Certain products and services are naturals for childless couples, who can often afford and seek out expensive travel arrangements, spas, exotic locations and adventure destinations that don't easily accommodate children. Childless couples say they avoid traveling during school holidays and take flights early in the morning, when kid travel tends to be light. Instead of heading to Orlando's theme parks, says Childless by Choice founder Karen Smith, couples without kids go on bike and walking tours, ecological vacations, archeological digs and museum tours. Some choose the exit rows in the airplane, from which children are prohibited, and stay at bed-and-breakfasts and hotels geared toward honeymooners or business travelers.

They travel differently and dine differently, and childless couples also spend differently on such big-ticket items as homes, second homes and cars. Many work long hours and are willing to splurge on a nice car for their commute, according to author Elinor Burkett. "You're not going to see many childless people with vans," she says. "They don't need mommy cars." Carrieann Lahain, 32, from Central Islip, N.Y., says many auto commercials turn her off. "Couples without children are always shown preparing for parenthood. They're decorating the nursery, trading in the car for a minivan. Just once I'd like to see someone trading in the SUV and buying a Corvette." Maria Bareiss, 29, of New London, Conn., and her husband collect cars. They have their eye on what would be their sixth purchase - the environmentally friendly Toyota Prius. "Everyone I know who owns a hybrid car doesn't have children," Bareiss says.

Childless couples tend to have not only more discretionary income than larger families, but more time on their hands too. That often means more attention paid to second jobs, hobbies and passions. They also tend to give money to charity and to volunteer. Mitch Greenberg's No Kidding! group in Baltimore has gone skydiving together and is planning a hang-gliding trip this year. "Many of us probably wouldn't take that kind of risk if we had kids," Greenberg says.

Madelyn Cain originally wrote The Childless Revolution (Perseus, 2001) to put a face on childless people, who seemed to be overlooked. But after interviewing 125 child-free women, she was surprised how widespread the choice had already become. "Even if this isn't a sanctioned option, it's being embraced by more and more people with each generation," Cain says. "Women in their 50s feel an emotional expectation of themselves as mothers. Women in their 40s are split. But women in their 30s feel very little social obligation to meet those expectations even when their families and friends pressure them. Which shows me the choice to remain childless is only getting stronger."

THE CHILDLESS BUDGET

Methodology: The analysis by Third Wave was created using Consumer Expenditure Survey data from 1999, the most recent data available. In order to look at couples without any children, Third Wave and American Demographics restricted the ages to married people between 22 and 45 years old. This was to avoid grouping in empty-nesters with childless couples. We also controlled the number of people per household to two for childless couples, to ensure that adult children still in the household were included. By doing so, it is important to recognize that the numbers do not include childless couples who have a friend, tenant, parent or other family member residing with them.

GENERATIONS OF CHILDLESSNESS

CHILDLESS MARRIED COUPLES ON THE RISE

THE MARCH 2000 CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY SHOWS THAT 30 MILLION MARRIED COUPLES DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE CHILDREN IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD. WHILE THIS INCLUDES EMPTY-NESTERS, THE NUMBERS ARE STILL SIGNIFICANT

Source: "Americas Family and Living Arrangements," Current Population Survey, 2000

FORGET THE BABYSITTER

WHY 'CHILD FREE?'

Childless-by-choice couples say their education reflects who they are - their interests, personalities and priorities.

Many couples without children prefer to call themselves "child free," since to them "childless" implies a lack or a loss. "Child free," however, connotes emancipation from the time, money, energy and responsibility that parenting requires. Couples without kids say choosing not to have children does not mean they are selfish, immature or unhappy - though they often feel American society portrays them that way.

Why choose childlessness? "A lot of what's going on has to do with gender and gender role changes," says Pamela Smock, a sociologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. "As women rise up the corporate ladder and have higher incomes, they realize and decide that they just can't do it all, which is a myth anyway. Or they find out that they don't want to. Also birth control technology is a big factor here. We have the choice." Adds David Foot, economist at the University of Toronto: "Female education is the most important determinant of fertility. The higher education a woman has, the greater likelihood that she won't have children."

Others remain without children for religious or ideological reasons. "They're well-educated and socially aware," says Madelyn Cain, author of The Childless Revolution (Perseus, 2001), who interviewed 125 couples for her book. Cain found a whole group who cite environmental reasons. "At first I thought it was a fluke," she recalls. "But they kept turning up. And they had all spent some time in Third World countries and had witnessed the poverty that comes from overpopulation."

Laura Carroll, who interviewed over 100 child-free couples for her book, Families of Two: Interviews with Happily Married Couples Without Children by Choice (Xlibris, 2000), confirms Cain's findings. Carroll talked to many couples who formed their values in the 1960s and have retained them throughout their lives, and says that such political consciousness extends to younger generations. "There are more young men in their 30s getting vasectomies," Carroll says. "They don't want to bring more children in this world."

But the vast majority of childless couples say they simply don't want kids or don't think they're suited for parenthood. They wouldn't like being mothers, don't think they'd be good fathers or they simply aren't especially inclined toward having children. Many lack the emotional desire.

"Children don't interest me," says Carrieann Lahain, 32, from Central Islip, N.Y. Lahain and her husband, married for six years, decided early on to forgo having children; her husband had a vasectomy when he was 24. "I don't have the patience that one needs to put up with a child 24/7. And I'm interested in other things that would be squeezed out by parenting."

COPYRIGHT 2001 Copyright by Media Central Inc., A PRIMEDIA Company. All rights reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

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