Department of Sociology and Anthropology, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Centre for Family and Population Research, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Adv Life Course Res. 2024 Sep;61:100628. doi: 10.1016/j.alcr.2024.100628. Epub 2024 Jun 24.
The proportions of adults reaching midlife without having children have been rising rapidly across the globe, particularly in Asia. However, little is known about the pathways to permanent childlessness within the region's childless population. This study utilized latent class analysis (LCA) to typologize pathways to childlessness based on dynamic characteristics of multiple life domains (i.e., partnership, education, and occupation) among 489 childless Singaporeans aged 50 and above from a 2022 nationwide survey. Additionally, we utilized multinomial logistic regressions to examine the sociodemographic correlates of pathway profiles and Shannon's entropy index to assess the heterogeneity in pathways to childlessness among successive cohorts. Results revealed five distinct profiles of pathways to childlessness: the Never-Married Semi-Professionals, the Low-Flex Blue-Collars, the Highly Educated Professionals, the Ever-Married Semi-Professionals, and the Flexible Blue-Collars. These pathway profiles were significantly associated with sociodemographic characteristics such as gender and family background. Women's pathways to childlessness were more standardized and heavily influenced by partnership characteristics, compared to those of men. The childless from privileged family background were less likely to follow pathways characterized by disadvantageous education and occupational status. There were also rising trends of voluntary childlessness among married childless individuals and increasing heterogeneity in pathways to childlessness across successive birth cohorts. In sum, our findings are consistent with some of the predictions of the Second Demographic Transition theory, suggesting that Singapore may be experiencing a demographic transition characterized by rising childlessness, decoupling of marriage and childbearing, and de-standardization of the life course.
全球范围内，尤其是在亚洲，达到中年但没有孩子的成年人比例迅速上升。然而，对于该地区无子女人群中永久性无子女的途径，人们知之甚少。本研究利用潜在类别分析（LCA），根据新加坡 2022 年全国性调查中 489 名 50 岁及以上的无子女新加坡人的多个生活领域（即伴侣关系、教育和职业）的动态特征，对无子女途径进行了分类。此外，我们利用多项逻辑回归来检验途径特征与社会人口统计学的相关性，并利用香农熵指数来评估连续队列中无子女途径的异质性。结果显示，无子女途径存在五种不同的模式：从未结婚的半专业人士、低灵活性蓝领工人、高学历专业人士、已婚半专业人士和灵活蓝领工人。这些途径模式与性别和家庭背景等社会人口统计学特征显著相关。与男性相比，女性的无子女途径更为标准化，且受伴侣关系特征的影响更大。来自特权家庭背景的无子女者不太可能走教育和职业地位不利的途径。已婚无子女者中自愿无子女的趋势也在上升，且连续出生队列中无子女途径的异质性也在增加。总之，我们的研究结果与第二次人口转变理论的一些预测一致，表明新加坡可能正在经历以生育率上升、婚姻和生育脱钩以及生活轨迹非标准化为特征的人口转变。
