Childfree is a term for a movement, ideology, or subculture associated with a voluntary and conscious reluctance to have children.
What is CHILDFREE – meaning and definition in simple words.
In simple words, Childfree is a social movement, the essence of which is that people voluntarily, based on internal beliefs, refuse to have children for one reason or another. As for the term “childfree”, it arose in the 1970s in the USA (then this movement actually originated). It was invented in order to distinguish people who simply do not want to have children from those who cannot have them for health reasons.
Why do people make their choice in favor of Childfree?
If we talk about why some people choose the Childfree path for themselves, then first of all it should be noted that they can be conditionally divided into two main groups, these are:
- Rejectors are people who simply do not like children, and have a pathological dislike for everything related to children, caring for them, and the process of childbearing in general.
- Aficionados are more practical people. They do not have any particular dislike for children. They simply believe that without children, it is possible to lead a brighter and unburdened life with worries and responsibilities.
Based on this, we can conclude that in relation to the first (Rejectors), the situation is quite simple. They don’t have children because they just don’t like them. Perhaps this is for the best. With aficionados, the situation is much more interesting. This category includes people who make a choice in favor of childfree, guided by many different reasons, from elementary selfishness to economic pragmatism or fear.
The main and most common reasons why people choose the childfree path are:
- Career. Many people believe that children will not allow them to achieve career heights. This point is especially acute for women, since it is on their shoulders that all the hardships of childbearing and further care for the child fall.
- Selfishness, hedonism and personal freedom. This reason is due to the fact that many people are not ready to change their free and conditionally carefree lifestyle for the chores associated with raising children.
- Finance. It is no secret that children and their care, up to education, are all quite expensive.
- Self-doubt or childhood trauma. Some people refuse to have children because they are not sure that they can become good parents. Perhaps they lack self-confidence, responsibility, or some other personal qualities. There are also situations where people don’t want to have children because they had an unhappy childhood, and they don’t want the same for their child.
- Fear of the world. Some people believe that our world is too dangerous and scary place to have a child and subject him to such horrors.
Childfree, is it good or bad?
It is impossible to give a definite and unambiguous answer to this question, since this is a very conditional and rather extensive topic. Both in favor of childfree and against this position, you can find a lot of arguments. So, for example, opponents of this movement constantly reproach childfree that because of them, we are dying out as a species. But, this is far from the case. There are not so many adherents of this ideology, and the population of the Earth is constantly and steadily growing. In defense of the childfree position, we can make this argument: if people do not like children, or are not able to provide them with a normal childhood, then why should they have children.
As a result, we can conclude:
Childfree is neither good nor bad. This is fine. This is the personal choice of each person. It’s the 21st century, and it’s time to leave all the stereotypes and dogmas where they belong, namely in the past. People themselves have the right to decide how to deal with their own lives.
