Why Childless Men and Women Give Up on Having Children

摘要: In this paper we address the question why childless women and men aged 35 years older, who originally were considering having children, voluntarily gave up on children. We hypothesise that adjustment could be attributed to five mechanisms: adaptation a lifestyle without children; resignation because of severe hindrances approaching end fecund period; perceiving low degree social influence from significant others have personal persistence in pursuing life goals. analyse data first six waves German Family Panel (Pairfam) employ multinomial logistic regression models. As dependent variable distinguished four types sequences over observation period: “permanently children”, “given “switching”, not children”. Being female, being employed, scores emotional autonomy scale increased likelihood giving while anticipating positive consequences parenthood parents child decreased it. The results show all mechanisms addressed by hypotheses at work certain extent. particular, integration personality factors importance other goals beyond provided valuable insights into reasons for Future research field should focus more than was possible our study societal age norms role partners