The New Have-Nots: Childlessness in the Twenty-First Century

Around the world, the number and proportion of people without their own biological children has increased. The increase partly reflects an increase in fertility problems (primarily due to people postponing when they first try to have a baby), but also an increase in the desire and ability to remain “childfree.” More often than not, however, contemporary childlessness is “coincidental”; that is, people often end up childless without explicitly intending to do so. In many countries, childlessness has also become more of a male than a female phenomenon. In this chapter, I discuss recent trends in childlessness around the world, the causes and consequences of childlessness across contexts, and consider whether contemporary childlessness is a problem.KeywordsInfertilityMale childlessnessChildfreeFertility postponementFertility preferences