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What is "childfree"?
Childfree adults (1) do not have biological or adopted children and (2) do not want to have biological or adopted children. A person can be childfree whether they are capable of having children or not; their fertility is irrelevant.
Childfree adults are sometimes also called voluntarily childless. However, we prefer the term childfree for a few reasons. First, it is the most widely-used term in academic and non-academic circles. Second, it is a short, single-word term that is easy to use in writing. Third, it is the term preferred by members of this group.
types of non-parents
Demographic research often distinguishes parents from non-parents, but there are many different types of non-parents. Different types of non-parents can be distinguished by their Attitudes, Behaviors, and Circumstances surrounding having children, or what we call the ABC Framework:
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Childfree adults do not want children
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Undecided adults do not know if they want children, but could have them
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Ambivalent adults do not know if they wanted children, and cannot have them
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Not yet parents want children, and can have them
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Childless adults wanted children, but cannot have them
why study childfree adults?
Although there are magazine articles, books, and subreddits about the childfree, it remains an understudied population. We think there are several reasons to study childfree adults. First, childfree adults make up a large and growing part of the total population, with estimates ranging between 10 and 20%. Second, childfree adults have unique reproductive health needs, and specifically need access to high-quality methods of birth control or to surgical sterilization. Third, childfree adults have unique financial planning needs, including planning for a retirement and end-of-life expenses without leaving an estate. Fourth, childfree adults are often subject to false stereotypes (e.g., they're selfish), stigmas (because having children is normative), and extra demands at work (because they don't have children) that can reduce their quality of life.
© 2024, Zachary and Jennifer Neal
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