Childlessness in the United States

Abstract

Using a representative sample of about 17,000 ever-married women 15-44 years of age, this article presents national estimates of the prevalence and correlates of voluntary, involuntary, and temporary childlessness in the United States. These three groups of childless couples are compared with the parents of small planned families and other parents on a number of social, economic, marital, and family characteristics. When viewed cross-sectionally, voluntarily childless couples constitute between 1.3% and 1.8% of currently married couples, depending on the definitions used. They are a distinctive but rare population. Their future prevalence depends primarily on the decisions of the large group of temporarily childless couples.