This study investigated the relative rewards and costs of parenthood and working as perceived by 63 professional and 60 nonprofessional women between the ages of 28 and 39 who were childless, had small families, or had large families. A social exchange theory was suggested as the general theoretical framework for the study. The overall pattern of results suggested that women with different numbers of children and occupational statuses showed different relative costs and benefits of parenthood and work. In particular, women with larger families had a higher general satisfaction with parenthood than those with small or no families. Those who were childless saw higher general costs associated with parenthood than those with small or large families, and professional women also saw greater costs of parenthood than did the nonprofessional women. General motivation for work was found to be higher among the professional women. Other significant differences were found between subgroups of women who differed in work status or family size in terms of their responses to both openended and structured questions regarding their motivation for parenthood and working. (Author)