Not all people who are childless feel regret. In fact, there is no evidence to suggest that people without children are worse off than parents, and some indicate that women without children are less depressed, more satisfied and have lower levels of stress, especially compared to those with young children.
It's OK if you don't want to be a parent, and there's nothing wrong with you if that's the case. It's also OK to not know yet whether you want to have kids. One thing's for sure though: Feeling pressured and obsessing over what everyone else wants isn't going to help you make your decision.
A study from Princeton University and Stony Brook University found that parents and nonparents have similar levels of life satisfaction, but parents experienced both more daily joy and more daily stress than nonparents. “Life without children is simply much more stable,” Glass says.
Even with more people choosing to go child-free than ever before, there are still many who worry that they should have kids before it is “too late.” 1 Whatever your decision, choosing not to have children is never a bad decision, and may be the right one for you.
Having a child is an impactful life event. In addition to the schedule changes and expenses associated with raising a child, there is also a woman's own health to consider. Research shows that not having kids can raise the risk of certain health issues, like breast cancer.
As of 2020, a little less than half of all women in the U.S. were childless. About 68.1 percent of women without children did not have a high school degree, which is in line with the largest percentage of childless women being between the ages of 15 and 19.
More than one-quarter of the adults (27 percent) were childfree. More than half of the adults were parents (54 percent). Another 12 percent planned to have biological or adopted children in the future. The remaining 8 percent were childless—they didn't have children, but they wish they could.
The predominant takeaway from interviewing experts is that not having children is a choice couples make that doesn't prevent them from being happy, or even leaving a legacy. Most childless couples compensate by developing strong friendships and networks.
Among men aged 15–49 in 2015–2019, 55.2% had not fathered a biological child, 14.8% had fathered one biological child, 17.4% had fathered two children, 8.2% had fathered three children, and 4.4% had fathered four or more children.
Having a child certainly can enhance your purpose in life, but don't look at it as a way to instantly generate a purpose that motivates you to do things. If you lose that motivation, then there's a child's life and wellbeing on the line. Make sure you have a solid foundation before you even think about having children.
Proponents of childfreedom 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.
YouGov data from 2021 found that one in 12 British parents (8%) say they currently regret having kids. Younger parents aged 25 to 34 (one imagines the most sleep-deprived group) were the most likely to feel regretful, while those aged 55+ were the least regretful.
The Good News
Not having children also comes with significant positive health benefits. A 116-year study by the American Journal of Human Biology found the following trends. Longer lifespan. Women with children lost an incredible 95 weeks of life per child carried.
The major disadvantages are lack of companionship/being alone/loneliness, lack of support and care when older, and missing the experience of parenthood.
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.
Among 118 places with comparable data, only six have rates of childlessness higher than the U.S. rate of 19%. Singapore tops the list, with a childless rate of 23%, followed by Austria, the U.K., Finland, Bahrain, and Canada.
For men, the most commonly-cited factor (33%) was personal finances, but among women, 42% said the strongest consideration influencing their decision not to have a child was their desire to “maintain their personal independence.”
Key statistics include: There are 5,584,000 families in Australia according to the 2011 Census. The proportion of couples without children has increased from 28% in 1976 compared to 37.8% in 2011.
Childless Family
Childless families are families with two partners who cannot have or don't want kids. In the world of family types and dynamics, these families are often forgotten or left out (even though you can still have a family without children).