Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).

Childfree individuals choose not to have children, which makes them a distinctive group from parents who have had children, not-yet-parents who plan to have children, and childless indivduals who would have liked to have children. Most research on parental status and psychosocial characteristics has...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Jennifer Watling Neal, Zachary P Neal
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/71f60e2a92e248998892114a8c10bb90
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:71f60e2a92e248998892114a8c10bb90
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:71f60e2a92e248998892114a8c10bb902021-12-02T20:07:07ZPrevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0252528https://doaj.org/article/71f60e2a92e248998892114a8c10bb902021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252528https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Childfree individuals choose not to have children, which makes them a distinctive group from parents who have had children, not-yet-parents who plan to have children, and childless indivduals who would have liked to have children. Most research on parental status and psychosocial characteristics has not effectively distinguished childfree individuals from other non-parents or has relied on non-representative samples. In this study, we use a representative sample of 981 Michigan adults to estimate the prevalence of childfree individuals, to examine how childfree individuals differ from parents and other types of non-parents in life satisfaction, political ideology, and personality, and to examine whether childfree individuals are viewed as an outgroup. We find that over a quarter of Michigan adults identified as childfree. After controlling for demographic characteristics, we find no differences in life satisfaction and limited differences in personality traits between childfree individuals and parents, not-yet-parents, or childless individuals. However, childfree individuals were more liberal than parents, and those who have or want(ed) children felt substantially less warm toward childfree individuals than childfree individuals felt toward each other. Given the prevalence of childfree individuals, the risks of their outgroup status, and their potential role in politics as a uniquely liberal group, it is important for demographic research to distinguish the childfree from others and to better understand these individuals.Jennifer Watling NealZachary P NealPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 6, p e0252528 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Jennifer Watling Neal Zachary P Neal Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).
description	Childfree individuals choose not to have children, which makes them a distinctive group from parents who have had children, not-yet-parents who plan to have children, and childless indivduals who would have liked to have children. Most research on parental status and psychosocial characteristics has not effectively distinguished childfree individuals from other non-parents or has relied on non-representative samples. In this study, we use a representative sample of 981 Michigan adults to estimate the prevalence of childfree individuals, to examine how childfree individuals differ from parents and other types of non-parents in life satisfaction, political ideology, and personality, and to examine whether childfree individuals are viewed as an outgroup. We find that over a quarter of Michigan adults identified as childfree. After controlling for demographic characteristics, we find no differences in life satisfaction and limited differences in personality traits between childfree individuals and parents, not-yet-parents, or childless individuals. However, childfree individuals were more liberal than parents, and those who have or want(ed) children felt substantially less warm toward childfree individuals than childfree individuals felt toward each other. Given the prevalence of childfree individuals, the risks of their outgroup status, and their potential role in politics as a uniquely liberal group, it is important for demographic research to distinguish the childfree from others and to better understand these individuals.
format	article
author	Jennifer Watling Neal Zachary P Neal
author_facet	Jennifer Watling Neal Zachary P Neal
author_sort	Jennifer Watling Neal
title	Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).
title_short	Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).
title_full	Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).
title_fullStr	Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).
title_full_unstemmed	Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).
title_sort	prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in michigan (usa).
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/71f60e2a92e248998892114a8c10bb90
work_keys_str_mv	AT jenniferwatlingneal prevalenceandcharacteristicsofchildfreeadultsinmichiganusa AT zacharypneal prevalenceandcharacteristicsofchildfreeadultsinmichiganusa
_version_	1718375310426112000

Prevalence and characteristics of childfree adults in Michigan (USA).

Ejemplares similares