Tomas Frejka, Independent Consultant
| When |
Apr 04, 2016
from 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Where | 1101 Morrill Hall |
| Contact Name | Tiffany Pittman |
| Contact Phone | 301-405-6403 |
| Attendees |
Luciana Assini-Meytin Luoman Bao Robin Bloodworth Carrie Clarady Monica Das Gupta Brittany Dernberger Frances Goldscheider Yuko Hara Joan Kahn Jung Kim Catherine Kuhns Xiaohong Ma Daniela Marshall Ui Jeong Moon Léa Pessin Deirdre Quinn Liana Sayer Yassaman Vafai Moriah Willow Yeats Ye Eowna Young Harrison |
| Add event to calendar |
 vCal iCal
|
About the Talk
This paper uses cohort fertility tables and periodic surveys to provide an overview of the development of childlessness in the United States. Estimates of the temporarily, involuntarily, and voluntarily childless are available. Childlessness has attracted considerable attention because it doubled between the mid-1970s and the mid-2000s, from 10 to about 20 per cent. The U.S. has experienced considerable variation in levels of childlessness. The challenging living conditions during the Great Depression of the 1930s were the principal cause of high childlessness. The contrasting favorable living standards and enlightened public policies of the late 1940s-1960s were instrumental in maintaining low childlessness. For much of the 20th century, childlessness was higher among blacks than among whites mainly because their living conditions were more difficult. Subsequently, black childlessness declined below that of whites possibly due to rapid improvements in health and living conditions which nonetheless remained inferior. Numerous additional factors have been shaping childlessness in the U.S., including high female employment rates, the conflict between work and family responsibilities, separation of spouses due to wars or incarceration, high costs of childrearing, inadequate childcare infrastructure, insecurity of employment and income, uncertainty of spousal relationships, and concern for the wellbeing of children. Because the interactions of factors which shape childlessness are not well understood, it is difficult to make predictions. Future trends will depend on the extent to which material conditions will facilitate or obstruct family formation, and cultural norms change. Nonetheless, alternative scenarios provide a reasonably good idea of likely future trends in childlessness.
About the Speaker
Frejka worked in numerous countries as Senior Associate of the Population Council, New York (1969-1991), and Senior Population Expert at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Geneva, Switzerland (1991-1996), and was Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Columbia University in New York (1977-2002).
Please note that, at the present time, Morrill Hall is not accessible for handicapped individuals.