Page 7 - IJPS-7-2

International Journal of

Population Studies

PERSPECTIVE REVIEW
Childlessness: A review of the theoretical

frameworks and a proposition of general
pathways

Victor A. Leocádio*

Center for Development and Regional Planning (CEDEPLAR), Universidade Federal de Minas
Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

The literature on childlessness has received increasing prominence in demographic
studies because, with increasing levels of childlessness, it helps the understanding of
important demographic concerns, such as reproductive behavior, family formation,
and gender relations. Although a growing number of empirical studies on low
fertility have been discussing childlessness, less research has attempted to discuss
it from a theoretical perspective. This work has, therefore, the objective of debating
theoretically important and recurrent issues in the literature on childlessness. This
general aim is divided into three specific objectives: First, to discuss a range of
contexts, aspects, and theoretical approaches that explain childlessness, second, to
document the association between childlessness and important sociodemographic
variables, and third, to develop a proposition of general pathways to childlessness.
This study shows that several socioeconomic factors together with important
*Corresponding author: correlated theories help to explain increasing childlessness. It also documents how
Victor A. Leocádio
(victorantunesleocadio@gmail.com) childlessness is especially related to higher levels of education, singlehood, being
African descents, living in urban areas, and having no religious affiliation. This work
Citation: Leocádio, V.A., (2021). also finds and discusses four general pathways to childlessness in the proposed
Childlessness: A review of the
theoretical frameworks and a framework. This study contributes to the development of the theoretical framework
proposition of general pathways. on childlessness and encourages further research into this topic.
International Journal of Population
Studies, 7(2):1-13.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v7i2.352 Keywords: Childlessness; Theoretical framework; General pathways
Received: September 16, 2022
Accepted: November 3, 2022
Published Online: November 15, 1. Introduction
2022
The study of childlessness has gained greater relevance in demographic analyses due
Copyright: © 2022 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article to its increasing levels (Hayford, 2013; Leocádio et al., 2022; Reher & Requena, 2018;
distributed under the terms of the Tanturri et al., 2015). Historically, a U-shaped curve has characterized childlessness in
Creative Commons Attribution developed countries. After reaching high levels (15 – 25%) at the turn of the nineteenth
License, permitting distribution,
th
and reproduction in any medium, century, it decreased around the middle of the 20 century and increased again after
provided the original work is the 1960s (Festy, 1980; Poston & Trent, 1982; Rowland, 1998; Sobotka, 2017). Some
properly cited. studies show recent high levels of childlessness also in developing countries with low
Publisher’s Note: AccScience fertility (Cavenaghi & Alves, 2013; Leocádio et al., 2022; Pardo et al., 2020; Rosero-
Publishing remains neutral with Bixby et al., 2009). As it is an important and increasingly frequent feature of these low-
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional fertility societies (characterized as fertility below the replacement level (OECD, 2016;
affiliations. United Nations, 2003)), a further comprehension of childlessness (characterized as an

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2021) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v7i2.352