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- Title
Men's and women's reasons for not having children.
- Authors
Weston, Ruth; Qu, Lixia
- Abstract
The article presents views of couples on remaining childless. A variety of reasons for remaining childless were provided by the sample group surveyed in Australia. Three practical reasons were offered for not wanting children : age, lack of a partner or secure relationship, and the fact that their partner already had children. Some respondents explained that they had postponed notions of having children in order to focus on career or other interests, until they felt that age or changed circumstances intervened. One in five respondents indicated that their plans to remain childless were at least partly based on the fact they did not like children. That is, an active dislike of children did not appear to vary according to the age of the respondents or the survey period. Many respondents indicated that they lacked any interest in being a parent or in having children, often explaining this outlook by focusing on the loss of freedom that would result or on concerns about the responsibilities involved in raising children and personal incompetence in fulfilling such responsibilities.
- Subjects
AUSTRALIA; CHILDLESSNESS; SURVEYS; COUPLES; DUAL-career families; LIFESTYLES
- Publication
Family Matters, 2001, Issue 58, p10
- ISSN
1030-2646
- Publication type
Article