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Childless By Choice - childless couples an emerging demographic - Statistical Data Included

American Demographics, Nov 1, 2001

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Certain products and services are naturals for childless couples, who can often afford and seek out expensive travel arrangements, spas, exotic locations and adventure destinations that don't easily accommodate children. Childless couples say they avoid traveling during school holidays and take flights early in the morning, when kid travel tends to be light. Instead of heading to Orlando's theme parks, says Childless by Choice founder Karen Smith, couples without kids go on bike and walking tours, ecological vacations, archeological digs and museum tours. Some choose the exit rows in the airplane, from which children are prohibited, and stay at bed-and-breakfasts and hotels geared toward honeymooners or business travelers.

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They travel differently and dine differently, and childless couples also spend differently on such big-ticket items as homes, second homes and cars. Many work long hours and are willing to splurge on a nice car for their commute, according to author Elinor Burkett. "You're not going to see many childless people with vans," she says. "They don't need mommy cars." Carrieann Lahain, 32, from Central Islip, N.Y., says many auto commercials turn her off. "Couples without children are always shown preparing for parenthood. They're decorating the nursery, trading in the car for a minivan. Just once I'd like to see someone trading in the SUV and buying a Corvette." Maria Bareiss, 29, of New London, Conn., and her husband collect cars. They have their eye on what would be their sixth purchase - the environmentally friendly Toyota Prius. "Everyone I know who owns a hybrid car doesn't have children," Bareiss says.

Childless couples tend to have not only more discretionary income than larger families, but more time on their hands too. That often means more attention paid to second jobs, hobbies and passions. They also tend to give money to charity and to volunteer. Mitch Greenberg's No Kidding! group in Baltimore has gone skydiving together and is planning a hang-gliding trip this year. "Many of us probably wouldn't take that kind of risk if we had kids," Greenberg says.

Madelyn Cain originally wrote The Childless Revolution (Perseus, 2001) to put a face on childless people, who seemed to be overlooked. But after interviewing 125 child-free women, she was surprised how widespread the choice had already become. "Even if this isn't a sanctioned option, it's being embraced by more and more people with each generation," Cain says. "Women in their 50s feel an emotional expectation of themselves as mothers. Women in their 40s are split. But women in their 30s feel very little social obligation to meet those expectations even when their families and friends pressure them. Which shows me the choice to remain childless is only getting stronger."

THE CHILDLESS BUDGET

Methodology: The analysis by Third Wave was created using Consumer Expenditure Survey data from 1999, the most recent data available. In order to look at couples without any children, Third Wave and American Demographics restricted the ages to married people between 22 and 45 years old. This was to avoid grouping in empty-nesters with childless couples. We also controlled the number of people per household to two for childless couples, to ensure that adult children still in the household were included. By doing so, it is important to recognize that the numbers do not include childless couples who have a friend, tenant, parent or other family member residing with them.

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Childless By Choice - childless couples an emerging demographic - Statistical Data Included

American Demographics, Nov 1, 2001

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