Childfree and Loving It! by Nicki Defago

Its pace has slowed down in recent years and regional differences have remained largely unchanged. I find that since the mid-1970s, fertility decline in India has been impressive (falling from about 6 to 3 children per woman within an interval of 30 years). Much of the analysis presented in the study is based on secondary data collected and compiled by various organizations, including the three most recent National Family Health Surveys, 1990-92, 1998-99, and 2005-06. The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between fertility decline and selected patterns of the Indian family in the late 20th century. Thus, it is primarily involuntarily childless women who have high childlessness concerns. Contrary to the authors' hypothesis, the association was not mediated by social messages to have children. As hypothesized, the association between reasons and childlessness concerns was mediated by the identity-relevant measure, importance of motherhood. The results indicated that women with the least control over pregnancy, those with biomedical barriers, had the highest childlessness concerns. women without children from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers. Life course and identity theories guided the structural equation model analyses of a representative sample of 1,180 U.S. The concept of “childlessness concerns” captures the idea that holidays and family gatherings are difficult because of not having children or feeling left out or sad that others have children.

Pildis joined No Kidding!-with about 200 members in the area who enjoy activities such as book clubs, hikes and dinners-because she and her husband wanted to meet other child-free people.Does the reason why women have no children matter with regard to level of childlessness concerns? Reasons include biomedical barriers, situational barriers, delaying motherhood, and choosing to be childfree. They are just happy to send the kids home with their parents at the end of the day, she said. She says plenty of people without kids enjoy being around children.

Pildis has been a member of the Chicago chapter of the international network called No Kidding! since 1999.

One common misperception is that being child-free is about disliking kids and their parents, according to Rachel Pildis, 39, of Oak Park, Ill. 'They need children to work the fields, look after siblings and to provide for the parents in their old age - they simply can't manage without them on a very basic level. 'Go out to any country in the developing world and children are still very much an integral part of society - not just a desirable `bolt-on,'' she said. 'It was when I was researching my latest novel, `With or Without You,' that it really brought it home to me that kids in the Western world really have become a lifestyle choice,' she said.

Childfree and Loving It! by Nicki Defago