Voluntary childlessness
Voluntary childlessness or childfreeness is the active choice to neither conceive nor adopt children. Use of the word childfree was first recorded in 1901 and entered common usage among feminists during the 1970s. The suffix -free refers to the freedom and personal choice of those to pick this lifestyle. The meaning of the term childfree extends to encompass the children of others, and this distinguishes it further from the more usual term childless, which is traditionally used to express the idea of having no children, whether by choice or by circumstance. In the research literature, the term child-free or childfree has also been used to refer to parents currently not living with their children, for example because they have already grown up and moved out. In common usage, childfree might be used in the context of venues or activities wherein children are excluded even if the people involved may be parents, such as a childfree flight or a childfree restaurant.
In most societies and for most of human history, choosing not to have children was both difficult and socially undesirable, except for celibate individuals. The availability of reliable birth control, more opportunities for financial security, better healthcare, and the ability to rely on one's own savings have made childlessness a viable option, even if this choice might still be frowned upon by society at large. Nevertheless, in some modern societies, being childfree has become not just more tolerated but also more common.
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. In societies where children are seldom born out of wedlock, childfree individuals are likely to remain unmarried as well.
Reasons and challenges
Supporters of this lifestyle cite various reasons for their view. These reasons can be personal, social, philosophical, moral, economic, or a complex, nuanced combination of such reasons.Traumatic experiences
Many suffered child abuse by the hands of their own parents and as such have little interest in parenthood, or the duplication of their family's genes. They also fear the continuation of the cycle of abuse or other defects in their parenting styles. Indeed, fear is in general a major motivation for voluntary childlessness, and some are also concerned with disabilities, rendering childcare even more challenging; or that the children might grow up to be immoral people. However, childfree individuals are unlikely to have the fear of missing out on the alleged benefits of parenthood because there are parents who regret having children, leaving the childfree to deem the decision to "just try" to have children irresponsible. Parents can also become less empathetic towards non-family members. Some people do not feel the "biological clock" ticking and have no parental drives. On the other hand, some meet the right partners at too advanced an age to safely bear children. Among some women, there is a fear or revulsion towards the physical condition of pregnancy, and the childbirth experience. Some are worried that an existing romantic relationship or marriage might be damaged with the arrival of children, and this could be the case if one partner does not want children. 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. In general, couples experience a drop in the level of happiness after having a baby, though the level depends on a variety of factors, including sex, age, and nationality. In the long run, there is a gap in happiness between parents and the childfree in favor of the latter, even in places with generous programs to support working parents. On average, unmarried women with no children are among the happiest in society. Marriage for men is correlated with higher income, greater life expectancy, and more happiness. Both men and women who are married benefit from financial and emotional support.Effective altruism
Some find it sufficient to spend time with their nephews, nieces or stepchildren, or to provide childcare and babysitting services as part of an extended family or godparent, and to nourish existing friendships, which might falter if they were to become parents. Some also take care of elderly parents. Some childfree individuals consider themselves to be already working for the benefit of the next generation or of humanity as a whole by making charitable donations, or working as schoolteachers or pediatricians. In addition, one's partner might already have children from a previous relationship and is unable or unwilling to have more. On the other hand, some people simply dislike children's behavior, language, or biological processes.Medical concerns
Medical concerns constitute an entire class of reasons why some people do not want to have children. Some people carry genetic disorders, are mentally ill, or are otherwise too sick for parenthood, and children are vectors of numerous infectious diseases. Even among healthy couples, new parents are often sleep-deprived. Pregnancy and childbirth might come with complications for the woman's body and lasting effects on her health, including, but not limited to, weight gain, hemorrhoids, urinary incontinence, accelerated cellular aging, and even death. Substantial neurological changes during and following pregnancy could lead to sentiments of insecurity and inadequacy, postpartum depression, something men might also face. This information is traditionally not provided to parents in advance to avoid frightening them. In an agrarian society, children are a source of labor and thus income for the family. However, as society shifts towards industries other than agriculture and as more people relocate to the cities, children become a net sink of parental resources. For this reason, people tend to have fewer children, or none at all. This change is known as the first demographic transition.Cultural attitudes
The second demographic transition occurs when the cultural attitude towards children changes. In particular, this is when society shifts from traditional and communal values towards individualism, whereupon support for traditional gender roles declines and fewer people believe that they need to have children in order to be complete, successful, or happy. Whereas in the past, a woman typically had to get married and bear children in order to ensure her own survival, in the 21st century, people—including women—have more choices, and they are increasingly aware that reproduction is an option, and not an obligation. Consequently, people who choose to have children tend to have fewer of them, and an increasing number prefer to be childfree. Moreover, among young adults of the early twenty-first century, 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. 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. Some find themselves exhausted with work and are therefore in no position to be parents. Furthermore, the cost of raising a child tends to be quite high as a society industrializes and urbanizes. Simply reviewing the full financial expense of having a child can shift a person's opinion on whether or not he or she should have one. But the cost of raising a child is, for most, not as important as the desire for personal growth and fulfillment. People with no children who have fully formed their identities as adults or have become fixed in their current lifestyles are unwilling to change in order to accommodate children.As parenthood loses its appeal, pets gain in popularity, at least among those who wish to have something or someone to care for. In South Korea, young couples of the 2010s are more likely to have pets, which are cheaper than children. In the English language, the phrase "fur baby" was first introduced in the 1990s and steadily became more commonplace afterwards as millennials came of age. In the West, members of the countercultural or feminist movements in the 1960s and 1970s typically had no children. They disapproved of how women were treated differently from men. Some feminists recall how their own mothers were treated when they were young. Among radical feminists, the traditional family is viewed "a decadent, energy-absorbing, destructive, wasteful institution." Similarly, in China, a socially conservative and patriarchal country, women have become much less interested in marriage and children, viewing these as burdens.
Simply not wanting children is the most important reason for many. Compared to the 1970s, societal attitudes towards voluntary childlessness have been slowly changing from condemnation and hostility to greater acceptance by the 2010s.