Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Demography. 2022 Jun 1;59(3):813-826. doi: 10.1215/00703370-9987649.
Measuring childlessness is complicated by the increasing complexity of family structure. Using data from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study, in this research note we compared three definitions of childlessness: (1) respondent never fathered/gave birth to a child, (2) respondent had no children who were living and in contact, and (3) respondent and spouse/partner had no children or stepchildren who were living and in contact. Results showed that the prevalence of childlessness among Americans aged 55 or older ranged from 9.2% to 13.6% depending on which definition was used. The association between select individual characteristics (gender and marital status) and the likelihood of childlessness, as well as the association between childlessness and loneliness and living arrangements, also varied depending on how childlessness was defined. Therefore, how we define childlessness can affect our understanding of its prevalence, correlates, and relationships with well-being. Future research on childlessness should carefully consider the choice of definition and its implications for research and policy discussions.
衡量不育的复杂性日益增加的家庭结构。使用的数据来自 2014 年的健康和退休研究，在这项研究报告中，我们比较了三个定义的不育：（1）受访者从未父亲/生下孩子，（2）受访者没有孩子谁是生活和接触，和（3）受访者和配偶/伴侣有没有孩子或继子女谁是生活和接触。结果表明，在美国年龄在 55 岁或以上的不育的流行率从 9.2%到 13.6%，这取决于使用的定义。选择个体特征（性别和婚姻状况）与不育的可能性之间的关系，以及不育与孤独和生活安排之间的关系，也取决于如何定义不育。因此，我们如何定义不育可能会影响我们对其流行率、相关性以及与幸福感的关系的理解。未来的不育研究应该仔细考虑定义的选择及其对研究和政策讨论的影响。
