Background: In post-Soviet countries, low fertility has been achieved through postponement of second birth, while entrance into parenthood still takes place relatively early in life and within marriage. Studies suggest that grandparental support with childcare drives this reproductive behaviour. However, we still know little about the exact way in which decisions about first parenthood are shaped by family relationships, especially with respect to the expected and actual support they exert. Objective: This paper explores how family relationships – spousal and intergenerational – influenced decisions to enter parenthood in Ukraine between 1950 and 1975, when fertility there declined below the replacement level for the first time. Methods: A total of 66 qualitative life-history interviews were conducted with women and men from the Ukrainian cities of Lviv (west) and Kharkiv (east); age-specific fertility rates and the total fertility rate in 1960 were measured for the two provinces. Results: The informants shared their notions about the right timing for first parenthood, which parents(-in-law) helped them to navigate. This guidance, in turn, created expectations about the provision of help with childcare, which facilitated a feeling of security when entering parenthood in economically insecure circumstances, which are defined as perceived security. The actual provision of childcare by parents(-in-law), however, was contingent on spousal relationships, which differed between the two cities. These differences are important for understanding postponement of second birth and regional variation in achieving low fertility in Ukraine. Contribution: The study argues that perceived security – guided by specific intergenerational and spousal relationships – is crucial for understanding universal and relatively early entrance into parenthood in Ukraine.

中文翻译：

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乌克兰低生育率开始时的父母身份：家庭关系和感知到的安全的作用

背景：在后苏联国家，生育率的降低是通过推迟第二胎的生育而实现的，而进入父母身份仍然是在生命的早期和婚姻中进行的。研究表明，祖父母对儿童保育的支持推动了这种生殖行为。但是，我们对由家庭关系决定初生父母的决定的确切方式仍然知之甚少，尤其是在他们所施加的预期和实际支持方面。目的：本文探讨了1950年至1975年间，当乌克兰的生育率首次降至替代水平以下时，家庭关系（配偶和代际关系）如何影响乌克兰的父母成为父母的决定。方法：总共对来自乌克兰利沃夫州（西部）和哈尔科夫（东部）城市的男女进行了66次定性的生活史访谈；对这两个省的年龄特定生育率和总生育率进行了测量。结果：线人分享了他们关于初次生育的正确时机的想法，父母（-妇）帮助他们进行了适应。反过来，该指南对提供托儿服务产生了期望，这在经济上不安全的情况下（被认为是安全感）进入父母身份时促进了安全感。但是，父母（儿law）实际提供的托儿服务取决于夫妻关系，这在两个城市之间是不同的。这些差异对于理解推迟第二胎的生育率和在乌克兰实现低生育率的地区差异非常重要。贡献：研究认为，在特定的代际和配偶关系的指导下，感知到的安全对于了解乌克兰普遍和相对较早加入父母身份至关重要。