Voluntary childlessness: A critical review of the literature

Abstract

Over the past 30 years a considerable amount of research has been devoted to examining the voluntarily childless: their characteristics, their prevalence, their motivations, ‘risk factors’, their mental and physical health, their stigmatization, and their responses to stigma. Nevertheless, the voluntarily childless are a relatively understudied population and there are many research gaps in this field. In addition, the debates surrounding voluntary childlessness are ‘dubious discourses’ (Gandolfo 2005). This literature review provides an overview of the central debates on voluntary childlessness and illuminates some of the underlying assumptions of the field. Voluntary childlessness joins other non-traditional family forms that are debated in academia, mass media, and policy. While childlessness describes a person or couple who does not have children for various personal, biomedical, or situational reasons, voluntary childlessness is characterized by an active choice, commitment, and permanence regarding the decision not to parent (Houseknecht 1987; Park 2002). Those choosing not to have children have been described by a number of different terms including voluntarily childless, intentionally childless, childless by choice, unchilded, non-mother, non-father, without child, and childfree. Due to the ambiguity of some of these terms,1 this paper utilizes the term ‘voluntary childlessness’. It is difficult to calculate the rates of voluntary childlessness, because expected and actual childlessness, involuntary and voluntary statuses, would have to be distinguished. Nevertheless, childlessness on the whole has become increasingly common and among ages 18-50 is estimated to range between 15% and 25% in many developed countries (Blackstone & Stewart 2012; Hara 2008; Iwasawa 2004; Merlo & Rowland 2000). The voluntarily childless are an increasing segment of the childless population, though still relatively uncommon (Chancey & Dumais 2009; Park 2005). Interestingly, a growing international ‘childfree’ movement has emerged through social networking to provide support and connect like-minded people (Basten 2009; Park 2005). The increase in the segment of the population who are voluntarily childless has been accompanied by augmented academic interest in the voluntarily childless (Gillespie 2000). Since Veevers’ 1973 paper — entitled ‘Voluntary Childlessness: A Neglected Area of Family Study’ — described the voluntarily childless as receiving ‘selective inattention’, there has been a considerable amount of research examining voluntary childlessness. This review will discuss the central debates on voluntary childlessness and critically analyse assumptions that are made in this literature. This paper reviews the multifaceted literature on voluntary childlessness and identifies four central debates: (1) who chooses to be childless; (2) why do individuals choose voluntary childlessness; (3) what are the consequences of voluntary childlessness; and (4) stigmatization of this lifestyle and responses to stigma. Research has analysed these debates through sociological, psychological, medical, autobiographical, oral history, and feminist lenses. For each debate, this review will provide an overview of the debate and then critically analyse the implied assumptions of the field. This paper will also identify methodological limitations and considerations for future research in the conclusion.