To many people, husband and wife alone do not seem a proper family—they need children to enrich the circle, to validate its family character, to gather the redemptive influence of offspring.

Contrary to what you might imagine, these effects aren't necessarily the result of a conscientious wife needling her husband; men had as much influence on women as women had on men.

We see this emerging at the beginning of the marriage for husbands, and their dissatisfaction might be affecting wives 'satisfaction over time.