More and more young women are declaring their intention not to conceive children. BirthStrike, Conceivable Future and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have all made headlines on this point. Erika and Dave unpack the issues surrounding womanhood without motherhood in this conversation with the author of the new book, Childfree by Choice, sociologist Amy Blackstone.

Amy is a professor of Sociology at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at University of Maine. Her research into the childfree choice has appeared in a variety of academic and media sources including the New York Times, National Public Radio, and other national, regional, and international outlets.

Childfree by Choice: The Movement Redefining Family & Creating a New Age of Independence is a definitive investigation into the history and current growing movement of adults choosing to forgo parenthood: what it means for our society, economy, environment, perceived gender roles, and legacies, and how understanding and supporting all types of families can lead to positive outcomes for parents, non-parents, and children alike.

Amy writes about her own experience as a childfree woman, as well as the stories of other childfree men and women, and uses academic research to shed light into the choice that remains culturally misunderstood. As more people are choosing to forgo parenthood today than ever before, it’s important to ask how this affects our society, economy, and environment. We dig deep into this topic and hear from Amy herself about whether she thinks we should keep having kids, and more about her view on the population-environment connection, an area Erika hopes to study in graduate school.

Being childfree herself, Erika is a firm advocate, and hopes to add more positive attention to the childfree choice in the media as co-host for the GrowthBusters podcast and in her future research endeavors.

Get Your Childfree Sticker! Wanting to make childfree and small-family decisions cool and a point of pride, Dave created small family stickers for you to put on the rear window of your car (a variation on the common stick figure families). Order yours here. Display it proudly to change the norm, making it “okay” to be childfree, even “cool.”

Apply to be a Producer or Editor on the GrowthBusters PodcastWe need a little help cranking out episodes. If you have the skills, we definitely want to hear from you. If you just have the aptitude but interest in learning and helping, you could be a great candidate. Send us a note with a little bit about your skills, experience, availability and interest.  

LINKS:

Book Signing Event Schedule and Event Requests

Will Not Having Children Save the Planet?The Stream on Al Jazeera English

I Chose Not To Have Kids Because I’m Afraid For The Planet by Ash Sanders

Childfree by Choice: The Movement Redefining Family and Creating a New Age of IndependenceAmy’s new book

What Gets Left Behind for Future Generations? Reproduction and the Environment in Spey Bay, ScotlandJournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

World Vasectomy Day

Film: To Kid or Not to Kid

Further Reading:

Keeping Families Small a Patriotic Act: ModiIndia Prime Minister Narendra Modi urges adoption of small families I Had 2 Kids. Now I Work to Influence People Against Having Their Own

It’s Given Me Freedom': Three Women on Being Childless by Choice

Toward a Small Family Ethic by Travis Rieder

 

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