stand in sharp contrast to demographic indicators: later transition from parents' family to their own family, lower level of marriages, postponement of births, & lower birth rate. We employed subtler research methods to find a better explanation of this discrepancy: focus groups & in-depth interviews. The analysis comprised both subjective aspects (values) of desired ways of life expressed by young people & the place of the family in their plans for the future, as well as the objective possibilities for starting a family & problems & obstacles accompanying this process. The qualitative results do not reject the findings from quantitative studies, but they call attention to the objective & subjective problems & anxieties accompanying decisions for family formation. We find that the low birth rate can be attributed mainly to economic reasons, quality of life, new risks & uncertainty, & the exacting responsibilities of parenthood. 16 References. Adapted from the source document.
