Non-Marital Long-Term Relationships (1st Wave 1989)

Living conditions and attitudes to family and children among young
non-marital long-term relationships.

Topics: 1. General: training; occupation; length and extent of
employment; temporary employment; shift work; commuting times to work;
unemployment.

2. Childhood and parental home: growing up with natural parents or
grandparents; death of parents during childhood; divorce during
childhood; size of place of residence during childhood; social origins;
employment of mother; number of siblings; over-all assessment of
childhood as happy or unhappy; family life of parents as model;
financial situation of parents during childhood of respondent; decision
structure in one´s family; religiousness of parents; role of women in
one´s family; judgement on family life; relationship with father and
mother (scales); age at leaving parental home; age of parents; spatial
distance to parents; frequency of telephone contacts and visits with
parents; assessment of current relationship with father as well as
mother; support received from parents, grandparents or relatives in
view of living together with partner; anticipated financial, every-day
and child care help in case of child.

3. Partnership and marriage: length of living together; previous
steady relations and partnerships; if appropriate reasons for
separation; earlier marriage; reasons for current non-marriage;
difficulties from social surroundings or authorities due to living
together unmarried; characterization of current relation; marriage
intent; desire for church wedding; planned point in time of marriage;
motives for marriage; conflicts with partner regarding the topic
marriage; reactions of social surroundings to possible marriage;
reasons for moving in together; initiative for this from man or woman;
planned moving together; agreements in the area finances, acquisitions,
relations to others, work in household, use of residence and separation
preparations; agreement arrangements found later; owner of furnishing;
conflicts about finances, independence, sexual relations, relations
with parents and circle of friends; thoughts of separation;
arrangements in case of separation; expected difficulties with a
separation; changes in the relation since living together; happy
relation; expectations of an ideal marriage (scale); ideas of
sexuality; agreements in ideas about sexuality; methods of
contraception used; AIDS as frequent topic of conversation; sexual
fidelity and AIDS; evaluation of this topic; change of sexual habits
since AIDS.

4. Parenthood: ideas on the desire for children; frequency of thoughts
of desire for children; time of origin of desire for children; number
of desired children; planning first birth; time period to first birth;
current pregnancy; month of pregnancy; intended pregnancy; importance
of fulfilling desire for children; reasons for postponing a desire for
children; agreement with partner on planned number of children and time
of first birth; disagreements from different ideas on this question;
assessment of the compatibility of child and occupation; ideas about
child and simultaneous employment for respondent as well as partner;
attitude to children and parenthood (scale); attitude to abortion;
areas with the greatest difficulties from a baby.

5. Legal arrangements: attitude to increased legal regulation of
unmarried couples living together and the legal situation in
non-marital long-term relationships (scales); attitude to making
non-marital and marital long-term relationships completely equal.

6.Attitudes: trust in the economy and the situation on the job market;
fear of threat to the environment and nuclear war; trust in nuclear
power plant safety and in peace; attitude to having children, church
wedding, marrying, compatibility of family, children and professional
career; emotional self-concept, ability and self-effectiveness
(scales); norm-orientation and rigidity (scale); psychological
self-characterization (BEM scale); self-reference; future plans.

7.Personal goals and orientations: importance of areas of life; work
satisfaction and demands of an ideal employment (scale); religiousness
and ties to church; party preference; significance of leisure time;
most important leisure activities; frequency of going out (even without
partner); compatibility of leisure interests and children; importance
of money, standard of living, acquiring assets and prosperity;
satisfaction with current standard of living; sources of income; debt
burden; debts and installment payments; remaining duration of burden;
subjective assessment of the burden; attitude to indebtedness from
borrowing; financial reserves.

8. Shopping habits: conduct when shopping (scale); price-conscious or
quality-conscious shopping; paying attention to prestige value or
necessity; impulse buying instead of saving; attitude to shopping (fun
or necessity).

9. Circle of friends and acquaintances: size of social surroundings;
recruting social surroundings; anticipated assistance in need
situations, in case of babies and in case of financial support from
social surroundings; young parents in social surroundings and their
marital status; judgement on parents of babies; anticipated changes of
social contacts if children are in the house; influence of social
surroundings on personal desire for children. 10. Residence and
residential area: size of residence; number of rooms; length of
residence; having a yard; type of residential building; residential
status; the one who signed the rent contract; monthly housing costs;
satisfaction with housing; reasons for a possible intent to move; most
important association with the term residence; necessity of a change in
residence in case of children; difficulties expected in this;
child-friendly residential area; time of getting up; leaving the house
and returning; time of going to bed; common meals with partner;
division of housework among the two partners and satisfaction with
division in the individual work areas.