It is now more acceptable than ever to put a pause on childbearing, and for many women, bring it to a complete halt. More American women are childless than ever before, according to the Census Bureau’s newest findings from April 7, 47.6 percent of 15–44 year old women are childless.

The number of women holding off on having their first child in the U.S. has doubled, and opting out of children has increased by 12.5 percent since 1976. There are numerous possible causes including unemployment, contraceptives and education to name a few, but one of the most important is the change of social norms.

The change in norms reflects a change in women’s mindsets when it comes to children. However, this mindset is not uniform: the higher the educational attainment, the more prevalent it is for women to opt out of having children. While 22.5 percent of women who have a graduate or professional degree were childless, only 15 percent of high school graduates were childless in 2014.

In countries like Japan, Canada, Russia and Denmark fertility rates are decreasing faster, past the replacement rate. This rate, common to demographers, is suggested that the fertility rate is two to one, or roughly two children for every couple — just enough to replace themselves. This golden number would keep population rates consistent, but it’s more of an ideal than a rule. When the U.S. hit 1.86 births per woman in 2014, more experts credited it to a delay in marriage, and in return, a delay in childbearing.
The CDC defines childbearing years as 15–44 years old, and now with men and women waiting longer to settle down, the window of opportunity to have children can be smaller. These numbers shouldn’t instill worry however, because compared to most developed countries, America is “graying at a slower pace” according to the Public Reference Bureau.

Numerous articles examine these statistics trying to understand why women would opt out, assuming there must be a reason. Not all individuals are destined to have children; some people simply don’t want one. It’s not always because they have a demanding career or are infertile. And that’s what is hard for society to wrap its mind around, these women don’t need to give a motive — it is their choice.

What’s important here is that these numbers represent a trend toward women’s autonomy. It is not expected for women to have child at a specific age, or to have one at all. Being a mother is more of a choice now than it ever was, because being childless does not have to be synonymous with barren, sterile and unproductive, even though dictionaries will still spew out those alternates. However, stigma is not completely erased. An individual, and even more, couples still face the question, “Why don’t you want children?”

Even more so, there is still not a neutral term for childlessness. Childless assumes someone is missing something, when in most cases the person or couple does not see it that way. Now, don’t get me wrong, mothers are important and we need them, but it should be just as valid of a choice to be one as it is to opt out. The societal expectation for young straight men and women to get married and have two children is finally losing its steam.

Julia Smith is a junior newspaper and online journalism and sociology dual major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @jcsmith711.

Published on April 12, 2015 at 10:22 pm