Voluntary Childlessness: A Neglected Area of Family Study

Abstract

It is noted that voluntary childlessness has been a neglected area of study of family life. It is suggested that through the study of voluntarily childless couples information would be gained concerning the reasons that people become parents and the effects that parental roles have on peoples life adjustments. Little is known about the motivation for parenthood. Questions remain to be answered such as: 1) What kinds of instinct or socialization lead to a strong desire for parenthood? 2) Why do people want or not want children? 3) What incentives does society offer which encourage people to accept parental roles? 4) What determines the number of children wanted? 5) Why is childlessness decreasing? and 6) Is it possible to encourage more people to remain childless? Determining the characteristics of the voluntarily childless couple would be of value in contributing information about a deviant minority group and in providing a basis for contrast and comparison with the conventional conforming majority.