The Supreme Court's overturn of Wade paved the way for limits on abortion, but also created uncertainty about the future of contraceptives. A research team from Michigan State University found that over one in five Michigan adults don't want children.
About 1.7 million people in Michigan do not want children and are considered childfree. The population of Michigan's nine largest cities is less than that of the study.
The study used three questions to identify childfree individuals who weren't related to parents. The State of the State Survey was conducted by the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at the University of Michigan. Neal said that this study is one of the first to count childfree adults.
According to the study, people who say they don't want children are often told they will change their minds. Most people make the decision to be childfree in their teens and twenties. People of all ages claim they don't want children. The average age of women who decided in their teens to be childfree is nearly 40.
Michigan is demographically similar to the United States as a whole, even though the study was done there. 50 to 60 million Americans could be childfree if the pattern holds up nationwide.
According to Watling Neal, a large number of Americans are at risk of being forced to have children even if they don't want them. Many young women who have decided to be childfree may have difficulty avoiding pregnancies if more precedents are overturned.
The researchers said that this group deserves more attention because of their childfree status. They hope that future work will help the public understand why people choose to be childfree and what happens when they do.
More information: Zachary P. Neal et al, Prevalence, age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgements of childfree adults, Scientific Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15728-z Journal information: Scientific Reports
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