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

American Demographics, Nov 1, 2001

GENERATIONS OF CHILDLESSNESS

CHILDLESS MARRIED COUPLES ON THE RISE

THE MARCH 2000 CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY SHOWS THAT 30 MILLION MARRIED COUPLES DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE CHILDREN IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD. WHILE THIS INCLUDES EMPTY-NESTERS, THE NUMBERS ARE STILL SIGNIFICANT

Source: "Americas Family and Living Arrangements," Current Population Survey, 2000

FORGET THE BABYSITTER

WHY 'CHILD FREE?'

Childless-by-choice couples say their education reflects who they are - their interests, personalities and priorities.

Many couples without children prefer to call themselves "child free," since to them "childless" implies a lack or a loss. "Child free," however, connotes emancipation from the time, money, energy and responsibility that parenting requires. Couples without kids say choosing not to have children does not mean they are selfish, immature or unhappy - though they often feel American society portrays them that way.

Why choose childlessness? "A lot of what's going on has to do with gender and gender role changes," says Pamela Smock, a sociologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. "As women rise up the corporate ladder and have higher incomes, they realize and decide that they just can't do it all, which is a myth anyway. Or they find out that they don't want to. Also birth control technology is a big factor here. We have the choice." Adds David Foot, economist at the University of Toronto: "Female education is the most important determinant of fertility. The higher education a woman has, the greater likelihood that she won't have children."

Others remain without children for religious or ideological reasons. "They're well-educated and socially aware," says Madelyn Cain, author of The Childless Revolution (Perseus, 2001), who interviewed 125 couples for her book. Cain found a whole group who cite environmental reasons. "At first I thought it was a fluke," she recalls. "But they kept turning up. And they had all spent some time in Third World countries and had witnessed the poverty that comes from overpopulation."

Laura Carroll, who interviewed over 100 child-free couples for her book, Families of Two: Interviews with Happily Married Couples Without Children by Choice (Xlibris, 2000), confirms Cain's findings. Carroll talked to many couples who formed their values in the 1960s and have retained them throughout their lives, and says that such political consciousness extends to younger generations. "There are more young men in their 30s getting vasectomies," Carroll says. "They don't want to bring more children in this world."

But the vast majority of childless couples say they simply don't want kids or don't think they're suited for parenthood. They wouldn't like being mothers, don't think they'd be good fathers or they simply aren't especially inclined toward having children. Many lack the emotional desire.

"Children don't interest me," says Carrieann Lahain, 32, from Central Islip, N.Y. Lahain and her husband, married for six years, decided early on to forgo having children; her husband had a vasectomy when he was 24. "I don't have the patience that one needs to put up with a child 24/7. And I'm interested in other things that would be squeezed out by parenting."