Childless

The National Marriage Project at Rutgers University has come out with its annual "State of Our Unions" report. In it, it points out that more adults are spending more time being childless. Some interesting points of the study include:

1. In their early 40s, 1 in 5 women today has no biological children, compared to 1 in 10 in the 1970s.
   
2. Some people now see having children as a financially poor move, and are for that reason chosing not to have children. Others see a child-free life as a happier one.
   
3. The rate of childlessness is growing faster among the better educated, while the less educated are more likely to have children.
   

None of this comes as a surprise, but it is a reassurance to me.

In the past year, I've reconnected with about 15 friends from my past. Some of them I hadn't talked to in over a decade. As a group, we're now in our mid-30s, give or take. As I met up with more and more, a clear pattern formed. Of the 15, only two had children. I was very surprised by that.

But as my own prospects for motherhood fade, it's also comforting to know that I'm not going through this alone. And even if I've not come to this place in life by choice, at least I won't be the only one in the old folks home who gets no visitors on the weekend. *sigh* But anyway...

A troubling thought, too (on a few levels). What's it mean for society when the best-educated people are less likely to have children? OK, yeah, it sounds elitist, and maybe it is. But it also makes me worry a bit about our future. (Flame if you must, but hey, I'm being honest here and doesn't it at least give you pause? What would Darwin say?)

Thoughts?

begins to hum "Flagpole Sitter"

ETA: Oh, never knew that was the name of the song.

Lyrics from it go:

More votes for the Republican party?

-Ghoti

I'm coming up fast on 40 and I doubt I'll ever have children. Happily for me I do have 6 neices and nephews that I consider my proxy children.

i am working on correcting this stat via SL. Please meet with me as soon as possible.

In the long run, it will make little actual difference. Homo sapiens sapiens is grossly overpopulated period, and it's going to come due sooner than you probably think.

I love children and would love one of my own, but I could not, in good conscience, consider bringing one into the world as it is now.

Well I have 2 children, a boy and girl ages 6 and 5 respectively. I think in about 2 years I will be ready to have 2-4 more. (Best to have them in two's so they can growup together and play together)

It was a hard decision to initially have children but I am glad we did, regardless of the state of the world.

You would be suprised how children can make the world seem that much better.

Briana Dawson

It's my personal decision, and I'm not trying to pass any kind of moral judgement on anyone else for doing otherwise. Nor do I think that the choice I've made is ever really going to make any kind of identifiable impact. It's just the choice I felt I had to make.

Just so it's clear that I'm not trying to condemn anyone here, I mean.

Three children here.

No regrets, and couldn't imagine it any other way.


Decision? Not hardly.

Fate, destiny, purpose, unavoidable outcome, or raison d'etre perhaps.

Missed the child boat - mostly because I raised my brothers and when I got done with that, school and immersion in my career then I learned that I had lupus and could not physically meet the challenge of having a child and too old to adopt.

I'm OK with it though - not what people would think. I'm very happy with my husband, my home, friends, brothers, their families.

I have seen people who did not have children who have had very fulfilled lives in their communities and within themselves. I think you can "give birth" to many things other than just children.

.

yeah I'm the old fuddy here, I have two son's age 21 and 17. I will probably be a grandfather within 5 years (my oldest just proposed). On top of having 2 of my own, I have 165 students and 40 football players that for six months out of the year I consider my "kids"

Thanks, Rose. That gives me hope

No children, cant have them but dont feel the loss too much! I love my career and my hobbies and children would get in the way a little. Although if I had the chance I probably would have opted to have them eventually.

As far as intelligence goes, it wouldn't be too drastic a problem. Intelligent parents tend to have less intelligent children, and unintelligent parents tend to have children who are more intelligent than they are.

It would mean that there were fewer brilliant individuals, and would mean that we all shifted a little downwards, but hopefully the downwards movement would not be a plunge.

More serious, I think, is the fact that those families who place most value in education would have fewer children. In Britain we have seen a change already in the philosophy of education. Fifty years ago it was seen as an end in itself - that education began a process that would continue throughout your life. Nowadays, education tends to be seen as a training for the world of business and commerce.

A world which didn't value education would be a terrible place.