77% couples say they want only one child: Survey

For parents-to-be in the city, lack of time to perform parental duties is a cause for great concern, according to a recent survey conducted across eight Indian cities.

For parents-to-be in the city, lack of time to perform parental duties is a cause for great concern, according to a recent survey conducted across eight Indian cities.

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Of the 80 expectant couples surveyed in Mumbai, 49% said they worried about being unable to spend enough time with their children.

Conducted by Cryo-Save India, a stem cell banking company, the survey attempted to study the “fears and aspirations of new-age parents in India” and was conducted with 391 couples through an online questionnaire in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad.

Most couples (77%) said they wanted to have only one child, as lack of money was a concern in an increasingly money-driven urban environment. Even so, most of the subjects claimed to have already made some form of investment for their child in the form of jewellery or bank accounts, with their child’s education emerging as the main part of their investment.

“Many couples are anxious about the challenges of raising children in today’s demanding world,” said Rajesh Sharma, CEO of Cryo-Save India. However, the cause of anxiety was seen as different among mothers and fathers. When asked what the biggest sacrifice of being a parent was, 52% of the mothers said it was their career, while fathers pointed to the loss of personal money (47%) or personal identity (32%).

While 30% of mothers said they would quit their jobs for a rearing a child, this was an option only for 3% of the fathers.

Among the sample, 86% of expectant parents had no gender preference for the child and 23% claimed they would consider adoption if they did not get pregnant.

The survey was also undertaken to study the extent of know-how expectant parents had with regard to emerging technologies in healthcare. However, a majority (63%) of parents did not know about new age healthcare options such as genetic testing or stem cell banking.