People who remain child-free don’t regret aging? What does the research say? Explained

Voluntary childlessness has become a topic of debate after several researches indicated an increase in the trend in various countries. One study found that the number of adults in the United States who do not wish to have children is more than one-fifth of what it used to be.

According to StudyWhich was published in Scientific Reports, most child-free individuals, or those who have no plans to ever have children, made this decision when they were still teenagers or in their early 20s.

The authors concluded that their research indicates that doctors’ reluctance to sterilize a childless woman out of concern that she might change her mind later is “misinformed and patriarchal.”

Primary care physicians may be more receptive to their patients’ requests for voluntary sterilization procedures, such as vasectomy or tubal ligation, in light of the data, according to study co-author and associate professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Psychology Zachary Neal, MA, PhD. Should be talked to whom helio,

And a new study claims that child-free adults don’t regret their decisions as they get older.

A more in-depth study that debunked the often-voiced concern about childless couples having regrets in later life was particularly intriguing. According to the study, which was co-authored by MSU psychology professor Jennifer Watling Neill and published in the journal PLOS ONE, “20.9 percent of adults in Michigan do not want children, which closely matches our earlier estimate of 21.6 percent.” , and that means more than 1.6 million people in Michigan are child-free,” he said in a statement.

Importantly, individuals who made the decision without children rarely, if ever, felt remorse, the study noted. reports By futurism, According to Watling Neill, “we find no evidence that older adults have more lifetime regret than older parents without children.”

Growing trend of voluntary childlessness

Being childfree, often referred to as voluntary childlessness, refers to the decision not to have children.

For most of human history, the decision not to have children was difficult and undesirable in most communities. Reportedly, for some people in some cultures, the availability of effective contraception and the support provided by the government rather than one’s family have made childlessness a possibility.

Have problems with childbearing?

One in twelve British parents (8%) currently regret having children, according to 2021 research by YouGov, according to a report Guardian, Parents under the age of 55 were the least likely to feel regret, while parents between the ages of 25 and 34 (who appear to be the most sleep-deprived group) were the most likely to feel regret. There was a possibility.

7% of American parents over the age of 45 who responded to a 2013 Gallup poll said that if they “had to do it over again” they would not have children. % of German mothers and 20% of fathers say they would not want more children if they had the choice again.

Why don’t people want children?

In an effort to understand what may be causing low fertility, Harris Interactive and the Archbridge Institute released a new survey. reports By Institute of Family Studies, Clay Routledge of the Archbridge Institute and Harris CEO Will Johnson wrote in an opinion piece published in conjunction with the study’s release that their findings suggest that Americans who don’t want children often choose to maintain their personal freedom over economic or environmental concerns. refer to the will of

Even if the results are taken at face value, the weighted average of respondents from both the Gen Z and Millennial generations suggests a greater importance to economic concerns than the overall findings. According to Crosstabs, personal financial circumstances play the most role in the decision of roughly three out of ten young people (ages 18 to 41) who say they don’t want children, with work/life balance coming in at 21 percent. Used to be. “Maintaining My Personal Freedom” came in third place, with 18% of the vote.

Fertility and its relation to climate change are topics that young people are more likely to express concern about. The concern that parents should not have children because the child’s quality of life would be too low was brought to light by one question in particular.

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