View source for Voluntary childlessness

{{Short description|Lifestyle choice}}
{{about|the choice not to have children|the inability to have children despite one's desire to have them|Childlessness#Involuntary}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
[[File:Parental Statuses and Attitudes.png|alt=Classification of parents and non-parents on their attitudes and circumstances pertaining to having children|thumb|Classification of parents and non-parents on their attitudes and circumstances pertaining to having children]]
'''Voluntary childlessness''' or '''childfreeness'''<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00355-021-01379-y |doi=10.1007/s00355-021-01379-y |title=Childlessness, childfreeness and compensation |date=2022 |last1=Leroux |first1=Marie-Louise |last2=Pestieau |first2=Pierre |last3=Ponthiere |first3=Gregory |journal=Social Choice and Welfare |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=1–35 |hdl=2268/266029 |s2cid=210146775 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Engwall2014">{{Cite journal |last=Engwall |first=Kristina |date=May 4, 2014 |title=Childfreeness, parenthood and adulthood |journal=Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research |language=en |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=333–347 |doi=10.1080/15017419.2013.781955 |issn=1745-3011 |s2cid=144352218 |doi-access=free}}</ref> is the active choice to neither [[Childbirth|conceive]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scott |first=Kellie |date=January 9, 2025 |title=The difference between childless and childfree, and why it matters |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-10/the-difference-between-childfree-and-childless/104586020 |access-date=May 9, 2025 |work=ABC News (Australia)}}</ref> nor [[Adoption|adopt]] children. Use of the word ''childfree'' was first recorded in 1901<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of CHILD-FREE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/child-free |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |language=en}}</ref> and entered common usage among (second-wave) [[Feminism|feminists]] during the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Savage |first=Maddy |date=February 14, 2023 |title=The adults celebrating child-free lives |url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230208-the-adults-celebrating-child-free-lives |access-date=June 30, 2023 |work=BBC Future}}</ref> 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 (in addition to one's own children), 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.<ref>The obsolete term "childerless"—meaning "without children"—is given, for example in {{cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-7172-8500-6 |page=343 |lccn=76-188038}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Vaus |first=D. |date=April 2004 |title=Diversity and change in Australian families |url=https://aifs.gov.au/research/research-reports/diversity-and-change-australian-families |access-date=March 8, 2024 |website=Australian Institute for Family Studies}}</ref> In common usage, ''childfree'' might be used in the context of venues or activities wherein (young) children are excluded even if the people involved may be parents, such as a childfree flight<ref name="Muther-2023">{{Cite news |last=Muther |first=Christopher |date=March 16, 2023 |title=Would you pay more to be on a plane without children? A majority of Americans want adult-only flights. |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/16/lifestyle/would-you-pay-more-be-plane-without-children-majority-americans-say-they-want-adult-only-flights/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230316110214/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/16/lifestyle/would-you-pay-more-be-plane-without-children-majority-americans-say-they-want-adult-only-flights/ |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=Boston Globe}}</ref> or a childfree restaurant.<ref name="Boesveld-2012">{{Cite news |last=Boesveld |first=Sarah |date=October 9, 2012 |title=Demand for child-free zones grows as more adults opt out of parenthood |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/child-free-zones |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240312163251/https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/child-free-zones |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=National Post}}</ref>

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]] (which has severed the link between sexuality and reproduction),<ref name="Buonadonna">{{Cite news |first1=Paola |last1=Buonadonna |first2=Vibeke |last2=Venema |first3=Megan |last3=Lane |date=29 July 2010 |title=The women who choose not to be mothers |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-10786279 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207185744/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-10786279 |archive-date=7 December 2020 |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> more opportunities for financial security (especially for women),<ref name="Burn-Murdoch-2024">{{Cite news |last=Burn-Murdoch |first=John |date=March 29, 2024 |title=Why family-friendly policies don't boost birth rates |url=https://www.ft.com/content/838eeb4e-3bff-4693-990f-ff3446cac9b2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240329160813/https://www.ft.com/content/838eeb4e-3bff-4693-990f-ff3446cac9b2 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |access-date=March 29, 2024 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> better healthcare (which has extended human life expectancy), and the ability to rely on one's own savings<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Dickler |first=Jessica |date=September 24, 2024 |title='Childless cat lady' is a more common lifestyle choice. Here's what being child-free means for your money |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/24/what-a-sink-dink-or-dinky-lifestyle-means-for-your-money.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=CNBC}}</ref> have made childlessness a viable option, even if this choice might still be frowned upon by society at large. Nevertheless, in some modern societies,<ref name="Stegeman">{{Cite news |last=Stegeman |first=Lotte |date=14 May 2020 |title=Waarom hebben zoveel mensen een kinderwens? |trans-title=Why do so many people have a desire to have children? |url=https://www.quest.nl/mens/psychologie/a32449231/waarom-wel-geen-kinderwens/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527070900/https://www.quest.nl/mens/psychologie/a32449231/waarom-wel-geen-kinderwens/ |archive-date=27 May 2020 |access-date=30 May 2020 |work=[[Quest (Dutch magazine)|Quest]] |language=nl}}</ref> being childfree has become not just more tolerated but also more common.<ref name="Bodin" /><ref name=":5" /> 

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.<ref name="Burn-Murdoch-2024" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Dulaney |first=Chelsey |date=October 13, 2024 |title=Worldwide Efforts to Reverse the Baby Shortage Are Falling Flat |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/birthrate-children-fertility-europe-perks-family-04aa13a0 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241018203510/https://www.wsj.com/world/birthrate-children-fertility-europe-perks-family-04aa13a0 |archive-date=October 18, 2024 |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> In societies where children are seldom born [[out of wedlock]], childfree individuals are likely to remain single as well.<ref name="Gan-2021" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rich |first=Motoko |date=August 3, 2019 |title=Craving Freedom, Japan's Women Opt Out of Marriage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/world/asia/japan-single-women-marriage.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210702100731/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/world/asia/japan-single-women-marriage.html |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |access-date=October 14, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>{{TOC limit|3}}

==Reasons and challenges==
Supporters of this lifestyle cite various reasons for their view.<ref name="Aukema">{{Cite news |author=Saskia Aukema |date=13 November 2016 |title=Hoezo heb jij geen kinderen? |trans-title=Why don't you have children? |url=https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/hoezo-heb-jij-geen-kinderen~b849be81/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922143326/https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/hoezo-heb-jij-geen-kinderen~b849be81/ |archive-date=22 September 2021 |access-date=30 May 2020 |work=[[Trouw]] |language=nl}}</ref><ref name="van de Water">{{Cite news |author=Sebastiaan van de Water |date=20 March 2020 |title=Zijn er nu meer mensen die geen kinderen willen dan vroeger? |trans-title=Are there now more people who don't want children than ever before? |url=https://www.quest.nl/mens/lifestyle/a31780117/kinderwens-westerse-wereld-verdwenen/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529232324/https://www.quest.nl/mens/lifestyle/a31780117/kinderwens-westerse-wereld-verdwenen/ |archive-date=29 May 2020 |access-date=30 May 2020 |work=Quest |language=nl}}</ref><ref name="Bodin">{{Cite journal |last1=Bodin |first1=Maja |last2=Plantin |first2=Lars |last3=Elmerstig|first3=Eva |date=December 2019 |title=A wonderful experience or a frightening commitment? An exploration of men's reasons to (not) have children |journal=Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online |volume=9 |pages=19–27 |doi=10.1016/j.rbms.2019.11.002 |pmc=6953767 |pmid=31938736}}</ref> These reasons can be personal, social, philosophical, moral, economic, or a complex, nuanced combination of such reasons.
===Traumatic experiences===
Many suffered [[Child abuse|abuse]] by the hands of their own parents and as such have little interest in parenthood,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Matthews |first1=Elise J. |last2=Desjardins |first2=Michel |date=1 November 2020 |title=The Meaning of Risk in Reproductive Decisions after Childhood Abuse and Neglect |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10896-019-00062-2 |journal=Journal of Family Violence |language=en |volume=35 |issue=8 |pages=793–802 |doi=10.1007/s10896-019-00062-2 |issn=1573-2851 |s2cid=149446087 |access-date=15 September 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Italie |first=Leanne |date=August 30, 2022 |title=Gen Z, millennials take a pass on raising the next generation |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2022/0830/Gen-Z-millennials-take-a-pass-on-raising-the-next-generation |access-date=May 4, 2023 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> or the duplication of their family's genes.<ref name="Leenaert">{{Cite news |author=Tobias Leenaert |date=2 September 2015 |title=Kindvrij vs kinderloos |trans-title=Childfree vs. childless |url=https://www.mo.be/column/kindvrij |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101101207/http://www.mo.be/column/kindvrij |archive-date=1 November 2016 |access-date=30 May 2020 |work=[[Mondiaal Nieuws]] |language=nl}}</ref><ref name="Tucker-2014">{{Cite news |last=Tucker |first=Eleanor |date=November 8, 2014 |title=I used to judge childfree women |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/08/i-used-to-judge-childfree-women |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=The Guardian |department=Family}}</ref><ref name="The Economist-1998">{{Cite news |date=December 17, 1998 |title=Sui genocide |url=https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/1998/12/17/sui-genocide |access-date=March 17, 2021 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> They also fear the continuation of the [[cycle of abuse]] or other defects in their [[Parenting styles|styles of parenting]].<ref name="van de Water" /><ref name="CBS 2004">{{Cite web |author=Arie de Graaf |date=24 May 2004 |title=Childlessness and education level |url=https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2004/22/childlessness-and-education-level |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612135130/https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2004/22/childlessness-and-education-level |archive-date=12 June 2020 |access-date=31 May 2020 |publisher=[[Statistics Netherlands]] |language=nl}}</ref><ref name="Bodin" /> Indeed, fear is in general a major motivation for voluntary childlessness,<ref name="Bodin" /> and some are also concerned with disabilities,<ref name="Aukema" /> rendering childcare even more challenging;<ref name="Medicinenet-2017">{{cite web |title=Medical Definition of Fear of children |url=https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12359 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911091330/http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12359 |archive-date=2017-09-11 |access-date=2020-08-27 |website=Medicinenet}}</ref> or that the children might grow up to be immoral people.<ref name="Bodin" /> However, childfree individuals are unlikely to have the [[fear of missing out]] on the alleged benefits of parenthood<ref name="Leenaert" /><ref name="DeMarneffe-2005">{{Cite news |last=DeMarneffe |first=Daphne |year=2005 |title=Maternal Desire: On Children, Love, and the Inner Life |publisher=Back Bay Books/Little, Brown, and Company}}{{page needed|date=March 2019}}</ref> because there are parents who regret having children,<ref name="GlobeMaier">{{cite news |last=Saunders |first=Doug |date=2007-09-29 |title=I really regret it. I really regret having children |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/mothers-day/i-really-regret-it-i-really-regret-having-children/article1200668/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021161901/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/mothers-day/i-really-regret-it-i-really-regret-having-children/article1200668/ |archive-date=2018-10-21 |access-date=2019-01-14 |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto}}</ref> leaving the childfree to deem the decision to "just try" to have children irresponsible.<ref name="Leenaert" /><ref name="Buonadonna" /> Parents can also become less empathetic towards non-family members.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zaki |first=Jamil |date=November 18, 2015 |title=Having Kids Can Make Parents Less Empathetic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/having-kids-can-make-parents-less-empathetic/416592/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20171001210823/https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/having-kids-can-make-parents-less-empathetic/416592/ |archive-date=October 1, 2017 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> Some people do not feel the "[[Age and female fertility|biological clock]]" ticking<ref name="Time20130812">{{cite magazine |last=Sandler |first=Lauren |date=August 12, 2013 |title=Having It All Without Having Children |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2148636,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805064814/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2148636,00.html |archive-date=August 5, 2013 |access-date=August 4, 2013 |magazine=TIME}}</ref> and have no parental drives.<ref name="Friedman-2017" /><ref name="Ibbetson-2020">{{Cite news |last=Ibbetson |first=Connor |date=January 9, 2020 |title=Why do people choose to not have children? |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/education/articles-reports/2020/01/09/why-are-britons-choosing-not-have-children |access-date=March 25, 2021 |work=YouGov}}</ref> On the other hand, some meet the right partners at [[Advanced maternal age|too advanced an age to safely bear children]].<ref name="Bodin" /><ref name="Ibbetson-2020" /> Among some women, there is a fear or revulsion towards the physical condition of pregnancy ([[tokophobia]]),<ref name="Layhe-2018">{{Cite news |last=Layhe |first=Ellie |date=September 13, 2018 |title=Pregnancy phobia is being 'driven by social media' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/3cc78638-171e-4542-806e-8f9d0c1ad243 |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=BBC Radio}}</ref> and the childbirth experience.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hofberg |last2=Brockington |year=2000 |title=Tokophobia: an unreasoning dread of childbirth |journal=[[British Journal of Psychiatry]] |volume=176 |issue=1 |pages=83–85 |doi=10.1192/bjp.176.1.83 |pmid=10789333 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Some are worried that an existing (and strained) romantic relationship or marriage might be damaged (beyond repair) with the arrival of children,<ref name="Bodin" /><ref name="Patel-2017" /><ref name="Wallace-2016">{{Cite news |last=Wallace |first=Kelly |date=December 6, 2016 |title=Are people without kids happier? Studies offer mixed picture |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/06/health/parents-happiness-child-free-studies/index.html |access-date=May 5, 2023 |work=CNN}}</ref> and this could be the case if one partner does not want children.<ref name="CBS 2004" /> Among women, the mental health of those of reproductive years declines among mothers relative to those with no children, whose [[Six-factor model of psychological well-being|psychological well-being]] remains more or less stable during this period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kuipers |first1=Yvonne J. |last2=van Beeck |first2=Elise |last3=Cijsouw |first3=Astrid |last4=van Gils |first4=Yannic |date=December 2021 |title=The impact of motherhood on the course of women's psychological wellbeing |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666915321001426 |journal=Journal of Affective Disorders Reports |volume=6 |article-number=100216 |doi=10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100216|hdl=10067/1810160151162165141 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In general, couples experience a drop in the level of happiness after having a baby, though the level depends on a variety of factors,<ref name="Wallace-2016" /> including sex, age, and nationality.<ref name="Bloom-2021">{{Cite news |last=Bloom |first=Paul |date=November 2, 2021 |title=What Becoming a Parent Really Does to Your Happiness |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/11/does-having-kids-make-you-happy/620576/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220719171104/https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/11/does-having-kids-make-you-happy/620576/ |archive-date=July 19, 2022 |access-date=May 5, 2023 |work=The Atlantic}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Bloom-2021" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Glass |first1=Jennifer |last2=Simon |first2=Robin W. |last3=Andersson |first3=Matthew A. |date=May 1, 2017 |title=Parenthood and Happiness: Effects of Work-Family Reconciliation Policies in 22 OECD Countries |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=122 |issue=3 |pages=886–929 |doi=10.1086/688892 |pmc=5222535 |pmid=28082749}}</ref> On average, unmarried women with no children are among the happiest in society. (For men, marriage is correlated with higher income, greater life expectancy, and more happiness. Both men and women who are married benefit from financial and emotional support.)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oppenheim |first=Mayha |date=May 29, 2019 |title=Unmarried, childless women are happiest people of all, says expert |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/women-happy-children-spouse-partner-relationship-unmarried-a8931816.html |access-date=May 5, 2023 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

===Effective altruism===
For some, it is sufficient to spend time with their nephews, nieces or stepchildren,<ref name="Bodin" /> or to provide childcare and [[babysitting]] services as part of an extended family or godparent,<ref name="Buonadonna" /><ref name="Zacharek-2019">{{Cite magazine |last=Zacharek |first=Stephanie |date=January 3, 2019 |title=Why I Have Zero Regrets About My Childless Life |url=https://time.com/5492622/stephanie-zacharek-childless-life/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211015631/https://time.com/5492622/stephanie-zacharek-childless-life/ |archive-date=December 11, 2020 |access-date=March 25, 2021 |magazine=Time}}</ref> and to nourish existing friendships,<ref name="Aukema" />{{failed verification|date=June 2024}} which might falter if they were to become parents.<ref name="Scott-2020">{{Cite news |last=Scott |first=Kellie |date=December 16, 2020 |title=Undecided about having kids? Reading this might help |url=https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/stories-for-those-undecided-about-having-kids/12506732 |access-date=March 25, 2021 |work=ABC (Australia)}}</ref> Some also take care of elderly parents.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Munslow |first=Julia |date=March 11, 2024 |title=The Couples Embracing the DINK Label |url=https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/dinks-married-couples-child-free-tik-tok-9747783a |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240312125032/https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/dinks-married-couples-child-free-tik-tok-9747783a |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |access-date=April 30, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> Some childfree individuals consider themselves to be already working for the benefit of the next generation or [[Effective altruism|of humanity as a whole]] by making charitable donations, or working as schoolteachers or pediatricians.<ref name="Leenaert" /> In addition, one's partner might already have children from a previous relationship and is unable or unwilling to have more.<ref name="Aukema" /> On the other hand, some people simply dislike children's behavior, language, or biological processes.<ref name="GlobeMaier" /><ref name="van de Water" /><ref name="Leenaert" /><ref name="Bodin" /><ref name="Medicinenet-2017" />

===Medical concerns===
{{See also|Infertility}}
Medical concerns constitute an entire class of reasons why some people do not want to have children. Some people carry [[genetic disorder]]s,<ref name="Aukema" /><ref name="Bodin" /><ref name="Engwall2014" /><ref name="Brownell2020">{{Cite web |last=Brownell |first=Kristen |date=July 6, 2020 |title=Why I don't have a child: I refuse to pass on my addiction genes |url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/06/why-i-dont-have-a-child-i-refuse-to-pass-on-my-addiction-gene |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727203654/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/06/why-i-dont-have-a-child-i-refuse-to-pass-on-my-addiction-gene |archive-date=2022-07-27 |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> are mentally ill,<ref name="Scott-2020" /> or are otherwise too sick for parenthood,<ref name="CBS 2004" /> and children are [[Disease vector|vectors]] of numerous infectious diseases.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Godoy |first=Maria |date=January 26, 2023 |title=Your kids are adorable germ vectors. Here's how often they get your household sick |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/01/26/1151333478/your-kids-are-adorable-germ-vectors-heres-how-often-they-get-your-household-sick |access-date=April 21, 2023 |work=NPR}}</ref> Even among healthy couples, new parents are often [[Sleep deprivation|sleep-deprived]].<ref name="van de Water" /><ref name="Stegeman" /> Pregnancy and childbirth might come with [[Complications of pregnancy|complications]] for the woman's body and lasting effects on her health,<ref name="Layhe-2018" /> including, but not limited to, weight gain, [[hemorrhoid]]s, [[urinary incontinence]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Altman |first1=Daniel |last2=Ekström |first2=Åsa |last3=Gustafsson |first3=Catharina |last4=López |first4=Annika |last5=Falconer |first5=Christian |last6=Zetterström |first6=Jan |year=2006 |title=Risk of Urinary Incontinence After Childbirth |journal=Obstetrics & Gynecology |volume=108 |issue=4 |pages=873–878 |doi=10.1097/01.AOG.0000233172.96153.ad |pmid=17012448 |s2cid=23797296}}</ref> accelerated [[Senescence|cellular aging]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ryan |first1=Calen P. |last2=Hayes |first2=M. Geoffrey |last3=Lee |first3=Nanette R. |last4=McDade |first4=Thomas W. |last5=Jones |first5=Meaghan J. |last6=Kobor |first6=Michael S. |last7=Kuzawa |first7=Christopher W. |last8=Eisenberg |first8=Dan T. A. |year=2018 |title=Reproduction predicts shorter telomeres and epigenetic age acceleration among young adult women |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=11100 |bibcode=2018NatSR...811100R |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-29486-4 |pmc=6056536 |pmid=30038336}}</ref> and even [[maternal death|death]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Christian |first1=Parul |last2=Katz |first2=Joanne |last3=Wu |first3=Lee |last4=Kimbrough-Pradhan |first4=Elizabeth |last5=Khatry |first5=Subarna K. |last6=Leclerq |first6=Steven C. |last7=West |first7=Keith P. |year=2008 |title=Risk factors for pregnancy-related mortality: A prospective study in rural Nepal |journal=Public Health |volume=122 |issue=2 |pages=161–172 |doi=10.1016/j.puhe.2007.06.003 |pmc=2367232 |pmid=17826810}}</ref> Substantial neurological changes during and following pregnancy could lead to sentiments of insecurity and inadequacy, [[postpartum depression]],<ref name="Conaboy-2018">{{Cite news |last=Conaboy |first=Chelsea |date=July 17, 2018 |title=Pregnant women don't learn about profound brain changes |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2018/07/17/pregnant-women-care-ignores-one-most-profound-changes-new-mom-faces/CF5wyP0b5EGCcZ8fzLUWbP/story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801232829/https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2018/07/17/pregnant-women-care-ignores-one-most-profound-changes-new-mom-faces/CF5wyP0b5EGCcZ8fzLUWbP/story.html |archive-date=August 1, 2018 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=Boston Globe |url-status=live }}</ref> something men might also face.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Nicola |date=August 9, 2018 |title=Postnatal depression: fathers can suffer similar issues to women, say experts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/09/new-fathers-suffer-similar-rates-of-depression-as-mothers-experts-warn |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> This information is traditionally not provided to parents in advance to avoid frightening them.<ref name="Conaboy-2018" /> 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]].<ref name="Perry-2014" /> 

===Cultural attitudes===
[[File:Victorian Postcard - woman hitting stork with parasol.jpg|thumb|Early twentieth-century postcard of a woman fighting a [[Stork#Associations with fertility|stork]] bringing her a child. As women's opportunities increase, they become less interested in having children.]]The [[Demographic transition#Second demographic transition|second demographic transition]] occurs when the cultural attitude towards children changes.<ref name="Perry-2014" /> In particular, this is when society shifts from traditional and communal values towards [[individualism]],<ref name="Kaufmann-2013">{{Cite book |last=Kaufmann |first=Eric |title=Whither the Child? Causes and Consequences of Low Fertility |publisher=Paradigm Publishers |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-61205-093-5 |editor-last=Kaufmann |editor-first=Eric |location=Boulder, Colorado, United States |pages=135–56 |chapter=Chapter 7: Sacralization by Stealth? The Religious Consequences of Low Fertility in Europe |editor-last2=Wilcox |editor-first2=W. Bradford}}</ref> whereupon support for traditional [[Gender role|gender roles]] declines<ref name="Patel-2017" /> and fewer people believe that they need to have children in order to be complete,<ref name="Patel-2017" /> successful,<ref name="Stegeman" /> or happy.<ref>{{cite web |date=23 October 2014 |title=Having children is not the formula for a happy life — Quartz |url=https://qz.com/281513/having-children-is-not-the-formula-for-a-happy-life/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701065416/https://qz.com/281513/having-children-is-not-the-formula-for-a-happy-life/ |archive-date=1 July 2018 |access-date=4 April 2018 |website=qz.com}}</ref><ref name="Cain-2019">{{Cite news |last=Cain |first=Sian |date=May 29, 2019 |title=Women are happier without children or a spouse, says happiness expert |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/25/women-happier-without-children-or-a-spouse-happiness-expert |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=The Guardian |department=The Observer}}</ref><ref name="Time20130812" /> Whereas in the past, a woman typically had to get married and bear children in order to ensure her own survival,<ref name="Gan-2021" /> in a modern society, people—including women—have more choices, and they are increasingly aware that reproduction is an option, and not an obligation.<ref name="Burn-Murdoch-2024" /><ref name="Patel-2017" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Sandra Caine |date=July 23, 2018 |title=They Didn't Have Children and, Most Said, They Don't Have Regrets |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/reader-center/no-kids-no-regrets.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181014143444/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/reader-center/no-kids-no-regrets.html |archive-date=October 14, 2018 |access-date=May 4, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Consequently, people who choose to have children tend to have fewer of them, and an increasing number prefer to be childfree.<ref name="Burn-Murdoch-2024" /><ref name="Perry-2014" /> 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.<ref name="Bodin" /><ref name="Patel-2017">{{Cite news |last=Patel |first=Arti |date=December 10, 2017 |title=People who don't want kids: 'There's never been a day where I've regretted my decision' |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3900117/people-choose-no-kids/ |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=CBC |department=Lifestyle}}</ref><ref name="Friedman-2017">{{Cite news |last=Friedman |first=Danielle |date=July 14, 2017 |title=Why Some Women Don't Want Kids, Childless by Choice |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-some-women-dont-want-kids-childless-by-choice |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216055903/https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-some-women-dont-want-kids-childless-by-choice |archive-date=December 16, 2020 |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=The Daily Beast}}</ref><ref name="Ibbetson-2020" /> Childfree people could take advantage of [[Opportunity cost|other opportunities in life]], such as pursuing a career, retiring early, making charitable donations, having more leisure, and being more active in the community.<ref name="Cain-2020b" /><ref name="Culhane-2017">{{Cite news |last=Culhane |first=John |date=May 24, 2017 |title=For Many Queer Adults, Parenting Still Isn't Part of the Picture |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/05/why-many-lgbtq-people-dont-want-children.html |access-date=March 25, 2021 |work=Slate}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Segarra |first=Marielle |date=April 17, 2023 |title=So you don't want kids. How to build a child-free life |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1169740774 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |work=NPR}}</ref><ref name="Ermey-2022" /> Some find themselves exhausted with work and are therefore in no position to be parents.<ref name="Trung-2020">{{Cite news |last1=Trung |first1=Son |last2=Nguyen |first2=Quy |date=January 7, 2020 |title=Overworked Saigon women have no time to have babies |url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/overworked-saigon-women-have-no-time-to-have-babies-4038257.html |access-date=March 17, 2020 |work=VN Express}}</ref> Furthermore, the [[cost of raising a child]] tends to be quite high as a society industrializes and urbanizes.<ref name="Perry-2014">{{Cite news |last=Perry |first=Sarah |date=July 8, 2014 |title=Children aren't worth very much - that's why we no longer make many |url=https://qz.com/231313/children-arent-worth-very-much-thats-why-we-no-longer-make-many/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226160139/https://qz.com/231313/children-arent-worth-very-much-thats-why-we-no-longer-make-many/ |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |access-date=March 7, 2021 |work=Quartz}}</ref><ref name="Bodin" /><ref name="CBS 2004" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Juhohn |date=December 21, 2023 |title=More couples are choosing a 'dual income, no kids' lifestyle. Here's how that changes their finances |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/21/what-dink-dual-income-no-kids-trend-means-for-your-money.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231222012532/https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/21/what-dink-dual-income-no-kids-trend-means-for-your-money.html |archive-date=December 22, 2023 |access-date=December 21, 2023 |work=CNBC}}</ref><ref name="Filipovic-2021">{{Cite news |last=Filipovic |first=Jill |date=June 27, 2021 |title=Women Are Having Fewer Babies Because They Have More Choices |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/27/opinion/falling-birthrate-women-babies.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210628024344/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/27/opinion/falling-birthrate-women-babies.html |archive-date=June 28, 2021 |access-date=April 9, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> But the cost of raising a child is, for most, not as important as the desire for personal growth and fulfillment.<ref name="Burn-Murdoch-2024" /> 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.<ref name=":38">{{Cite news |last=Wolfe |first=Rachel |date=July 20, 2024 |title=Why Americans Aren't Having Babies |url=https://www.wsj.com/us-news/u-s-fertility-rate-remains-near-record-low-d6324668 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250311000305/https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/relationships/americans-babies-childless-birthrate-daf438f9 |archive-date=March 11, 2025 |access-date=May 31, 2025 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref>

As parenthood loses its appeal, pets gain in popularity, at least among those who wish to have something or someone to care for.<ref name="Leggate-2020">{{Cite news |last=Leggate |first=James |date=November 6, 2020 |title=More pets than children in Taiwan as birthrate drops, report indicates |url=https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/more-pets-than-children-taiwan-birthrate-drops.amp |access-date=March 7, 2021 |work=Fox News |department=Lifestyle}}</ref><ref name="Choi-2019">{{Cite news |last1=Choi |first1=Hayoung |last2=Park |first2=Minwoo |date=January 24, 2019 |title=Like a son but cheaper: harried South Koreans pamper pets instead of having kids |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-economy-pets/like-a-son-but-cheaper-harried-south-koreans-pamper-pets-instead-of-having-kids-idUSKCN1PI029 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190131061614/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-economy-pets/like-a-son-but-cheaper-harried-south-koreans-pamper-pets-instead-of-having-kids-idUSKCN1PI029 |archive-date=January 31, 2019 |access-date=April 21, 2023 |work=Reuters}}</ref> In South Korea, young couples of the 2010s are more likely to have pets, which are cheaper than children.<ref name="Choi-2019" /> 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.<ref name="Twenge-2023">{{Cite book |last=Twenge |first=Jean |title=Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Silents—and What The Mean for America's Future |publisher=Atria Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-9821-8161-1 |location=New York |chapter=Chapter 5: Millennials}}</ref> In the West, members of the countercultural or feminist movements in the 1960s and 1970s typically had no children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Longman |first=Phillip |date=October 20, 2009 |title=The Return of Patriarchy |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/20/the-return-of-patriarchy/ |access-date=November 1, 2020 |website=Foreign Policy}}</ref> They disapproved of how women were treated differently from men.<ref name="Gan-2021">{{Cite news |last=Gan |first=Nectar |date=January 30, 2021 |title=Chinese millennials aren't getting married, and the government is worried |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/29/china/china-millennials-marriage-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=February 1, 2021 |work=CNN}}</ref><ref name="Moses-2023" /> Some feminists recall how their own mothers were treated when they were young.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baumgardner |first1=Jennifer |title=Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future |last2=Richards |first2=Amy |publisher=Farrar, Straus, and Giroux |year=2000|isbn=0-374-52622-2}}{{page needed|date=March 2019}}</ref> Among radical feminists, the traditional family is viewed "a decadent, energy-absorbing, destructive, wasteful institution."<ref name="Garraty-1991">{{Cite book |last=Garraty |first=John S. |title=The American Nation: A History of the United States |publisher=Harper Collins |year=1991 |isbn=0-06-042312-9 |location=United States of America |pages=903–6 |chapter=Chapter XXXII Society in Flux, 1945-1980. Women's Liberation}}</ref> Similarly, in China, a socially conservative and patriarchal country, women have become much less interested in marriage and children, viewing these as burdens.<ref name="Gan-2021" />

Simply not wanting children is the most important reason for many.<ref name="Tucker-2014" /><ref name="Patel-2017" /><ref name="CBS 2004" /><ref name="DeMarneffe-2005" /> Compared to the 1970s, societal attitudes towards voluntary childlessness have been slowly changing from condemnation and hostility to greater acceptance by the 2010s.<ref name="Bodin"/><ref name="Carroll-2015" />

===Economic considerations===
The next group of reasons why people prefer to not have children is economic in nature.<ref name="Smith-2022">{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Molly |date=August 31, 2022 |title=Women Who Stay Single and Don't Have Kids Are Getting Richer |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-31/women-not-having-kids-get-richer-than-men |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220831113805/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-31/women-not-having-kids-get-richer-than-men |archive-date=August 31, 2022 |access-date=September 1, 2022 |work=Bloomberg}}</ref> Some childfree people reject the claim that the economy is at risk because they have no children.<ref name="Leenaert" /> 

====Cost of raising a child====
For many, existing burdens of taxes and debts are already great,<ref name="Perry-2014" /> and yet they are facing stagnant or falling wages<ref name="Perry-2014" /> and a high [[Cost-of-living crisis|cost of living]].<ref name="Cain-2020b">{{Cite news |last=Cain |first=Sian |date=July 25, 2020 |title=Why a generation is choosing to be child-free |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/25/why-a-generation-is-choosing-to-be-child-free |access-date=March 9, 2021 |work=The Guardian |department=Books}}</ref> But even among those who are not facing dire financial circumstances, not having a child means more savings.<ref name="Friedman-2017" /><ref name="Ermey-2022">{{Cite news |last=Ermey |first=Ryan |date=October 25, 2022 |title=If you're not planning to have kids, you can rethink 'the whole foundation' of your financial plan |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/25/childfree-people-can-rethink-whole-foundation-of-their-money-plan.html |access-date=April 9, 2023 |work=CNBC}}</ref> 
For women, the lack of adequate support for working mothers is a major concern.<ref name="Trung-2020" /><ref name="Leggate-2020" /><ref name="Moses-2023">{{Cite news |last=Moses |first=Claire |date=February 19, 2023 |title=Aging Societies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/19/briefing/asia-aging-popupulation.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230320202804/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/19/briefing/asia-aging-popupulation.html |archive-date=March 20, 2023 |access-date=May 4, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> In short, the [[cost of raising a child]] may simply be too high.<ref name="Picchi-2022">{{Cite news |last=Picchi |first=Aimee |date=August 30, 2022 |title=It now costs $310,000 to raise a child: "Something has to give" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/raising-a-child-costs-310000/ |work=CBS News}}</ref> 

====Pension crisis====
Children are typically not a guaranteed [[Old-age-security hypothesis|old-age safety net]] ([[filial responsibility laws]]) for parent–child relations might be strained.<ref name="BBC-2021b">{{Cite news |title=Emma Gannon: I'm made to feel guilty for not having children |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3fr3mLYZGl4YPdPDQrvGNjK/emma-gannon-i-m-made-to-feel-guilty-for-not-having-children |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=BBC}}</ref> In most countries the current public pension system assumes a sustainable [[total fertility rate]].<ref name="Banyár"/> For theses pension systems low fertility rates result in lower [[pension]]s, higher pension contributions, higher [[retirement age]]s or a [[pension crisis|pension timebomb]].<ref name="i599">{{cite journal | last1=Hyndman | first1=Rob J. | last2=Zeng | first2=Yijun | last3=Shang | first3=Han Lin | title=Forecasting the old-age dependency ratio to determine a sustainable pension age | journal=Australian & New Zealand Journal of Statistics | volume=63 | issue=2 | date=2021 | issn=1369-1473 | doi=10.1111/anzs.12330 | doi-access=free | pages=241–256 | url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Forecasting_the_Old-Age_Dependency_Ratio_to_Determine_a_Sustainable_Pension_Age/21529356/1/files/38163588.pdf | access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref> Pension systems can be reformed to be balanced independent of fertility rate.<ref name="Banyár">{{Cite journal |last=Banyár |first=József |date=2021 |title=The Outlines of a Possible Pension System Funded with Human Capital |journal=Risks |language=en |volume=9 |issue=4 |page=66 |doi=10.3390/risks9040066 |doi-access=free |issn=2227-9091|hdl=10419/258155 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> One approach to [[Pension#Balancing pension funding|balancing the pension system]] is increasing pension contributions for voluntary childless individuals.<ref name="x314">{{cite journal | last=Adams | first=Paul | title=Children as Contributions in Kind: Social Security and Family Policy | journal=Social Work | volume=35 | issue=6 | date=1990 | issn=1545-6846 | doi=10.1093/sw/35.6.492 | pages=492–498 | url=https://academic.oup.com/sw/article/1891776/Children | access-date=20 July 2025| url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Existential considerations===
[[File:Schopenhauer by Jules Lunteschütz.jpg|thumb|Antinatalists such as philosopher [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] argued that having children is inherently wrong because life is full of suffering.|right]]Some people face general [[Existentialism|existential angst]] due to the state of the world (pestilence, war, famine, economic recession, the [[Societal collapse|breakdown of civilization]], among other issues) or the politics of their countries, and therefore question whether having children is a positive contribution.<ref name="Patel-2017" /><ref name="Cain-2020b" /><ref name="Williams-2021">{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Alex |date=November 20, 2021 |title=To Breed or Not to Breed? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/style/breed-children-climate-change.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220311132849/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/style/breed-children-climate-change.html |archive-date=March 11, 2022 |access-date=April 7, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="Angeloni-2019">{{Cite news |last=Angeloni |first=Alice |date=July 14, 2019 |title=New Zealand couples concerned for planet choose childless futures |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/114143481/new-zealand-couples-concerned-for-planet-choose-childless-futures |access-date=March 7, 2021 |work=Stuff}}</ref> The human population has grown significantly since the start of the Industrial Revolution, leading many to believe that overpopulation has become a serious problem and some to question the fairness of what in their view amounts to subsidies for having children—such as tax credits for parents (such as the [[Earned income tax credit|Earned Income Tax Credit]] in the United States), paid parental leave, and public education<ref name="Burkett">{{Cite news|first=Elinor|last=Burkett|title=The baby boon: how family-friendly America cheats the childless|publisher=Free Press|location=New York|date=c. 2000|isbn=0-684-86303-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/babyboonhowfamil00burk}}</ref>—as well as social welfare programs that require more people to be born to ensure said programs can be funded by taxes.<ref name="VHEMT" /> To this end, concerns over the impact of human activities on the environment—[[Human overpopulation|overpopulation]], [[climate change]], pollution, resource scarcity, and the ongoing [[Holocene extinction|Holocene Extinction]]—are a major reason behind voluntary childlessness.<ref name="Schneider-Mayerson-2020" /><ref name="Cain-2020b" /><ref name="Ganesh">{{Cite news |author=Janan Ganesh |date=20 September 2019 |title=Parenthood should be taken off its pedestal |url=https://www.ft.com/content/08b41ed2-da00-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926095543/https://www.ft.com/content/08b41ed2-da00-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17 |archive-date=26 September 2020 |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref>

These ([[Misanthropy|misanthropic]]) perspectives are not unique to environmentalists. A school of philosophy known as [[antinatalism]] asserts that it is inherently immoral to bring people into the world.<ref name="Wolf-2020">{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Chion |date=July 9, 2020 |title=You Didn't Ask To Be Here: Adventures In Antinatalism |url=https://www.wnpr.org/post/you-didn-t-ask-be-here-adventures-antinatalism |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=WNPR}}</ref> Antinatalists argue in favor of the [[Benatar's asymmetry argument|asymmetry of pleasure and pain]], viewing the absence of pleasure as neutral whereas the absence of pain is positive.<ref name="Bagchi-2019">{{Cite news |last=Bagchi |first=Shrabonti |date=February 15, 2019 |title=Inside India's Anti-Natalist Cult |url=https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/to-be-or-not-to-be-1550221601090.html |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=Live Mint}}</ref> For them, refraining from reproduction can be thought of as a form of compassion for the unborn.<ref name="Williams-2021" /> Moreover, since parents can never secure the consent of their unborn child, the decision to procreate would be an imposition of life, a source of [[Suffering-focused ethics|suffering]],<ref name="Bodin" /><ref name="Wolf-2020" /> and a form of [[narcissism]].<ref name="van de Water" /><ref name="Scott-2020" /><ref name="Bagchi-2019" /> However, some childfree people explicitly reject antinatalism; they may like the children of others, but do not want any themselves.<ref name="Leenaert" />

{{Clear}}

===Environmental concerns===
{{See also|Individual action on climate change}}
[[File:Wynes_Nicholas_CO2_emissions_savings.svg|thumb|Reduction of one's carbon footprint for various actions]]
Having fewer children or no children at all drastically reduces one's carbon emissions compared to, for instance, owning a car with improved fuel efficiency, replacing [[incandescent light bulb]]s with more energy-efficient models (such as [[Light-emitting diode|LEDs]]), or avoiding air travel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ludden |first=Jennifer |date=August 18, 2016 |title=Should We Be Having Kids In The Age Of Climate Change? |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/08/18/479349760/should-we-be-having-kids-in-the-age-of-climate-change |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mortimer |first=Caroline |date=2021-07-26 |title=Should I factor climate change into deciding whether to have kids? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/sustainable-living/climate-crisis-children-family-planning-b1889373.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014054551/https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/children-carbon-footprint-climate-change-damage-having-kids-research-a7837961.html |archive-date=October 14, 2020 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Schneider-Mayerson-2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Schneider-Mayerson |first1=Matthew |last2=Leong |first2=Kit Ling |date=2020-11-17 |title=Eco-reproductive concerns in the age of climate change |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-020-02923-y |url-status=live |journal=Climatic Change |language=en |volume=163 |issue=2 |pages=1007–1023 |bibcode=2020ClCh..163.1007S |doi=10.1007/s10584-020-02923-y |issn=0165-0009 |s2cid=226983864 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118123726/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-020-02923-y |archive-date=2021-01-18 |access-date=2020-11-23|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Williams-2021" /> A subset of environmentalists opposes [[anthropocentrism]]<ref name="The Economist-1998" /> and supports [[deep ecology]], or putting non-human lives first.<ref name="VHEMT" /><ref name="Schneider-Mayerson-2020" /> Some even call for the gradual and [[Voluntary Human Extinction Movement|voluntary extinction of ''Homo sapiens'']],<ref name="The Economist-1998" /><ref name="May-2018">{{Cite news |last=May |first=Todd |date=December 17, 2018 |title=Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/opinion/human-extinction-climate-change.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216120616/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/17/opinion/human-extinction-climate-change.html |archive-date=February 16, 2021 |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="VHEMT" /> viewing it as not entirely a tragedy<ref name="May-2018" /> but rather an act of empathy and nobility.<ref name="The Economist-1998" /> In their opinion, human existence inflicts harm not just upon humans themselves but also other species via predatory practices.<ref name="May-2018" />

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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hardin|first=Garrett|date=December 13, 1968|title=The Tragedy of the Commons|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|url=http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_the_commons.html|access-date=2008-01-25|doi=10.1126/science.162.3859.1243|volume=162|issue=3859|pages=1243–8|pmid=5699198|bibcode=1968Sci...162.1243H|doi-access=free|archive-date=2012-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124223827/http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_the_commons.html|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schneider-Mayerson|first=Matthew|date=2021-03-28|title=The environmental politics of reproductive choices in the age of climate change|journal=Environmental Politics|volume=31|issue=1 |pages=152–172|doi=10.1080/09644016.2021.1902700|s2cid=233666068|issn=0964-4016}}</ref>

===High expectations of parents===
{{See also|Parental investment}}
Modern societies often have high expectations of parents, which some people consider distasteful.<ref name="GlobeMaier" /> In English, the (pejorative) term ''[[soccer mom]]'' is used to described women obsessed with being mothers.<ref name="GlobeMaier" /> In general, as a society becomes better developed, it is generally true that parental investment per child goes up, causing fertility rates to go down.<ref>{{Cite news |last=University College London |date=February 17, 2008 |title=Increased Life Expectancy May Mean Lower Fertility |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080215210722.htm |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=Science Daily}}</ref> In countries where having children out of wedlock is either highly unusual or socially ostracized, such as China, having trouble getting married is a reason why most choose to not have children.<ref name="Gan-2021" />

===Self-interest===
Proponents of childfreeness posit that choosing ''not'' to have children is no more or less selfish than choosing to have children. Choosing to have children may be the more selfish choice, especially when poor parenting risks creating many long-term problems for both the children themselves and society at large.<ref>{{cite book|first=Catherine|last=Leone|title=Fairness, Freedom and Responsibility: The Dilemma of Fertility Choice in America|publisher=Washington State University|date=1986|type=PhD Thesis|oclc=29721613}}</ref> 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. At the very least, Benatar believes this illustrates why a childfree person may be just as altruistic as any parent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benatar |first=David |title=Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-199-29642-2}}</ref> They will also have more time to focus on themselves, which will allow for greater creativity and the exploration of personal ambitions. In this way, they may benefit themselves and society more than if they had a child,<ref>{{cite web|last=Tomasik|first=Brian|title=The Cost of Kids|url=http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/cost-of-kids.html|access-date=2013-01-10|archive-date=2012-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828122622/http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/cost-of-kids.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and describe the joys and freedoms of childfree living, freedoms such as travel previously associated with males in Western culture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.utne.com/2001-01-01/motherhood-lite.aspx|title=Motherhood Lite|last=Brown|first=Tiffany Lee|date=2001|website=Utne Reader|access-date=2016-07-25|archive-date=2012-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008231448/http://www.utne.com/2001-01-01/motherhood-lite.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Traditions===
It is traditionally held that womanhood must include motherhood and caregiving.<ref name="Burkett" /> Even today, these responsibilities fall largely on women.<ref name="Burkett" /> 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.<ref name="Leenaert" /> A number of religions—notably [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]]—place a high value on children and their central place in marriage.<ref>{{cite web |author=Pope John Paul II |author-link=Pope John Paul II |date=15 August 1988 |title=Apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107000833/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html |archive-date=2007-01-07 |access-date=12 December 2006 |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana}}</ref> There are, however, some debates within religious groups about whether a childfree lifestyle is acceptable. Another view, for example, is that the biblical verse "[[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Genesis#Chapter 1|Be fruitful and multiply]]" in Genesis 1:28, is not a command but an expression of blessing.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Van Leeuwen |first=Raymond C. |date=September–October 2003 |title=Is It All Right for a Married Couple to Choose to Remain Childless? |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2003/005/20.24.html |url-status=live |journal=Today's Christian Woman |publisher=Christianity Today International |volume=25 |issue=5 |page=24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118123754/https://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2003/september/20.24.html |archive-date=18 January 2021 |access-date=12 December 2006}}</ref> Alternatively, some Christians believe that Genesis 1:28 is a moral command but nonetheless believe that voluntary childlessness is ethical if a [[Graded absolutism|higher ethical principle]] intervenes to make child bearing imprudent in comparison. Health concerns, a calling to serve [[orphan]]s, serving as missionaries in a dangerous location, etc., are all examples that would make childbearing imprudent for a Christian. A small activist group, the Cyber-Church of Jesus Christ Childfree, defends this view, saying "Jesus loved children but chose to never have any, so that he could devote his life to telling the Good News."<ref name="cyber">{{cite web |title=The Cyber-Church of Jesus Christ Childfree |url=http://www.eilertech.com/cyberchurch/cyberchurch.htm |access-date=2006-12-08 |publisher=The Cyber-Church of Jesus Christ Childfree}}</ref>

===Social pressure===
People who express the fact that they have voluntarily chosen to remain childfree are frequently subjected to discrimination or pressure to change their minds.<ref name="Buonadonna" /> The decision not to have children has been derided as "unnatural" or attributed to [[insanity]], and frequently childfree people are subjected to unsolicited questioning by friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances and even strangers who attempt to force them to justify and/or change their decision,<ref name="Buonadonna" /><ref name="Stegeman" /><ref name="Bodin" /> for example, during holiday family gatherings.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kozicka |first=Patricia |date=November 23, 2016 |title=Single or childless? How to handle annoying questions from family and friends |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3081794/single-or-childless-how-to-handle-annoying-questions-from-family-and-friends/ |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=Global News}}</ref> Some women interviewed by the BBC have argued that revealing their decision to not have children was akin to [[Coming out|coming out as gay]] in the mid-20th century, while others avoided such conversations to avoid social pressure to change their decision.<ref name="Buonadonna" /> Childfree women might be told to first have a child before deciding whether or not they do not want one,<ref name="Buonadonna" /> to "hurry up" and lower their standards for suitable men,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guerrero |first=Jean |date=December 18, 2023 |title=Opinion: At Christmas or any time of year, I won't be ashamed of being childless |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-12-18/christmas-family-women-pressure-children |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231218194903/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-12-18/christmas-family-women-pressure-children |archive-date=December 18, 2023 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> that they would make good mothers, that they have not yet met the "right" man, or are assumed to be infertile rather than having made a conscious decision not to make use of their fertility. Many parents pressure their children into producing grandchildren and threaten to or actually [[Disownment|disown]] them if they do not.<ref name="Buonadonna" /><ref name="Leenaert" /> Some childfree people are accused of hating all children instead of just not wanting any themselves even though they might still be willing to help others rear their children.<ref name="Buonadonna" /><ref name="Leenaert" /> When seeking approval to be sterilized, some childfree individuals, especially women, might face intrusive questions from skeptical doctors or [[Medical paternalism|be dismissed completely]] in case they regret the decision.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> 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.<ref name="Aukema" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Cummins |first=Eleanor |date=July 29, 2022 |title="This Is the Little Power That I Can Take Back": The Rare and Wonderful Feeling of Irreversible Birth Control |url=https://slate.com/technology/2022/07/women-tubes-tied-sterilization-roe-birth-control.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=Slate}}</ref>

While parents are generally warmer towards other parents, childfree individuals are neutral towards each other. 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.<ref name=":5" />

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.<ref name="Muther-2023" /> On the other hand, this is not an issue for certain other venues, such as restaurants.<ref name="Boesveld-2012" />

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.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.3138/jcfs.42.4.421|title=Childlessness and Norms of Familial Responsibility in the Netherlands|journal=Journal of Comparative Family Studies|volume=42|issue=4|pages=421–438|year=2011|last1=Keizer|first1=Renske|last2=Dykstra|first2=Pearl A.|last3=Poortman|first3=Anne-Rigt|hdl=1765/101421|url=http://repub.eur.nl/pub/101421|access-date=2019-12-12|archive-date=2020-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126205227/https://repub.eur.nl/pub/101421|url-status=live|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Munslow-2024">{{Cite news |last=Munslow |first=Julia |date=March 11, 2024 |title=The Couples Embracing the DINK Label |url=https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/dinks-married-couples-child-free-tik-tok-9747783a |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240312125032/https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/dinks-married-couples-child-free-tik-tok-9747783a |archive-date=March 12, 2024 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> As [[Rebecca Solnit]] explains in her book ''The Mother of All Questions'' (2017), "The problem may be a literary one: we are given a single story line about what makes a good life, even though not a few who follow that story line have bad lives. We speak as though there is one good plot with one happy outcome, while the myriad forms a life can take flower—and wither—all around us."<ref name=":7" /> 

Some are deemed too career-focused, although this is not necessarily true.<ref name="Munslow-2024" /> 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.<ref>{{cite conference |last=Levine |first=Carol |title=Panel Presentation: Long Term Care and Caregiving |url=http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/register/levine.htm |publisher=U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124203753/http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/register/levine.htm |archive-date=2007-11-24 |access-date=2007-04-18 |url-status=live}}</ref> The "life" aspect of the [[Work–life balance|work-life balance]] is often taken to mean parenting. Non-parents, including the childfree, are thus assumed to be career-focused and willing to work extra time, which is not necessarily the case. What they do with their free time is not considered as important.<ref name="Carroll-2015">{{Cite news |last=Carroll |first=Laura |date=November 7, 2015 |title=The Brutal Truth About Being Childless at Work |url=http://fortune.com/2015/11/07/truth-about-childless-at-work/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170616111512/http://fortune.com/2015/11/07/truth-about-childless-at-work/ |archive-date=June 16, 2017 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=Fortune}}</ref> As such, childless individuals often work longer hours than parents.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last1=Neal |first1=Jennifer Watling |last2=Watling |first2=Jennifer |date=September 30, 2024 |title=Voters without kids are in the political spotlight – but they're not all the same |url=https://theconversation.com/voters-without-kids-are-in-the-political-spotlight-but-theyre-not-all-the-same-239025 |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=The Conversation}}</ref> In fact, both parents and non-parents tend to think that parents are generally treated better at work.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Hill |first=Faith |date=October 31, 2024 |title=This Might Be a Turning Point for Child-Free Voters |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2024/10/child-free-voting-bloc/680475/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241101213022/https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2024/10/child-free-voting-bloc/680475/ |archive-date=November 1, 2024 |access-date=November 2, 2024 |work=The Atlantic}}</ref> Some parents argue that they deserve special treatment for raising future workers and taxpayers. During the summer, requests for vacation leave from parents are typically approved quickly while the childfree are generally expected to stay behind to cover the workload.<ref name="Borchers-2022">{{Cite news |last=Borchers |first=Callum |date=July 7, 2022 |title=Working Parents Are Having a Rough Summer. Some Co-Workers Don't Want to Hear About It. |url=https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/working-parents-are-having-a-rough-summer-some-co-workers-dont-want-to-hear-about-it-11657150824 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220708133931/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/working-parents-are-having-a-rough-summer-some-co-workers-dont-want-to-hear-about-it-11657150824 |archive-date=July 8, 2022 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> To alleviate friction and to maintain goodwill, some employers have offered everyone paid leave at the same time.<ref name="Borchers-2022" /> More broadly, some human-resources departments and managers have introduced [[paid time off]] (PTO) to replace the traditional paid family leave, paid sick leave, or paid vacation leave.<ref name="Carroll-2015" />

===Laws===
{{See also|Tax on childlessness}}
Childfree people face not only social discrimination but political discrimination as well.<ref name="Burkett" />

In November 2024, Russia's legislative body, the [[Duma]], voted unanimously to ban "childfree propaganda" to boost birthrates in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 November 2024 |title=Russian Lawmakers Pass Bill Banning 'Childfree Propaganda' |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/11/12/russian-lawmakers-pass-bill-banning-childfree-propaganda-a86994 |access-date=13 November 2024 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 November 2024 |title=Russia lawmakers pass bill banning "child-free propaganda" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-lawmakers-pass-bill-banning-child-free-propaganda/ |access-date=13 November 2024 |website=CBS News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 November 2024 |title=Bill Banning 'Childfree Propaganda' Gets Final Approval From Russian Lawmakers" |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/bill-ban-childfree-propaganda-final-approval-russian-duma/33199278.html |access-date=13 November 2024 |language=en |last1=Time |first1=Current }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 November 2024 |title=Russia bans 'child-free propaganda' to try to boost birth rate |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-bans-child-free-propaganda-try-boost-birth-rate-2024-11-12/ |access-date=13 November 2024 |website=Reuters |language=en}}</ref> Russia is the first nation in the world to pass such a law.

==Organizations and political activism==
Childfree individuals do not necessarily share a unified political or economic philosophy, and most prominent childfree organizations tend to be social in nature. Childfree social groups first emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, most notable among them the [[National Alliance for Optional Parenthood]] and [[No Kidding!]] in North America where numerous books have been written about childfree people and where a range of social positions related to childfree interests have developed along with political and social activism in support of these interests. The term "childfree" was used in a July 3, 1972 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' article on the creation of the National Organization for Non-Parents.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877830,00.html|magazine=Time|title=Behavior: Down with Kids|date=1972-07-03|access-date=2007-03-06|archive-date=2007-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310182054/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877830,00.html}}</ref> It was revived in the 1990s when Leslie Lafayette formed a later childfree group, the Childfree Network.<ref>{{cite book|first=Madelyn|last=Cain|title=The Childless Revolution|publisher=Purseus Publishing|year=2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/childlessrevolut00cain/page/20 20]|isbn=978-0-7382-0460-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/childlessrevolut00cain}}</ref>

The [[Voluntary Human Extinction Movement]] (VHEMT, pronounced 'vehement') is an [[environmental movement]] that calls for all people to abstain from reproduction to cause the gradual voluntary [[Human extinction|extinction of humankind]].<ref name="VHEMT">{{cite news|last=Knight|first=Les|date=10 January 2020|title=I campaign for the extinction of the human race|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/10/i-campaign-for-the-extinction-of-the-human-race-les-knight|url-status=live|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110115412/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/10/i-campaign-for-the-extinction-of-the-human-race-les-knight|archive-date=10 January 2020|access-date=30 October 2020}}</ref> Despite its name, the movement also includes those who do not necessarily desire human extinction but do want to curb or reverse human population growth in the name of environmentalism.<ref name="Fleming-2018">{{Cite news |last=Fleming |first=Amy |date=June 20, 2018 |title=Would you give up having children to save the planet? Meet the couples who have |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/20/give-up-having-children-couples-save-planet-climate-crisis |access-date=March 25, 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> VHEMT was founded in 1991 by Les U. Knight, an American activist who became involved in the [[Environmental movement in the United States|American environmental movement in the 1970s]] and thereafter concluded that human extinction was the best solution to the problems facing the Earth's [[biosphere]] and humanity.<ref name="VHEMT" /> VHEMT supports human extinction primarily because, in the movement's view, it would prevent [[environmental degradation]].<ref name="VHEMT" /> The movement states that a decrease in the human population would [[Suffering-focused ethics|prevent a significant amount of human-caused suffering]].<ref name="VHEMT" /> The [[Extinction#Modern extinctions|extinctions of non-human species]] and the [[scarcity]] of [[resources]] required by humans are frequently cited by the movement as evidence of the harm caused by [[human overpopulation]].<ref name="VHEMT" />

In Russia, the movement [[Childfree Russia]] has been equated with extremism.  Individuals like its founder, [[Edward Lisovskii]], have also been persecuted by the government.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vm.ru/tv/832162-kruglyj-stol-komu-nuzhny-deti |title=kruglyj-stol-komu-nuzhny-deti |website=Evening Moscow |date=October 5, 2020 |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spb.kp.ru/daily/26048/2961065/ |title=Эпидемия чайлдфри: петербуржцы не хотят заводить детей |trans-title=Childfree epidemic: St. Petersburg residents do not want to have children |date= March 19, 2013 |last=Mavliev |first=Alexey |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Парламент Башкирии предлагает запретить пропаганду чайлдфри |url=https://ufa.rbc.ru/ufa/15/03/2022/623025da9a7947bdbe3289c9 |trans-title=The Parliament of Bashkortostan proposes to ban childfree propaganda |date=March 15, 2022 |language=ru |website=RBC News}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
Television programs such as ''[[Friends]]'' (1994–2004), ''[[Seinfeld]]'' (1989–1998), and ''[[Sex and the City]]'' (1998–2004) have characters who enjoy their lives without children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gillis |first=Kaytee |date=September 7, 2025 |title=Why Are More Adults Choosing to Remain Child-Free? |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/invisible-bruises/202507/why-are-more-adults-choosing-to-remain-child-free |access-date=September 13, 2025 |website=Psychology Today}}</ref> The character [[Rust Cohle]] from the television series ''[[True Detective]]'' (2014–19), upholds the anti-natalist philosophy.<ref name="Wolf-2020" /><ref>{{Citation |last=Byron |first=Chris |title=Rust's Anti-natalism: The Moral Imperative to "Opt Out of a Raw Deal" |date=2017-10-12 |work=True Detective and Philosophy |pages=42–51 |editor-last=Irwin |editor-first=William |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119280835.ch5 |access-date=2024-08-01 |edition=1 |publisher=Wiley |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781119280835.ch5 |isbn=978-1-119-28078-1 |editor2-last=Graham |editor2-first=Jacob |editor3-last=Sparrow |editor3-first=Tom |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The novel ''Olive'' (2020) by [[Emma Gannon]] includes several voluntarily childless characters.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hampson |first=Laura |date=July 23, 2020 |title=Emma Gannon on her debut novel, podcasting during a pandemic and starting the internet's coolest book club |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/emma-gannon-olive-interview-a4504771.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902192047/https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/emma-gannon-olive-interview-a4504771.html |archive-date=September 2, 2020 |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=The Evening Standard |department=Books}}</ref><ref name="BBC-2021b" />

==By region==
===World===
The childfree lifestyle had become a trend by 2014,<ref name="Patel-2017" /> and the Internet has enabled people who pursue this lifestyle to connect, thereby making it more visible.<ref name="Tucker-2014" /><ref name="Friedman-2017" /><ref name="Bagchi-2019" /> In industrialized nations, 15% to 20% of women will never have children, either due to medical reasons, because they do not meet the right person in time, or by choice.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 29, 2017 |title=In defence of the childless |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/07/29/in-defence-of-the-childless |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210727112426/https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/07/29/in-defence-of-the-childless |archive-date=July 27, 2021 |access-date=November 6, 2025 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> Worldwide, higher educated women are statistically more likely to be childfree.<ref name="van de Water" /> In the developed world at least, one outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic, as can be seen from online discussions, is that people have become more willing to openly discuss the difficulties of parenting and to challenge the cultural assumptions about being childfree.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Samhita |date=August 5, 2020 |title=One Legacy of the Pandemic May Be Less Judgment of the Child-Free |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/08/pandemic-changing-my-mind-about-having-kids/614896/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200830000523/https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/08/pandemic-changing-my-mind-about-having-kids/614896/ |archive-date=August 30, 2020 |access-date=November 3, 2024 |work=The Atlantic}}</ref> But there are significant numbers of childfree individual in developing countries, too. In general, the prevalence of childfree individuals in a given society is positively correlated with its level of gender equality, political freedom, and especially [[Human Development Index|human development]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Neal |first1=Zachary P. |last2=Neal |first2=Jennifer Watling |date=2025 |title=Prevalence and predictors of childfree people in developing countries |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=20 |issue=11 |article-number=e0333906 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0333906 |pmid=41223159 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Public Library of Science |date=November 12, 2025 |title=Surprising numbers of childfree people emerge in developing countries, defying expectations |url=https://phys.org/news/2025-11-childfree-people-emerge-countries-defying.html |access-date=November 15, 2025 |work=Phys.org}}</ref> However, research into both voluntary and involuntary [[childlessness]] and parenthood has long focused on women's experiences, and men's perspectives are often overlooked.<ref name="Bodin" />

Social scientists  Jennifer Watling Neal and Zachary Neal classified non-parents into six mutually exclusive categories: not yet parents (those who want children and face no known obstacles), ambivalent (those who are unsure and face some barriers), undecided (unsure and facing no known problems), socially childless (those who want to be parents but face non-biological obstacles such as financial difficulties), biologically childless (people with fertility issues), and childfree (those who do not want to have children regardless of ability to do so).<ref name=":8" />

In his analysis of search-engine data, data scientist [[Seth Stephens-Davidowitz]] discovered that parents are a few times more likely to regret having children than adults without children.<ref name=":72">{{Cite book |last=Stephens-Davidowitz |first=Seth |title=Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-06-239085-1 |location=New York}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=111}}

Childfree people are significantly more likely to start or donate to charities, compared to parents or grandparents. Many also financially support the universities they attended.<ref name=":10" />

===Asia===
====China====
{{See also|Aging of China}}

In China, the conflict between women's work and family is a contributing factor to the nation's low fertility rate.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yingchun |first1=Ji |last2=Zhenzhen |first2=Zheng |date=2020-10-01 |title=China's Low Fertility Rate from the Perspective of Gender and Development |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02529203.2020.1806478 |journal=Social Sciences in China |language=en |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=169–184 |doi=10.1080/02529203.2020.1806478 |issn=0252-9203|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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. Consequently, many young women are now more likely to be gainfully employed and financially secure. Traditional views on gender roles dictate that women be responsible for housework and childcare, regardless of their employment status. When there is a tense relationship between women's internal expectations and external women's rights and opportunities, the results are reflected in a decrease in women's willingness to have children.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Raymo |first1=James M. |last2=Park |first2=Hyunjoon |last3=Xie |first3=Yu |last4=Yeung |first4=Wei-jun Jean |date=2015-08-14 |title=Marriage and Family in East Asia: Continuity and Change |journal=Annual Review of Sociology |language=en |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=471–492 |doi=10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112428 |issn=0360-0572 |pmc=6070151 |pmid=30078932}}</ref> 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. Consequently, there no strong incentive for young women to marry and have children.<ref name="Gan-2021" /> Not only women but also men who delay or refuse to have children because of the trade-off between work and family, are also heavily considered some respondents felt that they could not fully engage in work at home with underage children and that parental responsibility could neglect important work tasks and even affect promotion progress.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Min |last2=Guo |first2=Wei |date=2019-11-11 |title=Fertility intentions of having a second child among the floating population in China: Effects of socioeconomic factors and home ownership |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/psp.2289 |journal=Population, Space and Place |language=en |volume=26 |issue=2 |article-number=e2289 |doi=10.1002/psp.2289 |issn=1544-8444|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Moreover, the cost of living, especially the cost of housing in the big cities, is a serious obstacle to marriage.<ref name="Gan-2021" /> The problem facing China's current social situation is that "the standard of living has improved, but the overall level is low and uneven."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Klatt |first=W. |date=2009-02-17 |title=The Staff of Life: Living Standards in China |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/abs/staff-of-life-living-standards-in-china/6F76FD0B2E2EA7EB1C0350E2F80A0070 |journal=The China Quarterly |language=en |volume=93 |pages=17–50 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000016155 |issn=1468-2648|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In recent years, Chinese society has been accompanied by rapid [[urbanization]] and rising per capita income, and the demand for housing has gradually increased. However, income disparities and inadequate policies have put enormous pressure on housing for young people.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yao |first1=Shujie |last2=Luo |first2=Dan |last3=Wang |first3=Jianling |date=2013-07-25 |title=Housing Development and Urbanisation in China |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/twec.12105 |journal=The World Economy |language=en |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=481–500 |doi=10.1111/twec.12105 |issn=0378-5920}}</ref> Based on the traditional Chinese concept of marriage, housing is often an important condition for marriage, especially for men. And the increase in housing pressure has led to the fatigue of young people's marriage, which in turn has affected the desire to have children.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Lixing |last2=Wu |first2=Xiaoyu |date=2014-05-01 |title=Housing price and entrepreneurship in China |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596713001133 |journal=Journal of Comparative Economics |series=Economic Systems in the Pacific Rim Region Symposium |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=436–449 |doi=10.1016/j.jce.2013.09.001 |issn=0147-5967|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In the past two decades, the increase of the age of first marriage and the reduction of the interval between marriage and first childbirth have been the most important characteristics of China's demographic changes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Feng |first1=Wang |last2=Quanhe |first2=Yang |date=1996 |title=Age at Marriage and the First Birth Interval: The Emerging Change in Sexual Behavior Among Young Couples in China |journal=Population and Development Review |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=299–320 |doi=10.2307/2137436 |jstor=2137436 |issn=0098-7921}}</ref> The traditional concept of marriage is no longer prevalent in China, and the younger generation's view of marriage has changed dramatically. For example, traditional Chinese marriage aims at inheritance and can fulfill sexual needs under the premise of following social morality. Today, China's socialization is evolving, and [[premarital sex]] is no longer considered shameful and unachievable, so the meaning of marriage is more likely to be accompanied by each other. This has led to a much lower perception of the importance of marriage.<ref name="Yu 593–618">{{Cite journal |last=Yu |first=Jia |date=2021-09-16 |title=Union formation and childbearing among Chinese youth: Trends and socioeconomic differentials |journal=Chinese Journal of Sociology |language=en |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=593–618 |doi=10.1177/2057150X211040936 |issn=2057-150X|doi-access=free }}</ref> In addition, Chinese Millennials are less keen on tying the knots than their predecessors as a result of cultural change; many are now [[Criticism of marriage|skeptical of the institution of marriage]]. Because this is a country where having children out of wedlock is quite rare, this means that many young people are foregoing children.<ref name="Gan-2021" />

The "[[Tang ping|lying flat]]" movement, popular among Chinese youths, also extends to the domain of marriage and child-rearing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Huifeng |first=He |date=January 6, 2022 |title=Why are China's Gen Z women rejecting marriage, kids more than their male counterparts? |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3162221/why-are-chinas-gen-z-women-rejecting-marriage-kids-more-their |access-date=January 9, 2022 |work=The South China Morning Post}}</ref> Over half of Chinese youths aged 18 to 26 said they were uninterested in having children because of the high cost of child-rearing, according to a 2021 poll by the Communist Youth League.<ref name="Xinyu-2021">{{Cite news |last1=Xinyu |first1=Du |last2=Yun |first2=Fang |date=October 11, 2021 |title=44% of China's Urban Young Women Don't Plan to Marry, Survey Says |url=https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1008664/44%25-of-chinas-urban-young-women-dont-plan-to-marry,-survey-says |access-date=January 16, 2023 |work=Sixth Tone}}</ref> While the Chinese economy has improved steadily, an explosive bloom of the real-estate market post-2008 has triggered an increase in house prices disproportionate to income. This is the commonly cited reason for childlessness and "lying flat" among the Chinese youth. A normal apartment unit in Beijing (with an average area of 112 square meters), for instance, costs on average ¥7.31 million ($1.15 million),<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 2, 2022 |title=北京房价走势最新消息_2022年北京房价-城市房产网 |url=http://bj.cityhouse.cn/market/ |access-date=February 2, 2022}}</ref> and one would need to work non-stop for at least 88.2 years at Beijing's average monthly income of ¥6906 ($1083.7)<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 2, 2022 |title=北京市薪资水平报告 (2022) |url=https://salarycalculator.sinaapp.com/report/%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC |access-date=February 2, 2022}}</ref> without any expenditures.

On the Internet, statements such as "no marriage, no children will make life happier" make obvious their negative views of marriage and reproduction.<ref name="Yu 593–618"/>

As of 2021, the national fertility rate is about 1.5 or even lower. In the more developed regions of the country, the fertility rate has been even lower for over a decade, only slightly higher than giving birth to one child per couple, which is comparable to the world's lowest fertility rate. This has been proven to be closely related to the aging population.<ref>{{Cite report |title=The Challenges of Population Aging in the People's Republic of China |date=2021-07-01 |publisher=Asian Development Bank|doi=10.22617/brf210280-2 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Aging of China|China's population is rapidly aging]],<ref>{{Citation |last1=Mao |first1=Guoping |title=China's Ageing Population: The Present Situation and Prospects |date=2020 |work=Population Change and Impacts in Asia and the Pacific |pages=269–287 |editor-last=Poot |editor-first=Jacques  |place=Singapore |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-981-10-0230-4_12 |isbn=978-981-10-0230-4 |last2=Lu |first2=Fuzhong |last3=Fan |first3=Xuchun |last4=Wu |first4=Debiao |editor2-last=Roskruge |editor2-first=Matthew}}</ref> so much so that this demographic transition far exceeds the capacity of elderly care facilities. It is expected that by the mid-21st century, more than one-third of the population will be over 60 years of age. Of whom, more than 100 million will be over the age of 80. This means that there will be fewer than two working adults per senior citizen.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Luo |first1=Qing |title=The Impact of Population Aging on the Economic Growth of China |date=2023 |work=China's Road and Aging Population |pages=73–93  |place=Singapore |publisher=Springer Nature Singapore |isbn=978-981-19-8890-5 |last2=Ma |first2=Haichao |last3=Wang |first3=Huinan|doi=10.1007/978-981-19-8891-2_6 }}</ref>

====Japan====
In Japan, while mothers are legally allowed to keep their careers, in practice, they are often forced to quit working. In addition, mothers face a lack of support from their employers in the form of flexible working hours. For these reasons, many Japanese women are childfree.<ref name=":10" />

====Taiwan====
[[File:Dogs in stroller at Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2023-10-15.jpg|alt=Two dogs in a stroller in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2023). Some members of Generation Z prefer pets to children.|thumb|Two dogs in a stroller in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2023). Some young Taiwanese prefer pets to children.]]
In Taiwan, it has become much more affordable for young couples to own pets instead of having children. In addition, those who want children face obstacles such as short maternity leaves and low wages. By 2020, Taiwan has become home to more pets than children.<ref name="Leggate-2020" />

==== South Korea ====
{{See also|4B movement}}

South Korea's low birth rate in recent years (as of the 2020s) is primarily due to avoidance of marriage and childbearing. That young people increasingly choose to remain single is influenced by a combination of not just economic factors but also cultural change. Among economic factors are the high cost of housing, the difficulty of finding a job, and job insecurity.<ref name="Nam-2023" /> In South Korea, [[Public housing|social housing]] as non-state-owned, non-profit housing accounts for a small percentage of South Korean housing. This is because the Korean housing system is dominated by public housing. At the same time, the legal and economic infrastructure of social housing in Korean society is not perfect, which has led to a serious housing problem. As a result, many young people experience housing stress, which affects their willingness to marry and have children.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Seo |first1=Bokyong |last2=Joo |first2=Yu-Min |date=2018-11-17 |title=Housing the very poor or the young? Implications of the changing public housing policy in South Korea |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673037.2018.1424808 |journal=Housing Studies |language=en |volume=33 |issue=8 |pages=1227–1245 |doi=10.1080/02673037.2018.1424808 |bibcode=2018HouSt..33.1227S |issn=0267-3037|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 2016, the average youth unemployment rate in South Korea was 9 to 10 percent. Unemployment can hurt mental health, and can even lead to depression, suicide, and other negative consequences. As a result, employment pressures have reduced young Koreans' hopes for marriage and childbirth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lim |first1=Ah Young |last2=Lee |first2=Seung-Hee |last3=Jeon |first3=Yeongju |last4=Yoo |first4=Rankyung |last5=Jung |first5=Hee-Yeon |date=2018-04-13 |title=Job-Seeking Stress, Mental Health Problems, and the Role of Perceived Social Support in University Graduates in Korea |journal=Journal of Korean Medical Science |language=English |volume=33 |issue=19 |article-number=e149 |doi=10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e149 |issn=1598-6357 |pmc=5934522 |pmid=29736162}}</ref>

As for cultural change, South Korean youths no longer deem marriage to be necessary, while contemporary young South Korean women are increasingly unwilling to sacrifice their own needs and aspirations in order to help their husbands to succeed in the labor market.<ref name="Choi-2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Choi |first1=Kate H. |last2=Qian |first2=Yue |date=2023-04-21 |title=The rise of the childless single in South Korea |journal=Journal of Family Theory & Review |language=en |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=526–541 |doi=10.1111/jftr.12507 |issn=1756-2570|doi-access=free }}</ref> South Korean women have a high percentage of higher education, yet they have very low graduation and employment rates. This is because the proportion of Korean women who have lost their jobs is very high. They have been married, given birth, and raised a child. 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.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Work-Life Balance in South Korea: Experiences of the Highly Educated and Married Female Korean Employees with Flexible Workplace Arrangements |url=https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/157949 |date=2016-06-01 |degree=Thesis |language=en |first=Hyounju |last=Kang}}</ref> 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. Because in Korea, Confucian traditions have a great and lasting influence on women's roles, deeply affecting Korean culture and society.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sung |first=Sirin |date=2003-06-23 |title=Women Reconciling Paid and Unpaid Work in a Confucian Welfare State: The Case of South Korea |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9515.00344 |journal=Social Policy & Administration |language=en |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=342–360 |doi=10.1111/1467-9515.00344 |issn=0144-5596|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Transitioning to a dual-income family means that young women will find it challenging to strike a balance between their responsibilities at work and at home.<ref name="Choi-2023" /> Married Korean women prefer to continue working and despite the new policies, there are still obstacles in achieving work-life balance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Ji Na |last2=Hwang |first2=Myung Jin |title=Determinants on the Number of Children among Married Women in Korea |date=2019-01-24 |journal=Journal of Population and Social Studies |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=53–69 |doi=10.25133/JPSSv27n1.004 |doi-access=free }}</ref> For this reason, working Korean women who choose to be mothers typically prefer to have very few children.<ref name="Nam-2023">{{Cite SSRN |last1=Nam |first1=Yunmi |last2=Hwang |first2=In Do |date=2023 |title=Economic and Non-economic Determinants of the Lowest-Low Fertility Rate in Korea: An Analysis of Survey Experiments |ssrn=4655594 }}</ref>

====Vietnam====
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. Rising cost of living and tiredness from work are among the reasons why.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 7, 2017 |title=Dropping fertility rates raise alarm |url=https://vietnamnews.vn/society/379686/dropping-fertility-rates-raise-alarm.html |access-date=March 17, 2021 |work=Vietnam News}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Phan |first=Duong |date=May 15, 2023 |title=More Vietnamese marriages going childless |url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/trend/more-vietnamese-marriages-going-childless-4603904.html |access-date=May 18, 2023 |work=VN Express}}</ref>

===Europe===
{{See also|Aging of Europe}}

In Europe, childlessness among women aged 40–44 is most common in Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom (in 2010–2011).<ref name="oecd.org">{{Cite web |title=Childlessness |publisher=OECD Family Database |url=https://www.oecd.org/els/family/SF_2-5-Childlessness.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216153234/https://www.oecd.org/els/family/SF_2-5-Childlessness.pdf |archive-date=2019-02-16 |access-date=2017-01-02}}</ref> Among surveyed countries, childlessness was least common across [[Eastern European]] countries, especially [[Turkey]],<ref name="oecd.org" /> due to social pressure.<ref name=":10" /> However, even in these socially conservative nations, parents typically have only one child per couple.<ref name=":10" />

====Belgium====
By March 2020, some 11% of Belgian women and 16% of Belgian men between the ages of 25 and 35 did not want children.<ref name="van de Water" />

==== Germany ====
In the former [[West Germany]], while childlessness was broadly tolerated, working mothers were dubbed "Rabenmutter" (raven mother). As a consequence, many gainfully employed women chose to have no children at all.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |date=July 27, 2017 |title=The rise of childlessness |url=https://www.economist.com/international/2017/07/27/the-rise-of-childlessness |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230311145311/https://www.economist.com/international/2017/07/27/the-rise-of-childlessness |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |access-date=November 6, 2025 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>

====Netherlands====
{{bar box
|float=right
|caption=Reasons why Dutch women chose not to have children, 2004<ref name="CBS 2004"/>
|width=420px
|bars=
{{bar percent|Children infringe on freedom|red|54}}
{{bar percent|Raising children takes too much time and energy|orange|35}}
{{bar percent|Partner did not want children|yellow|28}}
{{bar percent|Hard to combine work and children|green|26}}
{{bar percent|No compelling need/unfit|cyan|23}}
{{bar percent|Health does not allow for children|blue|18}}
{{bar percent|Children cost too much|purple|7}}
{{bar percent|Hard to get child care|pink|5}}
}}
By 2004, 6 in 10 childless women are voluntarily childless.<ref name="CBS 2004" /> It showed a correlation between higher levels of education of women and the choice to be childfree, and the fact that women had been receiving better education in the preceding decades was a factor why an increasing number of women chose to be childfree.<ref name="CBS 2004" /> The two most important reasons for choosing not to have children were that it would infringe on their freedom and that raising children takes too much time and energy; many women who gave the second reason also gave the first.<ref name="CBS 2004" />

By March 2017, reports showed that 22% of higher educated 45-year-old men were childless and 33% of lower educated 45-year-old men were childless. Childlessness amongst the latter was increasing, even though most of them were involuntarily childless. The number of voluntarily childless people amongst higher educated men had been increasing since the 1960s, whilst voluntary childlessness amongst lower educated men (who tended to have been raised more traditionally) did not become a rising trend until the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Melanie Zierse |date=30 March 2017 |title=Kinderloosheid onder laagopgeleiden neemt toe |url=https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/kinderloosheid-onder-laagopgeleiden-neemt-toe~b0313241/ |access-date=30 May 2020 |work=Trouw |language=nl}}</ref>

By March 2020, 10% of 30-year-old Dutch women questioned had not had children out of her own choice, and did not expect to have any children anymore either; furthermore, 8.5% of 45-year-old women questioned and 5.5% of 60-year-old women questioned stated that they had consciously remained childless.<ref name="van de Water" />

Raising a child cost an average of €120,000 from birth to age 18, or about 17% of one's disposable income as of 2019.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Kaj van Arkel |date=26 October 2017 |title=Wat kost een kind? |url=https://www.ad.nl/economie/wat-kost-een-kind~af265e5c/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012171026/https://www.ad.nl/economie/wat-kost-een-kind~af265e5c/ |archive-date=12 October 2020 |access-date=30 May 2020 |work=[[Algemeen Dagblad]] |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=28 May 2019 |title=Hoeveel kost een kind tot zijn achttiende? |url=https://www.quest.nl/maatschappij/cultuur/a25777504/kosten-kind-tot-achttiende/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530021809/https://www.quest.nl/maatschappij/cultuur/a25777504/kosten-kind-tot-achttiende/ |archive-date=30 May 2020 |access-date=30 May 2020 |work=Quest |language=nl}}</ref>

====Russia====
By October 2020, some 7% of population between the ages of 18 and 45 did not want children, and this figure reached 20% within Moscow population.  Most often, educated, wealthy and ambitious people refuse to have children. They are unwilling to sacrifice their comfort and career for the sake of their children.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.1tv.ru/news/2014-09-28/34043-dvizhenie_chayldfri_svobodnye_ot_detey_nabiraet_oboroty_v_rossii_i_evrope |title=Движение "чайлдфри" — "свободные от детей" — набирает обороты в России и Европе. Новости. Первый канал |language=ru |access-date=2024-07-13 |via=www.1tv.ru}}</ref> As a consequence of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, a combination of battlefield losses and emigration has led the Russian government to be more concerned about the nation's birth rate.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Katie Marie |date=October 25, 2025 |title=Russia faces a shrinking and aging population and tries restrictive laws to combat it |url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-birth-rate-population-demographics-putin-63ab4675ff6d4e415630b7c830799077 |access-date=October 26, 2025 |work=Associated Press}}</ref> In 2024 Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] signed a law prohibiting "childfree propaganda" as an attempt to curb the declining birth rate.<ref>{{cite web | title=Putin signs 'child-free propaganda' bill into law | url=https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/11/24/putin-signs-child-free-propaganda-bill-into-law-en-news }}</ref> Abortion has also been restricted.<ref name=":9" />

====Sweden====
According to a 2019 study amongst 191 Swedish men aged 20 to 50, 39 were not fathers and did not want to have children in the future either (20.4%). Desire to have (more) children was not related to level of education, country of birth, sexual orientation or relationship status.<ref name="Bodin" />

Some Swedish men 'passively' choose not to have children as they feel their life is already good as it is, adding children is not necessary, and they do not have to counter the same amount of social pressure to have children as childfree women do.<ref name="Bodin" />

====United Kingdom====
British doctors have noticed that since the late twentieth century, the patter of tiny feet has lost its allure. Women under the age of 30 with no children have been seeking to be sterilized (by [[tubal ligation]]) in growing numbers; some even do so as soon as they reach the age of majority. Only about one in ten regret doing so in their middle age.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Desmond |author-link=Desmond Morris |title=The Human Sexes: A Natural History of Man and Woman |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-312-18311-9 |location=New York}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=189}} A poll released in January 2020 revealed that among Britons who were not already parents, 37% told pollsters they did not want any children ever. 19% said they did not want children but might change their minds in the future and 26% were interested in having children. Those who did not want to be parents included 13% of people aged 18 to 24, 20% of those aged 25 to 34, and 51% aged 35 to 44. Besides age (23%), the most popular reasons for not having children were the potential impact on lifestyles (10%), high costs of living and raising children (10%), human overpopulation (9%), dislike of children (8%), and lack of parental instincts (6%).<ref name="Ibbetson-2020" />

Whereas in the past, it was taboo to declare that one does not want children, this decision is now increasingly common and accepted in British society.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Amy |last2=Roxby |first2=Philippa |last3=Sini |first3=Rozina |date=November 2, 2024 |title='I can't afford a child on £53,000 salary' - why fertility rate is falling |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g7x5kl5l8o |access-date=November 4, 2024 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Research by different social scientists have concluded that the growing number of childfree Britons is due not necessarily to economic constraints but rather changing cultural attitudes and expectations.<ref>{{Cite news |title=In Britain, childlessness seems likely to return to 1920s levels |url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/10/14/in-britain-childlessness-seems-likely-to-return-to-1920s-levels |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211014161208/https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/10/14/in-britain-childlessness-seems-likely-to-return-to-1920s-levels |archive-date=October 14, 2021 |access-date=May 2, 2025 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> One result of being child free is that individuals may lack practical support as they age. A UK charity, [[Ageing Without Children]], set up in 2021, explores this situation.  

===North America===
====Canada====
{{See also|Aging of Canada}}
In 2010, around half of Canadian women without children in their 40s had decided to not have any from an early age.<ref name="Buonadonna" /> Among Canadian women aged 50 and over, about 17.2% had no biological children, as of 2022.<ref name="Bielski-2024">{{Cite news |last=Bielski |first=Zosia |date=January 19, 2024 |title=Baby boomers are adjusting to a new retirement normal: No grandchildren |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-birth-rate-decline-grandparents/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240121124002/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-birth-rate-decline-grandparents/ |archive-date=January 21, 2024 |access-date=January 26, 2024 |work=The Globe and Mail}}</ref> A 2023 report by [[Statistics Canada]] states that over a third of Canadians aged 18 to 49 do not want to have children. Many are also delaying having children or want to have fewer children than their predecessors.<ref name="Prentice-2023">{{Cite news |last=Prentice |first=Amy-Ellen |date=March 1, 2023 |title=Some Gen Z, millennial Canadians choosing child-free life, according to new report |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9517960/gen-z-millennial-canadians-child-free-report/ |access-date=May 4, 2023 |work=Global News}}</ref>

Pursuit of higher education, unaffordable housing, economic precariousness, and the rising cost of living are among the reasons why.<ref name="Prentice-2023" /><ref name="Bielski-2024" /> These trends have accelerated in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name="Bielski-2024" /> Like the case in other countries, there is a generational gap in attitudes towards reproduction. [[Baby boomers]] are more likely to consider raising (grand) children to be a source of fulfillment or the glue that holds a marriage together. Fewer young Canadians share this view.<ref name="Bielski-2024" /> Moreover, while Canadians today are more tolerant towards the idea of not having children, many seniors still struggle with this decision coming from their own family members.<ref name="Bielski-2024" />

In Canada, childfree venues are growing in popularity, including among parents who, despite loving their children, would like to spend some time away from them on occasions.<ref name="Boesveld-2012" />

====United States====
{{See also|Aging of the United States}}

Being a childfree American adult was considered unusual in the 1950s.<ref name="Long Road">{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Patricia |date=12 June 2010 |title=Long Road to Adulthood Is Growing Even Longer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/us/13generations.html?_r=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405123230/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/us/13generations.html?_r=1 |archive-date=5 April 2019 |access-date=17 September 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2001-11-01 |title=Childless By Choice – childless couples an emerging demographic – Statistical Data Included |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2001_Nov_1/ai_79501204/pg_2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050702084631/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2001_Nov_1/ai_79501204/pg_2 |archive-date=2005-07-02 |access-date=2006-12-12 |work=American Demographics}}</ref> However, the proportion of voluntarily childfree adults in the population has increased significantly since then.<ref name=":2" /> A 2006 study found that American women aged 35 to 44 who were voluntarily childless constituted 5% of all U.S. women in 1982, rising to 7% in 2002. These women had the highest income, prior work experience and the lowest religiosity compared to other women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Abma |first1=Joyce C. |last2=Martinez |first2=Gladys M. |date=November 2006 |title=Childlessness among Older Women in the United States: Trends and Profiles |journal=[[Journal of Marriage and Family]] |publisher=[[National Council on Family Relations]] |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=1045–1056 |doi=10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00312.x |jstor=4122892}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Friedman-2017" /><ref name="blackwell-synergy.com">{{Cite journal |last=Park |first=Kristin |date=August 2005 |title=Choosing Childlessness: Weber's Typology of Action and Motives of the Voluntarily Childless |journal=Sociological Inquiry |publisher=Blackwell Synergy |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=372–402 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-682X.2005.00127.x}}</ref> During the late 2000s and early 2020s, the fertility rate of the United States fell noticeably, though some of this might have been involuntary. In 2010, about one of five American women exited their fertile years without having had a child, compared to one in ten in the 1970s. However, despite persisting discrimination against especially women who chose to remain childless, acceptance of being childfree was gradually increasing.<ref name="Time20130812" />[[File:Reasons for Childfreeness.png|thumb|500x500px|A growing share of American adults does not want to have children.<ref name="Brown-2021" />]]
Overall, the importance of having children has declined across all age groups in the United States, especially the young.<ref name="Zitner-2023">{{Cite news |last=Zitner |first=Aaron |date=March 27, 2023 |title=Americans Pull Back From Values That Once Defined U.S., WSJ-NORC Poll Finds |url=https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/americans-pull-back-from-values-that-once-defined-u-s-wsj-norc-poll-finds-df8534cd |archive-url=https://archive.today/4aheK |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |access-date=March 28, 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> A cross-generational study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania comparing millennials (graduating class of 2012) to [[Generation X]] (graduating class of 1992) revealed that among both genders the proportion of undergraduates who reported they eventually planned to have children had dropped in half over the course of a generation. In 1992, 78% of women planned to eventually have children. But by 2012, that number fell to 42%. The results were similar for male students.<ref>{{cite web |date=2012-11-19 |title=Life Interests Of Wharton Students |url=http://worklife.wharton.upenn.edu/research/life-interests-of-wharton-students/ |access-date=1 June 2016 |website=Work/Life Integration Project |publisher=University of Pennsylvania}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Anderson |first1=Kare |date=5 October 2013 |title=Baby Bust: Millennials' View Of Family, Work, Friendship And Doing Well |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kareanderson/2013/10/05/baby-bust-millennials-view-of-family-work-friendship-and-doing-well/#6858f97070dd |access-date=1 June 2016 |magazine=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Assimon |first1=Jessie |title=Millennials Aren't Planning on Having Children. Should We Worry? |url=http://www.parents.com/blogs/parents-perspective/2014/01/10/the-parents-perspective/millennials-arent-planning-on-having-children-should-we-worry/ |access-date=1 June 2016 |publisher=Parents}}</ref> A different study from Michigan State University revealed that the number of non-parents who do not want to have children roughly doubled between 2002 and 2023, from 13.8% to 29.4%.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |last=Puiu |first=Tibi |date=April 9, 2025 |title=The Number of Americans Who Don't Want Kids At All Has Doubled Since 2002 |url=https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/the-number-of-americans-who-dont-want-kids-at-all-has-doubled-since-2002/ |access-date=May 2, 2025 |work=ZME Science}}</ref> About a third of childfree Americans identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.<ref name=":8" /> However, voluntary childlessness in the United States has been more common among higher educated women, but not higher educated men.<ref name="Bodin" /> A 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center found that the number of non-parents aged 18 to 49 who said they were not too likely or not at all likely to have children was 44%, up seven points compared to 2018. Among these people, 56% said they simply did not want to have children.<ref name="Brown-2021">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Anna |date=November 19, 2021 |title=Growing share of childless adults in U.S. don't expect to ever have children |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/11/19/growing-share-of-childless-adults-in-u-s-dont-expect-to-ever-have-children/ |access-date=September 1, 2022 |website=Pew Research Center}}</ref> A 2023 poll  found that about 23% of people adults below the age of 30 thought that having children was important, 9 percentage points below those aged 65 and above.<ref name="Zitner-2023" /> According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 3% of American adults are involuntarily childless.<ref name=":2" />

Student debts, a serious problem among [[Millennials in the United States|millennials]] and [[Generation Z in the United States]], discourage many from having children.<ref name="Leanne">{{Cite news |last=Leanne |first=Italie |date=August 30, 2022 |title=Gen Z, millennials speak out on reluctance to become parents |url=https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-millennials-fcaa60313baf717312c6e68f12eb53ff |access-date=August 30, 2022 |work=Associated Press}}</ref> Close to a quarter of these cohorts do not want to have children.<ref name=":1" /> Some estimates also suggest that approximately one out of every four Americans are childfree, or three times the number of those who are childless.<ref name=":5" /> Although concerns over climate change and financial security are commonly cited as reasons, the most popular reasons, according to various surveys, are personal independence, more leisure time, and a preference to focus on one's education and career.<ref name="Twenge-2023b">{{Cite book |last=Twenge |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Twenge |title=Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future |publisher=Atria Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-9821-8161-1 |location=New York |chapter=Chapter 5: Millennials}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Routledge |first1=Clay |last2=Johnson |first2=Will |date=October 12, 2022 |title=The real story behind America's population bomb: Adults want their independence |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2022/10/12/why-americans-not-having-babies-low-birth-rate/8233324001/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221020022429/https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2022/10/12/why-americans-not-having-babies-low-birth-rate/8233324001/ |archive-date=October 20, 2022 |access-date=October 6, 2024 |work=USA Today}}</ref> More women are choosing to have no children at all, regardless of marital status,<ref>{{cite web | title=Factors Contributing to the Demographic Cliff: More U.S. Women of Childbearing Age, but Fewer Have Given Birth | date=September 2, 2025 | url=https://carsey.unh.edu/publication/factors-contributing-demographic-cliff-more-us-women-childbearing-age-fewer-have-given-birth }}</ref> and those who never married or have children are among the happiest subgroup in the United States.<ref name="Cain-2019" /> In the early 1970s, single women in their thirties who had never been unemployed since graduation even earned slightly more money than men in the same category.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Sowell |first=Thomas |title=Social Justice Fallacies |publisher=Basic Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-5416-0392-9 |location=New York}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=7}} By 2019, among single people, women without children made more money than men without children or men and women who were parents.<ref name="Smith-2022" /> Many Millennials and members of Generation Z have chosen to have pets in lieu of children, and they frequently refer to these animals as members of their families or their own children ("fur babies").<ref name="Twenge-2023a">{{Cite book |last=Twenge |first=Jean |title=Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What The Mean for America's Future |publisher=Atria Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-9821-8161-1 |location=New York |chapter=Chapter 8: The Future}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Suzanne |date=June 4, 2024 |title=Gen Z Is Choosing Pets Over Children |url=https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-choosing-pets-over-children-1908186 |access-date=April 27, 2025 |work=Newsweek}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Pearcy |first=Aimee |date=November 7, 2024 |title=Generation Fido |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-raising-pets-instead-kids-spoiled-dogs-cats-anxiety-health-2024-11 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241108044434/https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-raising-pets-instead-kids-spoiled-dogs-cats-anxiety-health-2024-11 |archive-date=November 8, 2024 |access-date=November 14, 2024 |work=Business Insider}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Smith-2022" /> 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.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Previously, it was usually middle-aged fathers who obtained vasectomies.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Alisha Haridasani Gupta |first=Alisha Haridasani |date=August 18, 2022 |title='Snip Snip Hooray': Vasectomies Among the Young and Child-Free May Be Rising |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/well/vasectomy-contraception-abortion.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220819114553/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/well/vasectomy-contraception-abortion.html |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |access-date=December 18, 2023 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wizner |first=Taylor |date=December 7, 2023 |title=After Dobbs, doctors say more people are turning to permanent contraception |url=https://www.iowapublicradio.org/health/2023-12-07/after-dobbs-doctors-say-more-people-are-turning-to-permanent-contraception |access-date=December 18, 2023 |work=Iowa Public Radio}}</ref> Now, many young adults (aged 18 to 30) are seeking to be sterilized ([[Vasectomy|vasectomies]] for men and [[tubal ligation]] for women).<ref name="Leanne"/><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Ungar |first=Laura |date=September 11, 2024 |title=More women had their tubes tied after Roe v. Wade was overturned |url=https://apnews.com/article/abortion-tubal-ligations-tying-tubes-dobbs-roe-jama-2ec56d7f2707db083e513bdc74a5016d |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=Associated Press}}</ref> This uptick in sterilization was most pronounced in socially conservative states, where people are concerned that abortion, and even contraception and sterilization, could be restricted or banned.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 25, 2023 |title=Vasectomies rose by 29% in the three months after the end of Roe |url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/05/25/vasectomies-rose-by-29-in-the-three-months-after-the-end-of-roe |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240827031629/https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/05/25/vasectomies-rose-by-29-in-the-three-months-after-the-end-of-roe |archive-date=August 27, 2024 |access-date=October 24, 2024 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>

===Oceania===
====New Zealand====
It is estimated that the share of childfree women grew from under 10% in 1996 to around 15% in 2013. Professional women were the most likely to be without children, at 16%, compared with 12% for manual workers. At least 5% of women were childfree by choice.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=Simon |date=June 29, 2015 |title=The rise of childless couples - are Kiwis leaving it too late? |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/the-rise-of-childless-couples-are-kiwis-leaving-it-too-late/Y4GVG5Z7Y5CGSSSFJH6YUHHGAU/ |access-date=March 9, 2021 |work=New Zealand Herald |department=Lifestyle}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Society}}
{{div col}}
* [[Abortion-rights movements]]
* [[Antinatalism]]
* [[Criticism of marriage]]
* [[DINK]]
* [[Fertility and intelligence]]
* [[Infertility and childlessness stigmas]]
* [[John B. Calhoun#Mouse experiments]]
* [[Dependency ratio#Old-age dependency ratio|Old-age dependency ratio]]
* [[Population ageing]]
* [[Sexual abstinence]]
* [[N-po generation]]
** [[4B movement]]
* [[Satori generation]]
* [[Singleton (lifestyle)]]

{{div col end}}

===Antonyms===
* [[Natalism]]
* [[Parent]]
* [[Quiverfull]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal|last=Gillespie|first=Rosemary|jstor=3081818|title=Childfree and Feminine: Understanding the Gender Identity of Voluntarily Childless Women|journal=Gender and Society|volume=17|issue=1|year=2003|pages=122–35|doi=10.1177/0891243202238982|s2cid=145086015}}
*{{cite journal|last=Hird|first=Myra J.|jstor=1395859|title=Vacant Wombs: Feminist Challenges to Psychoanalytic Theories of Childless Women|journal=Feminist Review|volume=75|issue=1|year=2003|pages=5–19|doi=10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400115|s2cid=144655316}}
*{{Cite book|last=Benatar|first=David|title=Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-199-54926-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Waisberg|first=Tatiana|ssrn=3050988|chapter=The Last Front Line of Human Rights: The Childfree Choice and Women Empowerment|title=Genero, Meio Ambiente e Direitos Humanos|editor1-first=César Barros|editor1-last=Leal|editor2-first=Soledad Garcia|editor2-last=Muños|publisher=Fortaleza|year=2017|pages=181–217}}
* {{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Ashley |date=December 20, 2022 |title=At the Intersection of Fiction and Reality: An Ideological and Rhetorical Contextualization of Two Childfree Heroines on American Television |url=https://medium.com/@jadesavage/at-the-intersection-of-fiction-and-reality-2e999b0918ef |access-date=December 29, 2022 |website=Medium}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|child-free}}
* [https://reason.com/2008/02/26/why-are-people-having-fewer-ki/ Reason.com] – Why are People Having Fewer Kids?
* {{cite web|title=The Real Reason More Women Are Childless|work=Doublex|date=12 July 2010|publisher=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2010/07/the-real-reasons-more-women-are-remaining-childless.html|access-date=4 Sep 2011}}

{{Reproductive health}}
{{Generation}}

[[Category:Social movements]]
[[Category:Demographic economics]]
[[Category:Voluntary childlessness| ]]