childless / child-free
Last updatedDefinition
Childless and child-free refer to the experience of people who have no children. Child-free often refers to people who consciously decide not to become a parent, while childless may refer to either those who don’t yet have children but want to at some point in the future or those who want to have children now but cannot. Studies reveal the term may be used differently to describe men versus women; due to entrenched attitudes and expectations around women’s roles in society, women may face more scrutiny and judgment of their choices of whether to have children. Many women who identify as childless associate the experience with a need to explain or justify why they cannot have children, which for some, can be wounding, especially when asked, “Why don’t you have kids?” More neutral phrasing, if necessary and relevant to include in coverage, is something like “has no children,” though as with any identifier, taking into account a person’s preference when possible ensures coverage aligns with their lived experience.
Additional resources
- The adults celebrating child-free lives (BBC)
- Child-free by choice: Why many women are intentionally opting out of motherhood (USA Today)
- Growing share of childless adults in U.S. don’t expect to ever have children (Pew Research Center)
Summary
Childless and child-free refer to the experience of people who have no children. Social implications can differ between the terms when discussing an adult’s choice of whether to become a parent. Child-free often refers to people who consciously decide not to become a parent, while childless may refer to either those who don’t yet have children but want to at some point in the future or those who want to have children now but cannot. More neutral phrasing, if necessary and relevant to include in coverage, is something like “has no children,” though as with any identifier, taking into account a person’s preference when possible ensures coverage aligns with their lived experience.