Parenthood is a process of promoting the child’s progressive development and achieving personal autonomy. Social, family and psychological factors of formation of parental attitudes of the person at the stage of entering adulthood are considered. The mechanisms of the parental family influence on parental attitudes are analyzed. Parenting and children raising are recognized by modern young students as a significant family value with priority of professional and social activity. The revealed gender differences prove a higher assessment of the importance of parenthood and the upbringing of children among males rather than females, who have strongly prioritize their professional careers as compared to parenthood. Young women’s expectations of difficulties in the future of family life are related to child birth and upbringing. The experience of emotional relations in one’s own parent family is proved to determine the importance of parenting for young adults. Positive expectations of student youth regarding future family life and a certain underestimation of the difficulties of the transitional periods of the family life cycle are revealed. The greatest difficulties are predicted by students in connection with the period of child expectation and the first year of child life. The beginning of parental function realization, child raising, economic and household functioning of the family and mutual adaptation of the spouses are listed as the most difficulties in family life cycle. Family factors that determine expectations about difficulties and subjective satisfaction with family life include gender, experience of romantic partnership, full or incomplete family in origin, chronological age.