Voluntary childlessness
The availability of reliable birth control (which has severed the link between sexuality and reproduction),[9] more opportunities for financial security (especially for women),[10] better healthcare (which has extended human life expectancy), and the ability to rely on one's own savings[11] have made childlessness a viable option, even if this choice might still be frowned upon by society at large.
[13][14] In fact, various attempts by governments around the world to incentivize couples to have a child or to have more children have all failed, indicating that this is not a matter of economics but a cultural shift.
[19][25][13] Indeed, fear is in general a major motivation for voluntary childlessness,[13] and some are also concerned with disabilities,[18] rendering childcare even more challenging;[26] or that the children might grow up to be immoral people.
[25] Among women, the mental health of those of reproductive years declines among mothers relative to those with no children, whose psychological well-being remains more or less stable during this period.
[48] For some, it is sufficient to spend time with their nephews, nieces or stepchildren,[13] school children, or to provide childcare and babysitting services as part of an extended family or godparent,[9][49] and to nourish existing friendships,[18][failed verification] which might falter if they were to become parents.
[19][12] Pregnancy and childbirth might come with complications for the woman's body and lasting effects on her health,[33] including, but not limited to, weight gain, hemorrhoids, urinary incontinence,[54] accelerated cellular aging,[55] and even death.
[61][62][30] Whereas in the past, a woman typically had to get married and bear children in order to ensure her own survival,[16] in a modern society, people—including women—have more choices, and they are increasingly aware that reproduction is an option, and not an obligation.
[10][59] Moreover, contemporary young people, especially women, tend to be more ambitious and career-minded than their counterparts in the past, and for them, children count as a distraction, an unwanted expenditure, or an undesirable commitment.
[13][35][31][32] Childfree people could take advantage of other opportunities in life, such as pursuing a career, retiring early, making charitable donations, having more leisure, and being more active in the community.
[15] Some people face general existential angst due to the state of the world (pestilence, war, famine, economic recession, the breakdown of civilization, among other issues) or the politics of their countries, and therefore question whether having children really is such a positive contribution.
[83] To this end, concerns over the impact of human activities on the environment—overpopulation, climate change, pollution, resource scarcity, and the ongoing Holocene Extinction—are a major reason behind voluntary childlessness.
[92] As philosopher David Benatar explains, at the heart of the decision to bring a child into the world often lies the parents' own desires (to enjoy child-rearing or perpetuate one's legacy or genes), rather than the potential person's interests.
[82] Most societies place a high value on parenthood in adult life, so that people who remain childfree are sometimes stereotyped as selfish, self-absorbed, or unwilling to take on responsibility.
[98] In line with policies of family-friendliness, governments and employers typically offer support for parents, even though people without children might have to care for invalid, disabled, or elderly dependents, commitments that entail significant financial and emotional costs.
[82] Historically, it has been a social taboo to discuss the negative aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, or to express regret for having had children, making it more challenging for the childfree to defend their decision.
"[105] Some have argued that the conscientiousness of childfree environmentalists is self-eliminating since they only aid in the deterioration of concern for the environment and future generations, though this argument assumes that attitudes are heritable.
[9][22] When seeking approval to be sterilized, some childfree individuals, especially women, might face intrusive questions from skeptical doctors or be dismissed completely in case they regret the decision.
[14][110] Some doctors ask their unmarried female patients the hypothetical question of them meeting men who want children or tell married women to first seek permission from their husbands.
With being uninterested in having children as the only thing in common, childfree people generally find it more challenging to organize for a social or political cause, with the possible exception of when they, as voters, are collectively threatened with discriminatory policies or the loss of family-planning resources.
[14] While the idea of a childfree flight has become popular in the 2020s, with individuals even willing to pay extra, it is unlikely to be instituted by a major airline for reasons of public relations, regulations, and profit.
[121] In the 1990s, the Chinese government reformed higher education in order to increase access, whereupon significantly more young people, a slight majority of whom being women, have received a university degree.
[122] Workplace discrimination against women (with families) is commonplace; for example, an employer might be more skeptical towards a married woman with one child, fearing she might have another (as the one-child policy was rescinded in 2016) and take more maternity leave.
"[124] In recent years, Chinese society has been accompanied by rapid urbanization and rising per capita income, and the demand for housing has gradually increased.
At the same time, due to the lack of equal treatment in the workplace and at home, young Korean women's desire to have children continues to decline, once becoming one of the lowest fertility rates.
[140] In addition, the heavy demands of Confucian family values have also led to a tense relationship between the rigid obligations of marital life and the socioeconomic reality of young people.
[136] As Vietnam continues to industrialize and urbanize, many couples have chosen to have fewer children, or none at all, especially in better developed and more densely populated places, such as Ho Chi Minh City, where the fertility rate fell to 1.45 in 2015, well below replacement.
[143] By 2023, polls show that significant numbers of married Vietnamese are choosing to not have children in order to focus on their lives and careers, or because they are wary of the demands of parenthood.
[155] Research revealed that childfree people tended to be better educated, to be professionals, to live in urban areas, to be less religious, and to have less conventional life choices.
[165][166] In the U.S., although being voluntarily childless or childfree is not without its disadvantages, such as higher taxes, less affordable housing options, and concern of old age, parenthood continues to lose its appeal.
[78] After the Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), which returned the right to regulate aspects of abortion not covered by federal law to the individual states, the number of young and childfree adults seeking sterilization went up.
