Childfree by Choice

Harrington, Rebecca

doi:10.1080/15240657.2019.1559515

Cited by 29 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Due to the dominance of pronatal norms, the decision not to have children is often a stigmatized one, which has led childfree individuals to be viewed as an 'outgroup' toward whom others feel less warm [8,60,61]. Because these norms are presumed to be stronger for women, many of these studies have focused on bias toward or stereotyping of childfree women [62][63][64][65][66].…”

Section: Outgroup Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA)

Neal

2021

PLoS ONE

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Childfree individuals choose not to have children, which makes them a distinctive group from parents who have had children, not-yet-parents who plan to have children, and childless indivduals who would have liked to have children. Most research on parental status and psychosocial characteristics has not effectively distinguished childfree individuals from other non-parents or has relied on non-representative samples. In this study, we use a representative sample of 981 Michigan adults to estimate the prevalence of childfree individuals, to examine how childfree individuals differ from parents and other types of non-parents in life satisfaction, political ideology, and personality, and to examine whether childfree individuals are viewed as an outgroup. We find that over a quarter of Michigan adults identified as childfree. After controlling for demographic characteristics, we find no differences in life satisfaction and limited differences in personality traits between childfree individuals and parents, not-yet-parents, or childless individuals. However, childfree individuals were more liberal than parents, and those who have or want(ed) children felt substantially less warm toward childfree individuals than childfree individuals felt toward each other. Given the prevalence of childfree individuals, the risks of their outgroup status, and their potential role in politics as a uniquely liberal group, it is important for demographic research to distinguish the childfree from others and to better understand these individuals.

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Section: Outgroup Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA)

Neal

2021

PLoS ONE

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“…Historically, the disciplines of counseling and psychology have positioned intentional childlessness counter to healthy adult female development and levied negative depictions (Harrington, 2019;Mollen, 2006). Intentionally childless women field accusations of selfishness, arrested development, and fundamental lack (Gotlib, 2016).…”

Section: Gendered Dimensions Of Stigmatizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite its growing presence, the choice constitutes a counternormative detour outside the beaten path. Stigmatization persists, both amid the context of a pronatalist society that equates family with children (Gold, 2013) and within the counseling discipline (Harrington, 2019). Parenthood remains a typical and desirable social prescription, even a moral imperative, shown to incur outrage and sanctions when defied (Ashburn-Nardo, 2017).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Childfreedom and Responsibility: An Existential‐Feminist Framework for Counselors

Patel

2021

J Humanistic Counseling

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“…Although fewer men have children and men have fertility issues to the same degree as women, childlessness is continuously constructed as a "female problem", both physically and emotionally. Unlike childless men, childless women are continually assumed to be involuntarily childless, and both voluntarily (Bays, 2017;Harrington, 2019;Lisle, 1999;Park, 2002) and involuntarily childless women (Letherby, 2002;Miall, 1986) are constructed as flawed or lacking (Bell, 2013;Loftus & Andriot, 2012;Mahoney Tsigdinos, 2009;Strif, 2005). IC women often self-label as "failures" and routinely experience stigmatisation (Miall, 1986).…”

Section: Situating Involuntarily Childless Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Existential vulnerability and transition: Struggling with involuntary childlessness on Instagram

Stenström

Pargman

2021

Nordicom Review

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In their efforts to find others who share their experiential reality and existential struggle, many involuntarily childless women turn to Instagram to engage and participate in the practice of trying-to-conceive (TTC) communication. Through the conceptual lens of digital existence, where the digital and online are regarded as constitutive of existential transition, we draw on ten interviews and an online ethnography to explore some of the struggles that involuntarily childless women experience with and through technology. We find that TTC communication can be constitutive of coming to terms with the status of involuntary childlessness. In particular, this study illustrates that TTC communication, for involuntarily childless women, is both a site of struggle and a safe space as they transition to nonmotherhood in an existential terrain where they share an intimate journey.

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Childfree by Choice

Cited by 29 publications

References 28 publications

Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA)

Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA)

Childfreedom and Responsibility: An Existential‐Feminist Framework for Counselors

Existential vulnerability and transition: Struggling with involuntary childlessness on Instagram

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