Jun 17, 2021 01:10 AM
https://gizmodo.com/lots-of-people-dont-...1847111771
EXCERPTS: A substantial number of U.S. adults don’t want children and are plenty happy about it, new research out Wednesday suggests. The survey found that more than one-fourth of respondents identified as intentionally child-free and that there were no major differences in personality or life satisfaction between them and parents or people who did want kids.
Though the child-free life has been written about for decades, including recently, there’s not too much known about the people who choose it—including how many of these people there really are. In the U.S. since the 1970s, there has been national data available on how often women don’t have children, but a lack of children isn’t the same thing as being child-free. There are many potential parents who simply haven’t had the opportunity or resources to have children yet, for instance, or who are unable to have children but still desire them. So Michigan State University researchers Jennifer Watling Neal and Zachary P. Neal, who are married to each other, wanted to approach the topic from a different angle.
[...] Ultimately, they found that 27% of respondents considered themselves to be child-free, being clearly distinguished from parents and other non-parents. And after controlling for demographic factors like age, education status, and gender, the team “also found that these childfree people are just as satisfied with their lives as parents, childless people, or people who plan to have kids,” Jennifer Neal said.
There were some subtle differences between the groups that held up after accounting for demographics, such as child-free people identifying as more liberal on average and parents being more conservative. Unsurprisingly, parents were more likely to have a current relationship, but only slightly more than half of child-free people were single. Child-free individuals were also a bit younger and less well-educated on average than parents or other non-parents. But there were no major differences when it came to racial status. And when accounting for other factors, there were no big distinctions in common personality traits, though people who aspired to become parents, but weren’t yet, may have been slightly more agreeable than child-free people.
The survey seems to be the first of its kind, and any novel piece of data should be viewed with some caution. Because the survey only involves people from Michigan, for instance, there’s the possibility that other parts of the country may have different trends. But the researchers think their results are probably broadly applicable to the rest of the country... (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS: A substantial number of U.S. adults don’t want children and are plenty happy about it, new research out Wednesday suggests. The survey found that more than one-fourth of respondents identified as intentionally child-free and that there were no major differences in personality or life satisfaction between them and parents or people who did want kids.
Though the child-free life has been written about for decades, including recently, there’s not too much known about the people who choose it—including how many of these people there really are. In the U.S. since the 1970s, there has been national data available on how often women don’t have children, but a lack of children isn’t the same thing as being child-free. There are many potential parents who simply haven’t had the opportunity or resources to have children yet, for instance, or who are unable to have children but still desire them. So Michigan State University researchers Jennifer Watling Neal and Zachary P. Neal, who are married to each other, wanted to approach the topic from a different angle.
[...] Ultimately, they found that 27% of respondents considered themselves to be child-free, being clearly distinguished from parents and other non-parents. And after controlling for demographic factors like age, education status, and gender, the team “also found that these childfree people are just as satisfied with their lives as parents, childless people, or people who plan to have kids,” Jennifer Neal said.
There were some subtle differences between the groups that held up after accounting for demographics, such as child-free people identifying as more liberal on average and parents being more conservative. Unsurprisingly, parents were more likely to have a current relationship, but only slightly more than half of child-free people were single. Child-free individuals were also a bit younger and less well-educated on average than parents or other non-parents. But there were no major differences when it came to racial status. And when accounting for other factors, there were no big distinctions in common personality traits, though people who aspired to become parents, but weren’t yet, may have been slightly more agreeable than child-free people.
The survey seems to be the first of its kind, and any novel piece of data should be viewed with some caution. Because the survey only involves people from Michigan, for instance, there’s the possibility that other parts of the country may have different trends. But the researchers think their results are probably broadly applicable to the rest of the country... (MORE - details)
