La Vie Childfree

I ran across again a couple of articles I saw in summer 2009 that are worth a read if you have not seen them. Macleans Canada ‘s ”The Case Against Having Kids” by Anne Kingston discusses childfree issues, trends, and gives some recent stats.  

What struck me most was the discussion about getting flack for the decision.  Vancouver etalk reporter Elaine Lui was still getting pressure to change her mind six years after telling the public that she and her husband decided not to have children.  Kingston also talks about how Corinne Maier, the 45-year-old French psychotherapist who authored No Kids: 40 Good Reasons Not to Have Children got serious flack in France when her book came out. 

After this article came out, Kingston wrote another one, The “No-Kids Debate Continues .” 

Continue reading “Pressures, Judgments, Cruelty and Rejection Still Abound” »

In talking to people without children by choice for all over, many of them lament how hard it is to find other like minded people to socialize with. 

When researching Families of Two, I learned of a great social club called No Kidding! 

At the time it had a few chapters in the United States and Canada, and it continues to grow.  After searching for a social club for childfree couples and singles and finding that none existed, founder Jerry Steinberg decided to take the initiative and start a group on his own. Today, there are over 40 chapters in 5 countries.  

Continue reading “Meeting Like – Minded Friends” »

Just a few days ago (December 30) I posted on Dr. Robert Holden, who contends that while we are chasing after happiness more than ever, our happiness levels have not risen in recent years.  

Turns out there is a lot more evidence about happiness levels for men and women not only in recent years, but in the last 40 years.  Marcus Buckingham’s article, “What’s Happening to Women’s Happiness?”  sheds some amazing light on women’s happiness. 

Since 1972, the United States General Social Survey has asked a representative sample of 1,500 men and women of all ages, education, income and marital status to rate their happiness on a scale of 1-3 (1=not too, 3=very happy).  Other countries have done their own surveys as well; in the last 40 years more than 1.3 million men and women have been surveyed in the U.S. and in developed countries around the world.

Continue reading “More on Happiness in 2010: Not So for Women?” »

I saw a great show Monday night on public television called “This Emotional Life.”  It is part of a three part series.  Last night’s part was called “Family, Friends and Lovers” and looks at the importance of relationships and why they are central to emotional well-being.

When talking about family and marriage, the show stated some interesting information on marriages with no children vs marriages with children, and who is happier.  It indicated that while marriages with no children tended to be happier, those with children tended to stay in the marriage longer. In other words, if the marriage was having problems the ones with kids were more likely to try and hang in there.

The show did not go into detail about childfree couples. For example–

Continue reading “Childfree Couples or Parent Couples: Whose Happier?” »