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For most people throughout time, the idea of an ideal future included starting a family. Currently, over one third of American men have no children, prompting the question of why? A study published in Journal of Marriage and Family suggests that this is partially due to an increasing disinterest in fatherhood.
Fertility rates ebb and flow due to many factors, including socioeconomic stability and cultural norms. In recent years, economic uncertainty and a decreasing focus on a traditional family unit seem to have led to the decrease in birth rates, which is of concern to many people due to the fact that America’s birth rate is now below replacement level. Most research on family planning and fertility focus on women, but the new research sought to understand the perspective of childless men.
For his study, Robert Bozick utilized data from 3 sources: the National Survey of Family Growth, the Monitoring the Future study, and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ Transition to Adulthood supplement. All data was focused on the years 2000-2020.
Bozick utilized data from 18,183 American men from the National Survey of Family Growth, which included questions about if participants see themselves having children in the future and how much it would bother them if they never had children. The Monitoring the Future study focused on high school seniors and asked them what number children they would have and how likely they were to want children. The Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ transition to adulthood supplement examined men aged 18 to 28. Bozick used data from 6 waves asking about the importance of family leave as an aspect of their jobs for participants.
Fertility rates ebb and flow due to many factors, including socioeconomic stability and cultural norms. In recent years, economic uncertainty and a decreasing focus on a traditional family unit seem to have led to the decrease in birth rates, which is of concern to many people due to the fact that America’s birth rate is now below replacement level. Most research on family planning and fertility focus on women, but the new research sought to understand the perspective of childless men.
For his study, Robert Bozick utilized data from 3 sources: the National Survey of Family Growth, the Monitoring the Future study, and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ Transition to Adulthood supplement. All data was focused on the years 2000-2020.
Bozick utilized data from 18,183 American men from the National Survey of Family Growth, which included questions about if participants see themselves having children in the future and how much it would bother them if they never had children. The Monitoring the Future study focused on high school seniors and asked them what number children they would have and how likely they were to want children. The Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ transition to adulthood supplement examined men aged 18 to 28. Bozick used data from 6 waves asking about the importance of family leave as an aspect of their jobs for participants.
New study identifies an increasing disinterest in fatherhood among childless men in the United States
For most people throughout time, the idea of an ideal future included starting a family. Currently, over one third of American men have no children, prompting the question of why? A study published in Journal of Marriage and Family suggests that this is partially due to an increasing disinterest...
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