Voluntary Childlessness in Marriage and Family Textbooks, 1950—2000

Abstract

We perform a content analysis of twenty marriage and family textbooks published between 1950 and 2000 to study how the voluntarily childless are presented in undergraduate courses. Throughout the time period studied, independence, pursuit of a career, and romance were prominent themes in the representation of voluntary childlessness. Other themes emerged specific to each decade—the 1950s portrayed parenthood as a challenge, while the 1990s concentrated on alleviating negative stereotypes of the voluntarily childless.