Childless Men Research Articles

Recent advances in cystic fibrosis

The median life expectancy for cystic fibrosis is now over 30 years, and it is projected that in newborn infants it will become more than 40 years. The identification of...

Success at Work, Life Patterns, and Overall Life Satisfaction: Changes in the Lives of Men and Women since the 1980s in West-Germany

Summary This paper focuses on the structural relationship between family building and upward mobility. Typically this relationship is analyzed for women only, while we include men as well. With new patterns of intimate partnerships and non-traditional families, on the one hand, and a changing labor market, on the other hand, new assertions about their connection have emerged. Using SOEP-data, the possible change in that relationship is investigated in two years, 1986 and 1996. In addition, the influence of success at work and the private life pattern on overall satisfaction with life is analyzed. As life patterns and labor market conditions have changed over time, researchers of family behavior and occupational and professional career development have advanced new assertions about the connection between intimate relationships and occupational mobility. For the most part, these new theories have only implicitly acknowledged the role that changes in life patterns and labor market have played in determining occupational and career choices. Demographically, more men and women remain childless and remain unmarried. From the perspective of career advancement, childless men and women are seen as being more flexible in their time management, as having better chances to continue their education, and as being more mobile geographically. For these reasons, it is commonly assumed that childless men and women are at an advantage in pursuing their occupational careers. However, little empirical evidence has been collected to see if these assumptions are borne out in individual experiences. This paper examines how career advancement and self-reported life satisfaction differ between married and unmarried individuals who choose to remain childless and those who have children. We focus on differences between men and women and over time in the association between life patterns, career advancement and life satisfaction. This study adds to the literature on family and occupational mobility research because we study men, as well as women. When men are studied, their work histories are typically assumed to be independent of intimate relationships — at least as far as occupational research and labor market theories are concerned. Consequently, few empirical studies consider the possible association between these two life domains for men. Some family theories, in particular those subsumed under the more general heading of family economics, provide at least an implicit theoretical framework.

Ageing without children: rural Wales.

This paper aims to identify the pathways and adaptations to childlessness. It is based on data for 65 childless men and women who took part in the Bangor Longitudinal Study of Ageing (1979-1999) and survived to at least 1987. Interviews were conducted mainly in the homes of the respondents at 4 yearly intervals and both qualitative and quantitative data were recorded. The paper distinguishes between men and women and between those who married and those who never-married. The findings demonstrate contrasting life styles between childless men and childless women. Never-married childless men tend to have been employed in solitary occupations or those based on an all male workforce and to rely on dependency relationships with female kin, while men who marry rely heavily on their wives. Never-married women in contrast tend to be more independent and outgoing and to have worked in jobs which brought them into frequent contact with people. Most childless women who married had not worked after marriage; they had close relationships with husbands and on widowhood adopted an independent, self-sufficient lifestyle. The findings demonstrate more positive adaptations to childlessness among women than men.

Influences of Family Obligations and Relationships on Retirement: Variations by Gender, Race, and Marital Status

This study examined whether economic and care obligations for family and kin salience influence retirement decisions and whether such influences differ by race, gender, and marital status. Data from the first 2 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households were used. The sample consisted of individuals who were employed at baseline and aged 55-75 at follow-up (N = 897). Cox proportional hazard regressions were used. Economic kin obligations impeded the likelihood of retiring. Individuals who made financial contributions to children outside the household and White women with resident children in the household were less prone to retire. Among Blacks, household composition effects were more complex and seemed to depend on the mix of care obligations, financial obligations, and financial contributions by resident kin. Kin salience also impinged on retirement decisions. Some groups who lacked family ties (e.g., nonmarried childless men) were less inclined to retire, whereas other subgroups (e.g., nonmarried men with monthly pre-retirement contacts with children) were more likely to retire. Our data suggest the importance of family obligations and relationships in retirement decisions and demonstrate considerable diversity in these processes. Models of retirement should pay greater attention to the interdependence of work and family spheres and to the diversity of retirement processes among various population groups.

Is there a link between family structures and women's and men's managerial career advancement?

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of family structures on the managerial career advancement of managers and professionals using a longitudinal design (Time 1 n=3555; Time 2 n=2339). Family structures were found to predict managerial advancement for women and men and employment disruption for women only. Advancement in organizations was lower for childless single men and women, and for single fathers, than for other family structures. Greater managerial advancement was associated with being a traditional father, in the private sector, whereas mothers with employed spouses (posttraditional mothers) advanced in management as much as other women. The impact of family structures on male and female advancement was not affected by employment disruption but was moderated by employment sector. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Having children after cancer. A pilot survey of survivors' attitudes and experiences.

Although the prevalence of infertility after cancer treatment and the health of the offspring of survivors have been studied, little information has been available about survivors' attitudes, emotions, and choices with regard to having children. A questionnaire was received by 283 patients from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation tumor registry who were diagnosed before age 35 years, were age 18 years or older at the time of the survey, and were free of disease. The SF-36, a measure of health-related quality of life, was included, as well as questions about demographic and medical background, reproductive and fertility history, and a variety of concerns about having children after cancer. The response rate to the survey was 47%, yielding a sample of 43 men and 89 women who had had cancer at various sites. Their mean age at diagnosis was 26 years and the mean time since diagnosis was 5 years. Before cancer, 35% had at least 1 child, compared with 46% currently. Of those currently childless, 76% want children in the future. Although about half of the entire sample view themselves as having impaired fertility, only 6% have undergone infertility treatment. Nineteen percent have significant anxiety that their cancer treatment could impact negatively on their children's future health. Of women, 18% fear that a pregnancy could trigger a cancer recurrence. Only 57% received information from their health care providers about infertility after cancer. Other reproductive concerns were discussed less often. Only 24% of childless men banked sperm before treatment. SF-36 scores were very similar to normative data for healthy Americans of similar age. About 80% of the sample viewed themselves positively as actual or potential parents. Feeling healthy enough to be a good parent after cancer was the strongest predictor (P < 0.001) of emotional well-being as measured by the Mental Component Score of the SF-36. The great majority of younger cancer survivors see their cancer experience as potentially making them better parents. Those who are childless want to have children in the future. Many, however, are left with significant anxieties and insufficient information about reproductive issues.

High Fertility in Rural Uganda: The Role of Socioeconomic and Biological Factors

Data from Demographic and Health Surveys comparative surveys conducted in Ankole and a 1984 survey of the elderly in Ankole are used in this monograph to present a comprehensive analysis of fertility in Ankole Uganda. This monograph is different from preceding monographs in this series by including several additional variables: an analysis of household property the influence of the extended family the length of birth intervals and the incidence of infertility as explanations for the high fertility in Ankole. The analysis of data on the elderly and the comparison of mens and womens fertility desires are also included. Censuses of population over four decades are used to measure population and fertility trends. Other chapters are devoted to the value placed on children sexual customs land and cattle ownership and marriage patterns. The study questionnaires are included in the appendices. It is concluded that in Ankole society childless men and women desired a large family of around 6.7 and 7.5 children respectively. Ideal family size was higher among families with children. Women had ideals of 7.8 children and men had ideals of 8.9 children. The strong extended family system reinforces the desire for a large family by providing financial support for education and weddings. Children begin to help around the house at an early age and are viewed as assets. Sexual customs are practiced that enhance a large family size: return to sexual relations soon after the birth of a child ritual sexual practices high sexual mobility between relatives and the lack of a postpartum abstinence sexual taboo. The number of children ever born was higher among cattle owners. Marriage variables had the strongest impact on fertility in the analysis of the proximate determinants of fertility. Contraception induced abortion and infertility had a limited impact. It is recommended that policy address mortality reduction as a means of reducing fertility levels in Ankole.

Is the relationship between childbearing and cancer incidence due to biology or lifestyle? Examples of the importance of using data on men.

Several studies have documented significant relationships between a woman's reproductive career and her risk of developing certain types of cancer. This can be due to biological processes triggered by pregnancy or various other factors that are influenced by or are influencing family size. In this paper it is discussed how data on men can be used to gain insight into the nature of the cancer-parity relationship. Hazard regression models for cancer incidence are estimated on the basis of register data for complete Norwegian birth cohorts. Survey data are used to assess differences in tobacco and alcohol consumption according to parity. It has been shown in previous studies that the effect of parity on the incidence of thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer and Hodgkin's disease is confined to women. By contrast, the present analysis demonstrates that the incidence of oral and pharyngeal cancer (379 cases) is just as strongly related to parity when the focus is on men as it is in female-oriented models. Except for the low incidence among childless men, the relationship between parity and the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma (4470 cases) is also similar for men and women. This suggests an association that operates through lifestyle factors, and runs counter to the hypothesis that sex hormones play an important role in the aetiology of malignant melanoma. With respect to malignancies in the oral cavity and pharynx, more frequent use of alcohol and tobacco among low-parity men and women can be intervening factor. This research suggests that future investigations into the importance of reproductive factors for women's cancer incidence should be supplemented with corresponding model estimates for men whenever possible or relevant.

The Value of Having Children as an Aspect of Adult Development

Abstract In an attempt to understand the meaning of parenthood as a function of life-cycle changes, we compared childless men and women in their 20s' perceived values of having children, with childless men and women in their 30s' perceptions of having children. The younger subjects expressed a greater desire to become parents than the older adults did and viewed parenthood as having greater personal value than the older adults did. A discriminant analysis revealed that the costs of parenthood, rather than the benefits, distinguished the older subjects from the younger, but that different costs were important for men than for women. The difference between the younger subjects' and the older subjects' perceived values of having children reflected a tendency toward an androgynous sex role identification, particularly for men.

Unemployment and Family Formation among Young Men

The relationship between domestic life and employment, clearly of great importance for women, has received little attention from sociologists as far as men are concerned. The paper investigates one aspect of this, namely the relationship between family formation and unemployment among young men. Using longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study, it provides evidence for the existence of direct causal links between family formation events and unemployment. After controlling for a variety of factors, marriage appears to reduce the probability of unemployment, and this is true even if the husband is in his teens when he marries. In contrast, marital breakdown and fathering one child raises the chances of unemployment. However fathers of two or more children have a higher probability of unemployment than childless men even before their first child is born, and this is even more marked for men with three or more children. This implies that by no means all of the correlation between family size and unemployment is explained by the fact that welfare benefits are related to the number of children: part at least appears to be due to prior unobserved factors which explain both high fertility and a raised probability of unemployment.

Childlessness revisited: A longitudinal study of voluntarily childless couples, delayed parents, and parents

A seven-year follow-up study of couples who were voluntarily childless, delayed parents, and parents was carried out utilizing questionnaire items from the original study by the author (Bram, 1974). At the time of the follow-up, the subjects were 33 years of age and were married nine years, on the average, thus facilitating an investigation of childbearing decisions over the life cycle. Data were collected on attitudes toward children and parenthood, self-image, marriage, lifestyle, and goals. Most of the original fertility statuses and expectations have held true: over two-thirds of the Childless have remained childless and most of the Delays have had children. Although the Childless are still relatively more nontraditional than the Delays and Parents, as in the original study, there are some convergences among the groups, e.g., the Delay and Parent women have become more achievement-oriented over time. There are divergences in the development of attitudes among the Childless men and women in regard to the meaning of childlessness and the value of work. The perceived quality of life varies according to both gender and fertility status, with the Delays expressing the greatest dissatisfaction.

The Desire for Voluntary Childlessness among Low-Income Youth

Data from 480 males and 466 females from low-income groups in 6 Southern states are used to explore differences betweeen those who state a desire for a childfree life and those who want children. Independent variables include educational and occupational aspirations and expectations labor force intentions of young women age at marriage preference and desires for urban residence. It was found that the high school aged young women who wanted to remain childless had higher social mobility orientations were less willing to accept the position of housewife only were more likely to prefer an urban residence and expected to marry at later ages. Males desiring no children had lower educational and occupational goals than those wanting children consistent with previous research which found a low career involvement among childless men. In the present study males who did not want children expected to marry at later ages and were more likely to want to live in urban areas. (authors modified)

A Comparison of the Resources of Parents and Childless Men and Women in Very Old Age

Reciprocal exchanges between parents and children are evident throughout the life cyc/e, but little is known about how the childless manage in old age. This research compared the personal and social resources and correlates of psychological well-being of parents and the childless based upon interviews with 103 childless persons and 438 parents, 72 years or older. Parents and nonparents reported similar resources. Children did not assure these older parents less loneliness, more positive appraisals of life, or greater acceptance of death. Accommodations the childless may have made to an atypical status did not have an adverse effect on well-being. It was concluded that the presence or absence of children did not seem to appreciably alter the lives of the very aged.

Psychologic effects of vasectomy in voluntarily childless men

Forty-four childless men and 51 vasectomized parents were compared as to their childhood backgrounds, marital satisfaction, sociallemotional adjustment, physical and emotional problems attributed to the vasectomy, and attitudes toward vasectomy as a means of birth control. The findings suggested that for young married men, firmly committed to childlessness and in agreement with their wives regarding the necessity of the operation, vasectomy appears to be as physically and psychologically safe as in married parents for at least a two-year period. There were differences in the childfree men and fathers in styles of adjustment, with the childfree reporting themselves to be more independent, mobile, and less tied to tradition; these differences were seen as being more related to choosing a childfree life style than to the choice of vasectomy as a contraceptive method.

The Memorial of the Childless Man

The Supper is indeed the memorial of a childless man, Jesus of Nazareth, who still today gives life to countless sons and daughters.

The Volume of the Semen: A Study of 3544 Childless Men

The Volume of the Semen: A Study of 3544 Childless Men