Just the two of us: 1 in 4 couples opt to never have kids — and are just as happy.
Our estimate of the number of childfree people is much higher than past national studies, which placed the percentage between 2% and 9%. This likely happened because our measurement focuses on a person's desire to have children, not their ability.
MSU study confirms: 1 in 5 adults don't want children — and they don't regret it later. Last summer, researchers at Michigan State University reported that one in five Michigan adults, or about 1.7 million people, don't want children and therefore are child-free.
By choosing not to have children, couples can invest in their own financial future, save for retirement, and enjoy a more comfortable lifestyle. In addition to the personal benefits, choosing to remain childfree can also have a positive impact on the environment.
Some people feel they cannot afford it. Health/medical reasons. This is one of the top reasons people decide not to have children—a risk to their own health and well-being, or inability to conceive. Other caretaking responsibilities and/or other children in their lives.
Research shows that not having kids can raise the risk of certain health issues, like breast cancer. However, having kids can also raise the risk of cardiovascular disease for some women, and in others it can lead to chronic pain.
The decision to have children is personal, and should not be taken lightly. So many people feel like they have to have kids because “it's just what you do.” There is always the chance that you will regret not having children. Having children, just in case, is a lot of work and responsibility.
The numbers are in: according to a new study, 66 percent of divorced couples are childless, while about 40 percent have children together. But while researchers are sure that childless couples are more likely to divorce, they disagree on the reasons why.
Choosing to not have children is no more selfish than choosing to have them. In the end, people on both sides are choosing a certain kind of lifestyle for themselves, and each one has its benefits. There is a perception that a woman, or a marriage for that matter, is not whole without a child.
Research has showed that, while having one child is associated with a gain in happiness, having a second is associated with a drop in happiness for mothers.
Studies show that some people regret being childless when they get older, but they're in the minority. An Australian researcher found that a quarter of child-free women came to regret the decision once they were past child-bearing age and began contemplating old age alone.
Younger men are more likely to say they intend to have children, 89 percent of men to 85 percent of women. Older men are too, with 46 percent of men aged 35 to 44 saying they intend to have children compared to only 38 percent of women at that age.
When it comes to who is happier, parents or child-free people, most of the research up until now has concluded that it is the childless who are more satisfied with their overall lives. As a married mom of two, I always find myself reacting a bit defensively to that research. “I'm happy,” I say to myself.
Childlessness is rising in America, a rise that is unlikely to halt in the near future since rates of first birth are falling and rates of singleness are rising. Those falling first birth rates are due to a combination of rising singleness and declining nonmarital fertility.
Despite the societal pressure some feel, studies show that 27% of adults in the United States choose not to have children. In addition, the birth rate in the United States is the lowest in 35 years. It can be normal for men, women, and people of any gender to choose to remain without children.
Being childless can be a personal choice or the fate of infertility. While it does not mean you dislike children, it does allow for more time to invest in other things. Regardless of the reason you do not have children, you can be happy, as life without children can be very rewarding and fulfilling.
Women without children have also been found to have an increased risk of breast cancer, and increased mortality from uterine, ovarian and cervical cancer when compared to women with children. Moreover, the fertility declines with the advanced age at first childbearing.
The major disadvantages are lack of companionship/being alone/loneliness, lack of support and care when older, and missing the experience of parenthood.
While married couples with children were the majority decades ago, now nearly 57 percent of U.S. households are childless. In 2012, about 29 percent included childless married couples and nearly 28 percent included people living alone.
Research shows that there is a “happiness bump” that parents experience right after a baby is born. But that tends to dissipate over the course of a year, Glass says. After that point in time, the levels of happiness of parents and non-parents gradually diverge, with non-parents generally growing happier over time.