Childlessness: acceptability and consequences

In one of the first studies ever on the subject we have reported a higher lifetime mortality rate for subfertile and sterile men without co-morbidity over all age groups in comparison to fertile men. The objective of this retrospective cohort study is to explore the association between male fertility and life time mortality. Little is known from literature reviews and own research about eventual biological mechanisms behind these mortality differentials. Here we go on reporting on a survey of surviving subjects and proxys on life time morbidity and reproductive biography details which may give additional information. Databases are general and semen parameters of 1408 patients attending the andrological service at Marburg University Hospital in 1949 and later and data from a core interview with 973 survivors and a proxy interview with 435 surviving family members. Results may indicate a protective effect of cohabiting with children (own/foster/adopted/step) for subfertile men.

Childbearing is a common way that many persons expect and are expected to deepen the bonds of their romantic relationships. This paper looks at what happens to marital and cohabiting relationships when this pathway to intimacy is interrupted. Using waves I, III, and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, I employ event history methods to investigate the influence of miscarriage(s) on the risk of union dissolution. I find that miscarriage is associated with a greater risk of dissolution for married childless couples but not for cohabiting childless couples. For married and cohabiting couples with children, miscarriage does not increase the risk of divorce or separation. These findings illuminate the relational dimensions of subfecundity and draw attention to the influence that unexpected health events can have on family relationships. Additionally, this paper provides new evidence that marriage and cohabitation remain distinct with respect to childbearing in the US.

Childlessness has major psychological and social implications for affected persons especially in settings where fertility is highly valued. In such setting, childlessness is a potentially stigmatizing status and voluntary childlessness is rare. Given the various socio-economic and demographic changes that have taken place in recent decades in virtually all societies, there is the need to explore how these developments may have affected societal perception of childlessness especially in societies that celebrate parenthood. Using narratives of individuals from three Nigerian communities, this paper examined societal perception and acceptance of voluntary and involuntary childlessness. The paper relies on data collected from 24 focus group discussion with men and women in Nigeria. Findings show that voluntary childlessness is not a legitimate choice in Nigeria. Infact, staying with an infertile spouse was seen as choosing to be voluntarily childless. However, we noted a more tolerant attitude to involuntary childlessness. The policy and programme implications of the findings are discussed.

Western societies age rapidly. Today, people do not only live longer, they also have less children. These developments exert considerable pressure on pension and health systems. Children are the most important source of support in old age, especially when there is no partner. Older parents also transfer significant amounts of money to them. In times of rising childlessness we thus face new challenges: On which support networks do childless older people rely? (How) can the lack of children be compensated? Who provides help and care? Who profits from financial resources of the elderly?

We assess the support networks the childless aged 50 and over in 14 European countries based on SHARE focusing the importance of the extended family as well as public services. Our analyses show that financial transfers are diminished considerably and private help is often taken over by the extended family and neighbours. Intense care tasks, however, are mostly provided by public providers. The family and especially intergenerational relations play an important role for support in old age. When there are no children, vital support for older persons has to be taken over by public providers in many cases. In countries with low service provision, childless older people thus experience a lack of help, especially when depending on vital care.

In this paper we first examine overall trends since 1910 in levels of childlessness among ever-married White, Black and Hispanic women for the years to 1995, and then among all women for the more recent years. We next use data from the 2006-08 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to separate the women into three categories of childlessness and a “childed” category. In our analysis of the 3,689 White women, 1,766 or 47.9% were “childed,” 1,130 or 30.6% were “temporarily childless,” 629 or 17.1% were “voluntarily childless,” and only 164 or 4.4% were involuntarily childless. Then we estimated a multinomial logistic regression equation for the White women to predict childlessness. We found that education is both positively and significantly associated with being voluntarily, involuntarily, and temporarily childless, relative to having children. The dummy variable indicating whether the woman is never married is positive and significant for all three categories of childless women; age has no statistically significant effect on being voluntarily or involuntarily childless, but is negatively and significantly associated with being temporarily childless. If our paper is accepted for presentation at the IUSSP meetings, we will also conduct similar analyses of Black women and Hispanic women.