Persistence and Change in Decisions to Remain Childless

Pathways Into Childlessness: Evidence of Gendered Life Course Dynamics

“…For men, however, results are less straightforward. Some researchers find positive (Ritchey & Stokes, 1974), others negative (Feldman, 1981;Heaton et al, 1999), and one Dutch study reports no impact of education on childlessness for men (De Meester et al, 2005).…”

“…It has been argued that a high level of education is related to roles and value systems more strongly directed towards the occupational career than towards parenting, and particularly so among women (De Jong & Sell, 1977;Heaton et al, 1999). The opposing view is that higher levels of education increase the likelihood of making the transition to parenthood (Heaton et al, 1999). For both women and men, higher levels of education and the associated career prospects make it easier to support a family.…”

“…On the one hand, continuity of employment might decrease the likelihood of remaining childless. Those who have been employed continuously are more likely to have had a stable flow of income and are therefore better able to support a family (Heaton et al, 1999). On the other hand, employment continuity might be associated with value orientations that increase the likelihood of remaining childless.…”

“It’s the Choices You Make That Get You There”: Decision-Making Pathways of Childfree Women

“…Existing research uses many terms to describe childfree women: voluntary childless (Callan, 1983;Heaton et al, 1999;Kelly, 2009;Majumdar, 2004;Morell, 2000;Park, 2002), intentionally childless (Feldman, 1981;Morell, 1994), voluntarily childfree (Koropeckyj-Cox, Romano, & Moras, 2007), childless by choice (Park, 2005), and childless (McAllister & Clarke, 1998). We use childfree and childfreedom because childless connotes a loss of something (Bartlett, 1994;Clark, 2012;DeLyser, 2011;Gillespie, 2003;Ireland, 1993;Lisle, 1999;McEvoy et al, 1984;Tomczak, 2012;Vesper, 2008;Vinson, Mollen, & Smith, 2010).…”

“…Rather than a simplistic negation of motherhood, the decision to be childfree results from many intricately woven factors. Most research has focused on childfree women who are white, married, college educated, and upper-middle class, with little religious affiliation, and who hold nontraditional gender beliefs (Abma & Martinez, 2006;Bartlett, 1994;Heaton, Cardell, & Holland, 1999;Kelly, 2009;McAllister & Clarke, 1998;McEvoy et al, 1984;Somers, 1993). Few studies explore the experiences of women of color, unmarried women, or lower-income women (Clark, 2012).…”