IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurpop/v33y2017i4d10.1007_s10680-017-9429-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why Childless Men and Women Give Up on Having Children

Author

Listed:
  • Petra Buhr

    (University of Bremen, SOCIUM)

  • Johannes Huinink

    (University of Bremen, SOCIUM)

Abstract

In this paper we address the question why childless women and men aged 35 years and older, who originally were considering having children, voluntarily gave up on having children. We hypothesise that this adjustment could be attributed to five mechanisms: adaptation to a lifestyle without children; resignation because of severe hindrances to having children; approaching the end of the fecund period; perceiving a low degree of social influence from significant others to have children; and a low degree of personal persistence in pursuing life goals. We analyse data from the first six waves of the German Family Panel (Pairfam) and employ multinomial logistic regression models. As the dependent variable we distinguished four types of sequences over the observation period: “permanently considering having children”, “given up on having children”, “switching”, and “permanently not considering having children”. Being female, being not employed, and having low scores on the emotional autonomy scale increased the likelihood of giving up on having children, while anticipating positive consequences of parenthood and perceiving influence from parents to have a child decreased it. The results show that all mechanisms addressed by the hypotheses were at work to a certain extent. In particular, the integration of personality factors and the importance of other life goals beyond parenthood provided valuable insights into the reasons for giving up on having children. Future research in this field should focus more than was possible in our study on societal age norms and the role of partners in giving up on having children.

Suggested Citation

  • Petra Buhr & Johannes Huinink, 2017. "Why Childless Men and Women Give Up on Having Children," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 585-606, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:33:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s10680-017-9429-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-017-9429-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10680-017-9429-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10680-017-9429-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Helen Peterson & Kristina Engwall, 2016. "Missing Out on the Parenthood Bonus? Voluntarily Childless in a “Child-friendly” Society," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 540-552, December.
    2. Jürgen Dorbritz, 2008. "Germany: Family diversity with low actual and desired fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(17), pages 557-598.
    3. Maria Iacovou & Lara Patrício Tavares, 2011. "Yearning, Learning, and Conceding: Reasons Men and Women Change Their Childbearing Intentions," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 37(1), pages 89-123, March.
    4. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    5. S. Morgan, 1981. "Intention and uncertainty at later stages of childbearing: the united states 1965 and 1970," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 18(3), pages 267-285, August.
    6. Francesca Fiori & Francesca Rinesi & Elspeth Graham, 2017. "Choosing to Remain Childless? A Comparative Study of Fertility Intentions Among Women and Men in Italy and Britain," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 319-350, July.
    7. Monika Mynarska & Anna Matysiak & Anna Rybiñska & Valentina Tocchioni & Daniele Vignoli, 2013. "Diverse Paths into Childlessness over the Life Course," Working Papers 58, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    8. Laura Bernardi & Andreas Klärner, 2014. "Social networks and fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(22), pages 641-670.
    9. Kuhnt, Anne-Kristin & Buhr, Petra, 2016. "Biographical risks and their impact on uncertainty in fertility expectations: A gender-specific study based on the German Family Panel," Duisburger Beiträge zur soziologischen Forschung 2016-03, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of Sociology.
    10. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    11. Christopher Winship & Larry Radbill, 1994. "Sampling Weights and Regression Analysis," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 23(2), pages 230-257, November.
    12. Maria Letizia Tanturri & Letizia Mencarini, 2008. "Childless or Childfree? Paths to Voluntary Childlessness in Italy," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 34(1), pages 51-77, March.
    13. Gordon A. Carmichael & Andrea Whittaker, 2007. "Choice and circumstance: Qualitative insights into contemporary childlessness in Australia," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 23(2), pages 111-143, June.
    14. Johannes Huinink & Martin Kohli, 2014. "A life-course approach to fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(45), pages 1293-1326.
    15. Aart C. Liefbroer, 2009. "Changes in Family Size Intentions Across Young Adulthood: A Life-Course Perspective [Evolution des intentions en matière de taille de famille en début d’âge adulte: une approche biographique]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 25(4), pages 363-386, November.
    16. S. Philip Morgan & Heather Rackin, 2010. "The Correspondence Between Fertility Intentions and Behavior in the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 91-118, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marcel Raab & Emanuela Struffolino, 2020. "The Heterogeneity of Partnership Trajectories to Childlessness in Germany," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(1), pages 53-70, March.
    2. Olga Gouni & Gabija Jarašiūnaitė-Fedosejeva & Burcu Kömürcü Akik & Annaleena Holopainen & Jean Calleja-Agius, 2022. "Childlessness: Concept Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-45, January.
    3. Eva Beaujouan, 2020. "Latest‐Late Fertility? Decline and Resurgence of Late Parenthood Across the Low‐Fertility Countries," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 46(2), pages 219-247, June.
    4. Florianne C. J. Verkroost, 2022. "A Bayesian multivariate hierarchical growth curve model to examine cumulative socio‐economic (dis)advantage among childless adults and parents," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 185(4), pages 2234-2276, October.
    5. Katharina Heisig & Marius Kröper & Tim Scheurer, 2022. "Faktoren der Kinderlosigkeit in Ostdeutschland," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 29(06), pages 10-18, December.
    6. Ansgar Hudde & Henriette Engelhardt, 2023. "Family inequality: On the changing educational gradient of family patterns in Western Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(20), pages 549-590.
    7. LUPPI, FRANCESCA & Rosina, Alessandro & Testa, Maria Rita, 2024. "An Overview on Low Fertility Motivations among Italian Young-Adults," SocArXiv hf78t, Center for Open Science.
    8. Victor Antunes Leocádio & Ana Paula Verona & Adriana Miranda-Ribeiro, 2022. "Contributions of Sociodemographic Changes to the Increase in Permanent Childlessness in Brazil: A Cohort Decomposition Analysis," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(5), pages 1951-1973, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valentina Tocchioni, 2016. "Exploring the childless universe: profiles and fertility intentions of men and women without children in Italy," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2016_09, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    2. Kuhnt, Anne-Kristin & Buhr, Petra, 2016. "Biographical risks and their impact on uncertainty in fertility expectations: A gender-specific study based on the German Family Panel," Duisburger Beiträge zur soziologischen Forschung 2016-03, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of Sociology.
    3. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    4. Alison Gemmill, 2019. "From Some to None? Fertility Expectation Dynamics of Permanently Childless Women," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 129-149, February.
    5. Mar Llorente-Marrón & Montserrat Díaz-Fernández & Paz Méndez-Rodríguez, 2022. "Ranking fertility predictors in Spain: a multicriteria decision approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 311(2), pages 771-798, April.
    6. Máire Ní Bhrolcháin & Éva Beaujouan, 2011. "Uncertainty in fertility intentions in Britain, 1979-2007," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 9(1), pages 99-129.
    7. Valentina Tocchioni & Anna Rybińska & Monika Mynarska & Anna Matysiak & Daniele Vignoli, 2022. "Life-Course Trajectories of Childless Women: Country-Specific or Universal?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1315-1332, December.
    8. LUPPI, FRANCESCA & Rosina, Alessandro & Testa, Maria Rita, 2024. "An Overview on Low Fertility Motivations among Italian Young-Adults," SocArXiv hf78t, Center for Open Science.
    9. Anne-Kristin Kuhnt & Heike Trappe, 2013. "Easier said than done: childbearing intentions and their realization in a short term perspective," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2013-018, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    10. Lara Patrício Tavares, 2016. "Who Delays Childbearing? The Associations Between Time to First Birth, Personality Traits and Education," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(4), pages 575-597, October.
    11. Monika Mynarska & Anna Matysiak & Anna Rybiñska & Valentina Tocchioni & Daniele Vignoli, 2013. "Diverse Paths into Childlessness over the Life Course," Working Papers 58, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    12. Bastian Mönkediek & Hilde Bras, 2018. "Family Systems and Fertility Intentions: Exploring the Pathways of Influence," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(1), pages 33-57, February.
    13. Natalie Nitsche & Sarah R. Hayford, 2020. "Preferences, Partners, and Parenthood: Linking Early Fertility Desires, Marriage Timing, and Achieved Fertility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 1975-2001, December.
    14. Tomáš Sobotka & Éva Beaujouan, 2014. "Two Is Best? The Persistence of a Two-Child Family Ideal in Europe," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 40(3), pages 391-419, September.
    15. Maryam Moeeni & Arash Rashidian & Akbar Aghajanian, 2018. "Women’s relative status and childbearing intentions: Empirical evidence from Iran," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-10, April.
    16. Bassford, Micaela & Fisher, Hayley, 2016. "Bonus babies? The impact of paid parental leave on fertility intentions," Working Papers 2016-04, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    17. Susanne Fahlén & Livia Sz. Oláh, 2018. "Economic uncertainty and first-birth intentions in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(28), pages 795-834.
    18. Eva Beaujouan, 2018. "Late Fertility Intentions and Fertility in Austria," VID Working Papers 1806, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    19. Youngcho Lee, 2022. "Is Leave for Fathers Pronatalist? A Mixed-Methods Study of the Impact of Fathers’ Uptake of Parental Leave on Couples’ Childbearing Intentions in South Korea," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(4), pages 1471-1500, August.
    20. Zuzanna Brzozowska & Isabella Buber-Ennser & Bernhard Riederer & Michaela Potancokova, 2018. "Didn’t plan one but got one: unintended and sooner-than-intended births among men and women in six European countries," VID Working Papers 1805, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:33:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s10680-017-9429-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.