How Older People Position Their Late‐Life Childlessness: A Qualitative Study

• Published date: 01 February 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01019.x
• Date: 01 February 2013
• Author: Janine L. Wiles,Ruth E. S. Allen

RUTH E. S. ALLEN AND JANINE L. WILES The University of Auckland

How Older People Position Their Late-Life

Childlessness: A Qualitative Study

This research explored how older people

describe their paths to late-life childlessness. In-

depth accounts from 38 childless older people,

age 63 – 93, highlight the complex journeys

and diverse meanings of childlessness for male

and female participants, single and partnered,

including some who had outlived children.

Positioning theory is used to show how the

conventional voluntary – involuntary binary is

insuff‌icient for capturing their experiences.

Childlessness was for some an active choice to

break a family violence cycle; for others, it was

an outcome of social upheaval. It evoked feelings

of both grief and relief over time, it was seen

as evidence of discernment in being unwilling

to parent at any price, or it was something that

felt ‘‘natural’’ within a meaningful life. Rates

of childlessness are increasing; this research

highlights the fact that pathways and meanings

of childlessness vary so much that it is unwise to

assume that people have similar experiences of

nonparenthood, especially in later life.

The concept of being childless seems self-

explanatory, meaning that a person does not

have children; it is the opposite of being a

parent. But in this article, the apparent simplicity

of the notion of being childless is challenged.

Department of Social and Community Health, School of

Population Health, The University of Auckland, Private Bag

92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand (ruthallen@pl.net).

This article was edited by David H. Demo.

Key Words: aging, childlessness, infertility, narrative

gerontology, positioning theory.

We explored the research question, ‘‘What

does childlessness mean in the context of

growing older?’’ in interviews with childless

participants age 63 to 93 (average age: 80). This

question seeks to build on and complement the

existing literature by providing (a) a qualitative

understanding of the def‌initions and meanings

of childlessness to older people themselves;

(b) a life course perspective on nonparents’

journeys, as opposed to a focus on comparison

with the ‘‘norm’’ of the parental life course;

and (c) descriptive examples to help individuals

who work in the f‌ields of families and aging

to reconsider assumptions and preconceptions

about childlessness, especially in relation to later

life. We argue that a more rigorous consideration

of what the term childless may mean, including

as it shifts subjectively across the life course, will

ensure an improved understanding of well-being

factors and more effectively targeted research

and interventions.

This research used positioning theory (Davies

&Harr

´

e, 1990) to highlight the multiple and

contingent positions that older people them-

selves occupy in relation to their childlessness.

Our data show that a simple parent – nonparent

classif‌ication says little about the experiences

involved in such states, or the health or social

sequelae to be expected. The life course lit-

erature highlights the multiple trajectories and

well-being changes over the life span in relation

to family life, especially parenthood (Umberson,

Pudrovska, & Reczek, 2010), but less has been

understood about the life course pathways of

individuals and couples without children (Bul-

croft & Teachman, 2004). Our research begins

to address that gap, illuminating childlessness as

206 Journal of Marriage and Family 75 (February 2013): 206 – 220

DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01019.x