Study Reveals Large Number of Older Women Are Voluntarily Childless

Common Perceptions Not Always Accurate, Public Health Campaigns May be Misdirected

Contrary to the public perception that all childless women are generally unhappy with their condition, the study shows that assumptions of older, childless women being dissatisfied with their status do not apply to the largest group of childless older women.

"Our research leads to the notion that for some women, childbearing might not have even been part of an equation," says Joyce Abma, Ph.D., lead author of the study. "Public impressions that all older childless women are eager to start a family and 'beat the odds' of increasing infertility stand to be refined." Public health campaigns to encourage women to begin childbearing before age-related issues begin are, perhaps, not relevant for a larger subgroup of women than previously realized.

It seems like every statistical study released these days somehow vindicates the childfree - but this one has particularly notable dimensions. Perhaps the only problem is making sure people find out about this. I'm afraid the Hewlett-type assumption that every woman must want a baby sill continue to prevail.

Technorati Tag: childfree

Meet my son, Yahoo Chevrolet Smith . . .

Baby-Naming Rights

With parents naming their kids Google and ESPN for free, how long before they stay auctioning off the rights to name their children?

In addition to those mentioned in the article, there are also babies named Chevy, Celica, Infiniti, Timberland, Courvoisier, L'Oreal and Armani.[1]

Technorati Tag: childfree

Reader Responds to Bias Against Moms

Last week, the SF Weekly posted an article about how MomsRising is fighting the "bias" against mothers:

Mother’s Work

Some working moms face job discrimination, while others encounter barriers to success. They're all potential activists for the new grass-roots group, MomsRising.

MomsRising wants to address the obstacles faced by working mothers up and down the socioeconomic spectrum and push legislation to eliminate them. The barriers vary: Some women struggle to keep their jobs while managing pregnancy or child care, while others feel they've been knocked off the leadership track by inflexible work schedules or bias against mothers. Their reactions, however, are strikingly consistent. When women can't be both model employees and stellar moms, they feel frustrated and defeated, and often blame themselves. Rowe-Finkbeiner says they're turning their anger in the wrong direction: "We argue that when this many people are experiencing the same problems at the same time, it's a societal issue, not a personal failing."

This week, a reader responded in a letter to the editor:

Where's Dad?:

While I enjoyed Eliza Strickland's "Mother's Work," [Dec. 6] I found it one-dimensional. Often, the reason employers do not want mothers as workers is because — quell surprise — they don't work as much as childless workers or men.

Unfortunately, due to pervasive sexism, women still take the brunt of child care, usually working 10 more hours a week on housework/child care than fathers (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics). The missing part of Strickland's equation are fathers — where are they? Why aren't they picking up their kid when she's sick, or teaching them yoga? There's a reason her article is called "Mother's Work" not "Parents' Work."

Besides, it's unrealistic for mothers to expect they would get the same pay and prestige for doing a worse job than other employees. I'm sorry, but you just can't be as good a lawyer working 40 hours a week as you can working 60.

Having children in this day and age is a choice: to expect that that choice should not affect your career is delusional.

I'm beginning to wish that a blog could give a standing ovation.

Technorati Tag: childfree

For about half of Aussie couples, marriage satisfaction goes down under after having a kid

http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20061214-043427-7028r

Study: Marriage declines after child
BRISBANE, Australia, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- About half of all Australian couples report a significant decline in satisfaction in their relationships after they have a child, a study finds.

Not particularly shocking, but nice to see it announced for the whole world to see.

Less sleep, less time, less money, less privacy, and a complete change on how the people in the couple view each other.

Oh, and let's also throw in the fact that one of the parents may not have actually wanted a child.

Yeah, that's a prescription for "bringing a couple closer together" right there.

Look, I realize that some couples (both members) do want kids, and having kids is right for them. But it's not all of them, and it's also not all of them who say they are one of them. Especially if one of the two is talking it up bigtime, and the other isn't saying much, or is clearly browbeaten into towing the line.

Technorati Tag: childfree

Statistician Examines Birthrates, Postulates on Rates of Intentional Childlessness

Childless by Choice?

These statistics suggest that infertility applies to only a small proportion of the 44.6 percent of childless women aged between 15 and 44. But some of the increase in child-free women since 1976 is due to a decrease in teen birth rates. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 1976 there were 101.1 pregnancies per 1,000 women ages 15-19.

By 2002 (the last year the data are available) this rate had decreased to 75.4 pregnancies per 1,000 teen women in the United States. Overall, the birth rate declined from 52.8 babies per 1,000 women in 1976 to 43 babies per 1,000 women in 2002. Could it be that in the 1970s more women had babies because they had become pregnant by accident?

A statistician takes on the recent Washington Post article on Childless By Chance or Choice. I, for one, am glad that the world of statistics is giving this subject some much-needed attention.

Technorati Tag: childfree

Breastfeeding Older Toddlers

Nursing past three

"That is so gross," an editor said to me on the phone when I mentioned that a family I was writing an article about had a nursing toddler. "If they're old enough to ask for it, they're too old to nurse!"

That sentiment is so often repeated that it has almost become a cliché. But why are we disgusted by the idea of a toddler nursing? When I went to visit my friend Sue's family in Mississippi when we were in college her great aunt started talking about the black people in her town. "I let one touch me once," Sue's great aunt said with the same mixture of revulsion, fascination, and horror in her voice that my editor used to talk about nursing. Sue's great aunt was disgusted by the idea of a black person touching her because it went against the social norms of her generation. Though it may not be an entirely fair comparison, I think my editor (a childless woman in her 40s) was disgusted by the idea of a two- or three-year-old nursing because it goes against the social norms of her generation, not because there is anything empirically wrong with it.
. . .
When dinner is almost over, my son climbs onto my lap and leans back into me, tilting his head upward so our eyes meet, his are hazel with specks of green in them. "Mommy, can I have some nummies?" he asks, patting my cheek with his tiny hand. "Pajamas first," I tell him. He giggles happily, wiggles off my lap, and runs to get ready for bed.

Technorati Tag: childfree

Late in Life Babies. . .

Methuselah moms: Mothers are getting older

Compared with 20 to 29 year olds, women who give birth over 40 are two to three times more likely to have a premature baby and/or a low-birth weight one (under 2.5 kilograms), with the risk increasing with age. And although many small babies will survive, the smallest ones often suffer a host of medical problems at birth, such as respiratory distress. The effects can last a lifetime: such children tend to have poorer academic records and lower IQs as adults.

The biggest worry for older moms is the huge increase in the risk of having a baby with chromosomal disorders. The most common is Down's syndrome, the risk of which increases from 1 in 1,500 at 20 years old to 1 in 30 at 45.

Compared with 20 to 29 year olds, women who give birth over 40 are two to three times more likely to have a premature baby and/or a low-birth weight one (under 2.5 kilograms), with the risk increasing with age. And although many small babies will survive, the smallest ones often suffer a host of medical problems at birth, such as respiratory distress. The effects can last a lifetime: such children tend to have poorer academic records and lower IQs as adults.

The biggest worry for older moms is the huge increase in the risk of having a baby with chromosomal disorders. The most common is Down's syndrome, the risk of which increases from 1 in 1,500 at 20 years old to 1 in 30 at 45.

This article explores the societal trends, health issues, and more . . .

Technorati Tag: childfree

Announcing New Childfree Advocacy Project

Childfree News is pleased to announce the launch of her sister project, Childfree Issues.

It will be a place for launching various advocacy efforts on behalf of the childfree. Like Childfree News, the aim is to become more collaborative as time goes on; getting feedback from readers as to what issues to tackle next and what our strategy should be.

The first project has been launched; it is a website to advocate for equal workplace benefits.

Visit the website here to see what you can do!

Technorati Tag: childfree

We Deserve Safety, Too!

2008 Volvo C30

With everyone designing vehicles for "families," it's great to see Volvo aiming the new C30 hatchback at single folks - along with childless couples and other modern-day American heretics.

He hee . . even automotive writers are gettting sick of pronatalism!

Technorati Tag: childfree