The effect of having planned or unplanned children on harmony, emotions and attitudes of the married couples

The aim of this study is to analyze the changes in harmony, emotions and attitudes of married couples after having children. Additionally, it is researched the effect of different variables such as whether they have planned children or not; their level of income and where they live, on harmony and level of competencies in marriage. The sample of this study is consisted of 100 couples living in Turkey, 50 of which have planned children; and the other 50 have unplanned children. The data of the research is extracted from the 'Scale of Harmony in Marriage' and the scale of ' Competency in Marriage'. At the same time, a 'Personal Information Form' is composed by the researcher to analyze the socio-demographic features of the subjects of this research. Regarding the socio-demographic features of the subjects, it is found out that the level of competency in marriage is higher for the couples who have planned children than the ones who have unplanned children; and the level of competency in marriage increases with the increase of the ages of the married couples. It is also reached that there is no meaningful correlation between the level of competency in marriage of the subjects and some socio-demographic features of them such as employment status, level of education, and income. Moreover, it is observed that there is a positive correlation between the women and men who have planned children and the points they get in the scale of harmony in marriage; and level of harmony in marriage increases in parallel with the increase in the level of competence in marriage. Regarding the results of the study, in the discussion part there are some advises proposed to the researchers studying in this area.