Based on open-ended interviews with 95 married women aged 18 to 45, the authors explore basic orientations toward marriage, children, work and family policy. While women with more traditional gender role orientations are contrasted with those who hold more egalitarian views, there are striking similarities among the women in the sample. In particular, marriage and children are clearly preferred. The differences relate to the family strategies associated with the timing of marriage and births and the priority given to family questions in comparison to other aspects of life. This leads the authors to conclude that both gender structures in society and gender role orientations of individuals are important in understanding marriage and childbearing.
