When psychology academic Bronwyn Harman, from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, set out to uncover the truth about childlessness in Australia, she did what many researchers do to get a sample these days. She hit social media in a big way….
Harman’s initial results were released last week – she thinks we are seeing explicit trends that society may not have accepted decades ago.
Of the 330 respondents, a little more than three-quarters said they were childless by choice. About one-third of that number (about 70 of those surveyed) said they might have children later. Another third declared they did not feel parental – not maternal, not paternal (men were invited to respond to the survey, too). Of the remaining 70-odd participants, 40 thought children would ruin their lifestyle.
I don’t know what to make of that argument. Its tone is rather snarky, so I have tried to factor that out in my re-reading of it. She does not actually link to the actual study, so one is only left with the analysis of the writer. From what she says, however, it appears the study is faulty in terms of sampling if the researcher only took test subjects “from social media.” Right there, you have whittled away lower income folks who don’t necessary have access to the internet or don’t have time to respond because they are actually working and folks who aren’t savvy (or don’t care) about responding to social media. That leaves a pretty upper middle class demographic right there that probably does not have a whole lot of minorities or people of other income brackets.
Also, much older couple who never have children are probably factored out as well, which would I think change the sampling because the people who choose to never have children but are not elderly and have no one to care for them would likely give a different answer.
It is not a myth that having kids strains one’s life, relationships, etc. Those who negotiate the challenges successfully while keeping their adult relationships healthy are happy; those who don’t probably suffer. Some women marry primarily so they can have kids and be mommies and they relish that role more than they do the role of wife. Pity their husbands.
Archer, don’t buy into the myth about people expecting their children to take care of them in their old age. Most probably don’t. It is VERY difficult for elders to accept the role reversal involved with their children being their caregivers. That is, if the children are willing and able to be. A lot of us in middle age have had our adult children move back home out of financial necessity. Who knows what the future holds but I think it’s safe to say that the majority don’t believe our children will be caring for us in our final years and many of us wouldn’t want to rely on them, anyway.
No. 2,
Well, I don’t know about that. I’ve done a lot as a hospice chaplain, and I have seen quite a few people die alone and unloved by their children or by no one since they had no children. They may not have made a big deal of it for much of their life, but when someone is dying, it is a whole different ball game.