Value changes in parenthood and partnership in Bulgaria: some results from a multi-method study

Elitsa Dimitrova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

The multhi-method study entitled “Parenthood and Partnership in Bulgaria: Value Changes and Meaning Constitution” is focused on the problems of the intergenerational value changes regarding parenthood and partnership in post-socialist Bulgaria. The study consists of multivariate statistical analyses and semi-structured interviews. The analyses reveal the persistence of the value orientations towards the altruistic parenthood favoring the wellbeing of the “king-child” (Ph Aries) in the family. However, the strong and enduring altruistic orientations of parenthood fall into contradiction with the behavioral changes reflected in the decreasing fertility tendencies. In the presentation I will delineate in brief some results from the study which shed light on the uncovered ambivalences between the values of parenthood and reproductive behavior. The most important finding refers to the changes in the concepts of postponement of childbearing and parenthood which occurred to be strongly dependant on the subjective perceptions about the timing of the life events held by the contemporary young people and the older generations in Bulgaria.