10.5 Voluntary Childlessness

As a result of the second demographic transition, fertility rates worldwide are declining. This is both the result of new life opportunities and fears regarding climate change and major world events. While some people find themselves without children as a result of circumstances – difficulty finding the right mate, economic struggles, health issues – there are many actively choosing not to have children. We are not only seeing this in the United States and other culturally western societies, but we are also seeing it in the east (e.g., China, India) and the southern hemisphere (e.g., South Africa).

Why? If we are a sexually reproducing species that needs to have children to stay in the evolutionary game, why would humans actively forego parenthood? The answer takes us back to life history trade-offs. It has become increasingly challenging to raise children to the expectations of modern culture. Pressures to be the perfect parent continue to create anxiety, leaving many to say “no thank you.” Likewise, the cost of raising a child to the age of 18 in the United States is estimated to be $310,605. And for many, the opportunities for travel and career outweigh the potential loss of choosing not to parent.

But are the voluntarily childless (“childfree”) selfish? Not necessarily. In fact, they are often deeply invested in their extended family (thank you, Hamilton), networks of chosen and fictive kin (phenotypic matching), and companion animals in the home (“pet parenting” via alloparental care). They may also be invested in caretaking careers, as many chose to enter the medical field, become teachers and professors, or invest in the care of a broader kin network – a global network – through conservation efforts.

On the website, This View of Life, science communicator and psychologist Leslie Newsome asks the question “Why do Modern People have so Few Children?“, further unpacking the novelty and seemingly maladaptive choice to have fewer, or no, children.