Growth of American Families, 1960

The 1960 Growth of American Families survey was the second in a series of two surveys that measured women's attitudes on various topics relating to fertility and family planning for 3,256 currently married White women aged 18-44 living in private households, previously married White women aged 23-44, who were married and living with their husband in 1960, and currently married non-White women aged 18-39, living with their husband. Main topics in the survey included residence history, marital history, education, employment and income, parent's characteristics, religiosity, siblings, attitude towards contraception, past use of contraceptives, fertility history, fecundity, attitudes and opinions on childbearing and rearing, desired family size, fertility intentions, and fertility expectations. Respondent's were asked to give detailed information pertaining to their residence history dating back to their birth. They were also asked if they ever lived on a farm. Respondents were also queried on their marital history, specifically, when their marriage(s) took place, ended, and how they ended. Respondents were asked to report their level of education, if they ever attended a school or college that belonged to a church or a religious group, and if so, what specific church or religious group. Respondents were also queried about their employment and income. Specifically, they were asked to report their own and their husband's occupation and industry. They were also queried on whether they worked between their pregnancies and if the work was part-time or full-time. They were asked to state their total family income and their husband's earnings. Characteristics of the respondent's parents were also asked for including nationality, occupation while respondent was growing up, and religious preference. Respondent's religiosity was also explored with questions about religious activities in their daily lives, as well as her own and her husband's religious preferences. Respondents were asked if they had attended Sunday school as a child and if their children currently attended Sunday school. Respondents were asked how many brothers and sisters they had while growing up as well as their attitude on the number of siblings in their household. Their attitude toward contraception was measured with questions that asked if it would be okay if couples did something to limit the number of pregnancies they had or to control the time when they get pregnant. They were also asked if they approved of couples using the rhythm method to keep from getting pregnant. They were also queried on what specific types of contraception they had used in the past and between pregnancies. Furthermore, they were asked if they ever used methods together. Fecundity was also explored with questions about whether they or their husband had had treatments or an operation that made them sterile. Respondents were also asked what they thought was the ideal number of children for the average American family. Desired family size was queried in a number of other ways including the number of children the respondent and her husband wanted before marriage, how many children the respondent wanted a year after the first child was born, and how many children the respondent expected in all.