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Choice and circumstance: Qualitative insights into contemporary childlessness in Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Gordon A. Carmichael

    (Australian National University)

  • Andrea Whittaker

    (University of Melbourne)

Abstract

Using data from in-depth interviews with 115 women, men and couples in eastern Australia for whom family formation was a recent, current or imminent future issue, this article explores contemporary childlessness among those physically able to have children. It differentiates between those childless by choice and by circumstance, and among other themes highlights (i) the role preservation of lifestyle appears to play as a motive for deliberate childlessness following development of a life course through early adulthood that both generates lifestyle aspirations and often places parenthood on the backburner until after age 30, and (ii) the roles difficulty forming suitable relationships, women’s desire for meaningful careers, and male involvement in family formation decisions play in bringing about childlessness by circumstance.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:23:y:2007:i:2:d:10.1007_s10680-006-9112-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-006-9112-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Elizabeth Thomson, 1997. "Couple childbearing desires, intentions, and births," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 34(3), pages 343-354, August.
    2. Elizabeth Thomson & Elaine McDonald & Larry Bumpass, 1990. "Fertility desires and fertility: Hers, his, and theirs," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(4), pages 579-588, November.
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    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. Arieke Rijken & Trudie Knijn, 2009. "Couples’ decisions on having a first child," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 21(26), pages 765-802.
    3. 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.
    4. Matthew Schneider-Mayerson & Kit Ling Leong, 2020. "Eco-reproductive concerns in the age of climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 1007-1023, November.
    5. 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.
    6. 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".
    7. Ester Lazzari, 2021. "Changing trends between education, childlessness and completed fertility: a cohort analysis of Australian women born in 1952–1971," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 417-441, December.
    8. Hana Maříková, 2023. "Men’s Explanations for Being Childless; a dynamic perspective," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 28(1), pages 228-243, March.
    9. Letizia Mencarini & Daniele Vignoli & Tugba Zeydanli & Jungho Kim, 2018. "Life satisfaction favors reproduction. The universal positive effect of life satisfaction on childbearing in contemporary low fertility countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, December.
    10. 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.

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