Trends in Childlessness in the United States, 1980s-2010s: Characteristics of Voluntary and Involuntary Childless Women

• In Event: 381 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04. Family Size

Abstract

Fertility trends reveal an increased prevalence of childlessness in the recent decades; yet, little research has studied its socioeconomic and demographic correlates or compared the characteristics of voluntarily and involuntarily childless women. Using data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), we analyze changes in the associations between childlessness and key socio-demographic factors from the 1980s to the late 2010s. Our preliminary results show a convergence in the prevalence of childlessness by partnership status, education, and, small differences by race/ethnicity, although whites are more likely to be voluntarily childless. Higher earnings and being employed full-time are associated with a higher prevalence of childlessness, and the association is stronger for being voluntarily childless. The voluntarily childless are also more likely to be single never married, whereas involuntary childless women are more likely to be Hispanic and have been ever married.

Authors

• Sandra M. Florian, University of Pennsylvania

• Lynne M. Casper, University of Southern California