Pathways into childlessness: evidence of gendered life course dynamics

Using data from the first wave of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (NKPS) for 2867 women and 2195 men aged 40 to 79, this study examines to what extent educational, employment and marital pathways shape the likelihood of remaining childless, and whether these pathways are gendered. The findings indicate that women and men have distinctive pathways into childlessness. Educational attainment increases the likelihood of remaining childless among women only. A stable career increases the likelihood of remaining childless among women, but it increases the likelihood of entering fatherhood. Years without a partner is positively associated with childlessness among both women and men. Not having had a partnership and having had multiple partnerships are strong determinants of childlessness, especially among men.     

Voluntary Childlessness Among American Men and Women in the Late 1980's

Abstract

Most studies of childlessness in the United States have relied on unrepresentative, opportunistic samples collected in a variety of ways. Thus, the relationship of various correlates to childlessness is not well known. Some studies have focused on demographic variables, but have not examined attitudinal factors associated with childlessness—something the opportunistic samples have been able to do. In this paper we examine both attitudinal and demographic factors associated with childlessness in the United States. The data used in this paper are from the National Survey of Families and Households collected in 1987 and 1988. The data set includes both demographic data, perceived advantages and disadvantages of having children, and attitudinal data about related social issues. Overall, the rate of voluntary childlessness was not high. Only 3.5 per cent of the men and 2.8 per cent of the women reported that they were childless and did not expect to have children. Only one category of people (unmarried men and women over the age of 35) had rates that exceeded ten per cent. A combined variable of age and marital status was the best predictor of childlessness. A scale of reasons or justifications for having children was the next best predictor. In addition, attendance at religious services, number of hours the respondents desired to work and education (for women only) were related to childlessness. Those who scored highly on measures of support for traditional families and support of extended families also tended to have lower rates of childlessness. Occupational status, religious denomination, and race, on the other hand, were not significantly related to childlessness. Measures of gender equality, religious fundamentalism, and support for mothers working were also not related to childlessness.     

Voluntary childlessness among American men and women in the late 1980's.

Most studies of childlessness in the United States have relied on unrepresentative, opportunistic samples collected in a variety of ways. Thus, the relationship of various correlates to childlessness is not well known. Some studies have focused on demographic variables, but have not examined attitudinal factors associated with childlessness--something the opportunistic samples have been able to do. In this paper we examine both attitudinal and demographic factors associated with childlessness in the United States. The data used in this paper are from the National Survey of Families and Households collected in 1987 and 1988. The data set includes both demographic data, perceived advantages and disadvantages of having children, and attitudinal data about related social issues. Overall, the rate of voluntary childlessness was not high. Only 3.5 per cent of the men and 2.8 per cent of the women reported that they were childless and did not expect to have children. Only one category of people (unmarried men and women over the age of 35) had rates that exceeded ten per cent. A combined variable of age and marital status was the best predictor of childlessness. A scale of reasons or justifications for having children was the next best predictor. In addition, attendance at religious services, number of hours the respondents desired to work and education (for women only) were related to childlessness. Those who scored highly on measures of support for traditional families and support of extended families also tended to have lower rates of childlessness. Occupational status, religious denomination, and race, on the other hand, were not significantly related to childlessness. Measures of gender equality, religious fundamentalism, and support for mothers working were also not related to childlessness.     

Who remains childless?

Who are the men and women who are childless in their mid-30s? Life history data for a British cohort born in 1946 show that age at marriage and marital breakdown were clearly associated with childlessness. Women who were only children were more likely to be childless than those with siblings. Further, early menarcheal age, being highly qualified and having a high status occupation were indirectly related to childlessness. For men, particularly amongst those who had experienced a broken marriage, it was the most ambitious, the highly educated and those in professional occupations who were relatively more likely to be childless.     

A note on the determinants of breastfeeding durations in an African country

This paper utilizes data from the 1977-78 Kenya Fertility Survey, 1 component of the World Fertility Survey, to analyze the determinants of breastfeeding durations for women 15 to 50 years old who had their last-but-1 live birth between 3 and 15 years prior to the interview. Comparisons are made with the findings fro m the World Fertility Surveys in 8 other developing countries in Asia and Latin America. Findings indicate that literacy, urban residence, secondary school education, and modern employment reduce the duration of breastfeeding in Kenya. In addition, the subgroups of women who appear to be curtailing breastfeeding are growing in proportional size or are composed of women may be innovators or leaders. A continuation of this pattern into the future may increase levels of infant morbidity and mortality and, in the absence of increased modern contraceptive practice, may increase the societal level of fertility. The death of the infant curtails the period of breastfeeding. Although there is a pronounced preference for male children in Kenya, this preference does not lead to differential durations of breastfeeding by sex of child. About 10% of Kenyan women used contraception in the last closed interval. Parity and age explain less than 1% of the variation in duration of breastfeeding in Kenya. Kenyan women are among the least likely to have attended secondary school, to have worked since marriage, and to have used modern contraception. The most traditional groups of Kenyan women, those who are Muslim or who are in polygamous unions, breastfeed for the longest durations. The Kenya Fertility Survey suggests that the subgroup of women with some secondary school education is growing considerably. Kikuyu women may be regarded as innovators in many respects. In addition to having shorter breastfeeding durations, they are the least likely to be in polygamous unions or to want more children, and they are the most likely to be using contraception.     

Maternal smoking and twinning.

In order to investigate a possible association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and twinning, information on 1,096,330 single births and 12,342 twin births in 1983-95 was obtained from the Swedish Medical Birth Registry (MBR). All odds ratios (OR) were estimated after stratification for year of birth and maternal age, parity, and educational level. Smoking women, compared with non-smoking women, were at increased risk of having dizygotic (DZ) twins, but the risk increase was only evident among multiparas. A strong association between previous involuntary childlessness and dizygotic (DZ) twinning (especially in primiparas) was found. The strongest association between maternal smoking and DZ twinning was found among multiparas without any history of involuntary childlessness (OR: 1.35, 95%CI:1.22-1.49), whereas among women who had experienced involuntary childlessness, the opposite was seen (OR: 0.82, 95%CI:0.66-1.00, no difference between parity strata). Weinberg's differential method was used to estimate the number of monozygotic (MZ) twins, and a method of estimating stratified ORs among mothers of MZ twins was presented. No association was found between MZ twinning and maternal smoking (OR: 0.96, 95%CI:0.86-1.07), and no confounding by parity or previous involuntary childlessness was indicated. Several non-causal explanations to the positive association between DZ twinning and maternal smoking among multiparas were discussed, but homogeneity over strata indicated that maternal smoking may be a true risk factor for double ovulation.     

Incidence of hysterectomy and tubal ligation in public hospitals in south Australia, 1980-82

Physicians performed 3866 hysterectomies and 5622 tubal ligations in South Australian public hospitals between 1980 and 1982. Data did not indicate if the hysterectomies occurred for medical reasons or for sterilization, though, but for women less than 40 years of age the procedure could have been used to prevent childbearing. 83% of the women in the study were currently married. Average annual incidence rates for women aged 15 and older were 773 hysterectomies and 1125 tubal ligations per 100,000 women. 54% of the women who had a hysterectomy were less than 45 years old. Median age for women who experienced a hysterectomy was 44, as for those who had a tubal ligation the median age was 32. Most women (60%) who underwent a tubal ligation were between 25-34 years old, and 8% were younger than 25 years old. Women born overseas comprised 37% of women who had a hysterectomy and 31% of those who had a tubal ligation. The highest age-specific hysterectomy rate occurred in the 45 to 49 age group whereas the sterilization rate peaked at the 30 to 34 range. Based on only the public hospital data, researchers estimated that women in South Australia had a 1 in 6 chance of having a hysterectomy and a 1 in 5 chance of undergoing a tubal ligation. Further research is needed to learn why women choose to have elective surgery when it is not medically necessary. The possibility exists that they choose it over oral contraceptives because of the adverse publicity they have received.     

Factors in the incidence of childlessness in Canada: an analysis of census data

Due to the difficulties involved in attempting to determine the relative proportion of involuntary childlessness and of voluntary childlessness in a given population, many investigators insist that the problem can only be examined in small-scale studies using intensive psychological interviewing techniques. A method for assessing the causes of childlessness in a population using census materials is described. If a distinction is made between psychological and physiological causes, instead of between intentional and unintentional causes, it is possible to assess the relative importance of these causes using large-scale investigation techniques. Physiological causes include all physiological conditions which produce sterility. Psychological causes include both psychosomatic infertility and the voluntary decision not to have children. The method involves using the minimum rate of childlessness in a population group known to place a high value on fertility as an estimate of the rate of physiological childlessness in the population. This estimate is then subtracted from the childlessness rate observed in other population groups in the same society in order to determine the degree of psychological childlessness in these other population groups. This method was used to assess the causes of childlessness in Canada. Census materials were used to determine the minimum rate of childlessness among rural women in Quebec. Since this group is primarily Catholic and places a high value on children, its childlessness rate provides an estimate of the proportion of sterile couples in the population. This rate was then subtracted from the childlessness rates for urban Canadian women, and the remainder provided an estimate of psychological childlessness among urban women. Age of marriage was controlled for since rural women married at younger ages. Study findings were 1) the proportion of childlessness among urban women declined over the years as 15.2% of the women over 45 years old were childless while only 10.8% of the women, aged 30-44, were childless; 2) the proportion of physiological childlessness declined from 6.6% among women over 45 years old to 4.6% among women, aged 30-44; and 3) approximately 50% of the cases of childlessness among urban women were due to psychological factors. These findings do not support the contentions of some investigators that 10% of the population is sterile and that psychological childlessness is rare. Study findings were presented in tabular form.     

Does Absence Matter?

This paper examines the effects of three different types of father absence on the timing of life history events among women in rural Bangladesh. Age at marriage and age at first birth are compared across women who experienced different father presence/absence conditions as children. Survival analyses show that daughters of fathers who divorced their mothers or deserted their families have consistently younger ages at marriage and first birth than other women. In contrast, daughters whose fathers were labor migrants have consistently older ages at marriage and first birth. Daughters whose fathers died when they were children show older ages at marriage and first birth than women with divorced/deserted fathers and women with fathers present. These effects may be mediated by high socioeconomic status and high levels of parental investment among the children of labor migrants, and a combination of low investment, high psychosocial stress, and low alloparental investment among women with divorced/deserted fathers. Our findings are most consistent with the Child Development Theory model of female life history strategies, though the Paternal Investment and Psychosocial Acceleration models also help explain differences between women in low paternal investment situations (e.g., father divorced/abandoned vs. father dead). Father absence in and of itself seems to have little effect on the life history strategies of Bangladeshi women once key reasons for or correlates of absence are controlled, and none of the models is a good predictor of why women with deceased fathers have delayed life histories compared with women whose fathers are present.     

On the Distribution and Origin of Salix in the World

1. The distribution of Salix species among the continents. There are about 526 species of Salix in the world, most of which are distributed in the Northern Hemisphere with only a few species in the Southern Hemisphere. In Asia, there are about 375 species, making up 71.29 percent of the total in the world, including 328 endemics; in Europe, about 114 species, 21.67 percent with 73 endemics; in North America, about 91 species, 17.3 percent with 71 endemics; in Africa, about 8 species, 1.5 percent, with 6 endemics. Only one species occurs in South America. Asia, Europe and North America have 8 species in common (excluding 4 cultivated species). There are 34 common species between Asia and Europe, 14 both between Europe and North America and between Asia and North America, 2 between Asia and Africa. Acording to the Continental Drift Theory, the natural circumstances which promoted speciation and protected newly originated and old species were created by the orogenic movement of the Himalayas in the middle and late Tertiary. Besides, the air temperature was a little higher in Asia than in Europe and North America (except its west part) and the dominant glaciers were mountainous in Asia during the glacial epoch in the Quaternary Period. Then willows of Europe moved southwards to Asia. During the interglacial period they moved in opposite direction. Such a to-and-fro willow migration between Asia and Europe and between and North America occurred so often that it resulted in the diversity of willow species in Asia. Those species of willows common among the continents belong to the Arctic flora. 2. The multistaminal willows are of the primitive group in Salix. Asia has 28 species of multistaminal willows, but Europe has only one which is also found in Asia. These 28 species are divided into two groups, “northern type” and “southern type”, according to morphology of the ovary. The boundary between the two forms in distribution is at 40°N. The multistaminal willows from south Asia, Africa and South America are very similar to each other and may have mutually communicated between these continents in the Middle or Late Cretaceous Period. The southern type willows in south Asia are similar to the North American multistaminal willows but a few species. The Asian southern type willows spreaded all over the continents of Europe, Asia and North America through the communication between them before the Quaternany Period. Nevertheless, it is possible that the willows growing in North America immigranted through the middle America from South America. The Asian northern type multistaminal willows may have originated during the ice period. The multistaminal willows are more closed to populars in features of sexual organs. They are more primitive than the willows with 1-3 stamens and the most primitive ones in the genus. 3. The center of origin and development of willows Based on the above discussion it is reasonable to say that the region between 20°-40°N in East Asia is the center of the origin and differentiation of multistaminal willows. It covers Southern and Southwestern China and northern Indo-China Pennisula.     

A period analysis of parity distribution among white and nonwhite women in the United States, 1940–1974

Abstract

The historical trends of childlessness and of one‐child, two‐child, and three‐or‐more‐child families among white and nonwhite women in the United States are studied in terms of period fertility tables. Given the age and parity of a woman, we can read from the fertility tables how her parity is expected to change at successive ages during the rest of her childbearing period, if she is subjected to the age‐parity‐specific fertility rates for a particular year. The fertility tables for white and nonwhite women are constructed for the years 1940, 19S0, 1960, 1970, and 1974. These tables show that among white women who have completed their childbearing (with period rates), the percentage with more than two children has decreased from 66 in 1960 to 27 in 1974, whereas the corresponding reduction among nonwhite women is from 67 to 48 per cent (Table 1, Case 1).     

Cessation of childbearing in the absence of contraception in Sri Lanka

In data from the Sri Lanka Fertility Survey, 1975, the cessation of childbearing is examined among women who have never used contraception. The sample consisted of 6810 currently or previously married women, 57% of whom reported that they had never used contraception. Cessation of childbearing is studied according to age and marriage duration. The variables analyzed are age at last birth, proportions infertile during the last 5 or 7 years, and the infertile open interval. The duration of breastfeeding is taken into account where necessary, and the contraceptive users and nonusers are compared where appropriate. Non-users tend to cease childbearing early, and therefore are infertile for longer periods during their marriages. It is probably age of the 1st child that influences decisions on future fertility. Among women aged 45-49 who married before age 20 and continued in their 1st marriage, mean age at last live birth in non-users, was 34.5 years, about 2 years earlier than in those who had used contraception. Non-users who married at any age below 30 years cease childbearing well below age 40. The proportion not currently pregnant and infertile over the past 5 years increases with marriage duration among the fertile non-users in each age group. When age at last birth and the duration of breastfeeding in the open interval are taken into account and the reference period is increased to 7 years, the period of infertility increases with marriage duration among nonpregnant non-users below age 45. The proportion of women who were currently not pregnant and had remained infertile over the past 7 years is higher among the older non-users whose 1st child was born more than 10 years ago.     

Development and childlessness in the states and territories of Brazil

Abstract

This article provides an analytical account of the variability in and correlates of Brazil's childlessness rates. Following from the socioeconomic development model, which suggests that involuntary childlessness predominates among developing countries and voluntary childlessness among developed countries, this paper examines the extent to which levels of development are related to age‐specific rates of childlessness in the states and territories of Brazil. We find both variation within the age‐specific childlessness rates and important associations between measures of economic development in 1970 and the rates of childlessness in 1980. Moreover, childlessness in Brazil tends to be more voluntary than involuntary, particularly among the younger women in the more modernized subregions of the country.     

Divorce in Ethiopia: the impact of early marriage and childlessness

Forty-five per cent of first marriages in Ethiopia end in divorce within 30 years, and two-thirds of women who divorce do so within the first 5 years of marriage. This paper looks at two factors that may have an impact on the risk of divorce in Ethiopia: early age of first marriage, and childlessness within the first marriage. Data used were from the 1990 National Family and Fertility Survey conducted by the Government of Ethiopia. A total of 8757 women of reproductive age (15-49) were analysed. Life table analysis was used to determine the median age at first marriage, first birth and the median duration of marriage. Cox models were analysed to determine the differentials of divorce. The results of this analysis showed that both early age at marriage and childlessness have a significant impact on the risk of divorce. An inverse relationship was found between age at marriage and risk of divorce. Having a child within the first marriage also significantly reduced the risk of divorce. In addition, several cultural and socioeconomic variables were significant predictors of divorce.     

Modernization and childlessness among the governorates of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 1976

This paper examines the degree to which childlessness is influenced by levels of modernization among the governorates of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The data have been derived mainly from the 1976 Population and Housing Census of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The childlessness rates used are based on census data on number of children born to married women. In 1976, the higher the levels of modernization, the lower the rates of childlessness among women aged 30 and over, and the higher the rates of childlessness among women aged 20-30. The lower rates are found in and around Cairo, and some of the governorates with higher rates are in Upper Egypt. Of the 25 governorates, Suez has the lowest childlessness rate. To some degree, the patterns of childlessness may be affected by changing patterns in age-specific 1st marriage rates. The childlessness rates for the younger women in the Egyptian governorates are associated with some of the modernization variables. The findings suggest that childlessness among women aged 30 and older is mostly involuntary, but that for younger women it is partly voluntary. Increases in modernization among the Egyptian governorates should, therfore, result in net increases in rates of childlessness and net decreases in fertility. There are at least 3 statistically independent sources of variation in modernization which characterize the governorates of Egypt: factors that reflect structural development, female status, and health personnel.     

Children in an ageing society

This paper explores the implications of demographic aging for children and pediatric practice in the Western society. It focuses on the social class differences in childbearing patterns, specific issues related to disability, and distribution of resources between age groups. Women in the Western world are now having children at an older age than at any time in the past 50 years. Voluntary childlessness or deliberate delay in childbearing is common among highly educated women. This changing pattern in childbearing may increase and polarize health and wealth inequalities. With advancements in neonatal and pediatric care which prolong life expectancy and survival of disabled children, it is projected that there will be an increasing number of very old parents caring for severely disabled offspring. Meanwhile, there are also many children who are carrying considerable burdens of caring for their disabled parents. The community burden of disability will continue to rise. The needs of the elderly population may drain resources from child health services. Despite this demographic pattern, care for the children is still important. Health care authorities must not become contented with the existing pediatric care services just because demographic changes require that the nation should invest more in care of the older population.     

Trends in childlessness in the United States, 1910–1975

Abstract

This paper examines trends in childlessness for ever‐married women in the United States. Data assembled from assorted census materials permit cohort and period investigations for a number of time periods, from 1910 to 1975, for various color and ethnic groups. Whether examined at the period or cohort level, the incidences in percentage rates of childlessness have varied irregularly over time. We focus particularly on the younger cohorts of white women (those beginning fecundity after 1965); they show higher rates of childlessness at each age than any of the older cohorts at similar ages in the reproductive cycle. We suggest that a major portion of the increasing rates of these younger cohorts may be attributed to increases in voluntary childlessness, which in turn may be linked to broader changes in the fabric of society regarding fertility control, contraceptive technology, female work preferences and patterns, and sexual and family norms.     

Breast cancer and oral contraceptives: findings in Oxford-Family Planning Association contraceptive study.

Among the 17 032 women taking part in the Oxford-Family Planning Association contraceptive study, 72 were first diagnosed as having breast cancer between the date they were admitted to the study and 1 September 1980. The relative risk of developing the disease in women who had used oral contraceptives in comparison with those who had never used them was estimated to be 0.96 (95% confidence limits 0.59 to 1.63). Among women aged under 35 years, the corresponding relative risk (based on only 14 women with breast cancer) was estimated to be 0.61. No relation was apparent between the risk of developing breast cancer and duration of oral-contraceptive use or interval since first oral-contraceptive use in any age group. The data in this study are thus reassuring; but observations based on women with long-term use of oral contraceptives, especially those starting to use the preparations at an early age, are few.     

Oral contraceptive use in older women and fatal myocardial infarction.

A previous study of women who had died from myocardial infarction and of a control group of women matched with them for age suggested a fivefold increase in the risk of death from myocardial infarction among users of oral contraceptive aged 40-44 years compared with women not using such preparations. Only a small proportion of women in the infarction and control groups had used oral contraceptives, however, so the margin of error was wide. We therefore investigated a further 54 women in this age group who died from myocardial infarction and compared their oral contraceptive histories with those of age-matched, living controls. Combination of the findings from the present investigation with the previous results have enabled a revised estimate of a threefold increase in risk to be made. Although this risk estimate is similar to that previously shown for a younger age group, the total mortality attributable to complications associated with the use of oral contraceptives remained considerably greater among women over the age of 40.     

Infertile or childless by choice? A multipractice survey of women aged 35 and 50.

Eleven general practitioners examined the medical records of all women on their lists born in 1950 (617 patients) and 1935 (533 patients) to determine the prevalence of childlessness and specialist consultations about infertility. Eighty eight (14.3%) of the women born in 1950 and 41 (7.7%) of those born in 1935 were childless. Sixty eight women born in 1950 (11.0%) and 17 born in 1935 (3.2%) were considered childless by choice. Involuntary childlessness was found in 20 (3.3%) of the women born in 1950 and 24 (4.5%) born in 1935. Forty two (6.8%) of the women born in 1950 had consulted a specialist about infertility as compared with 19 (3.6%) born in 1935. This study found a significant increase in voluntary childlessness among the younger women; there was no evidence of a change in the prevalence of involuntary childlessness despite the increasing demand for specialist referral, which appeared to be made by women who were parous or destined to become so.