Measuring attitudes towards voluntary childlessness: Indicators in European comparative surveys

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Demography
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Voluntary childlessness is increasingly prevalent across Europe.
• Growing social acceptance necessitates refined measurement tools for comparative surveys.
• Understanding the nuances of acceptance requires examining distinct attitudinal dimensions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To differentiate between prescriptive and proscriptive dimensions of voluntary childlessness acceptance.
• To identify socio-demographic and macro-level factors influencing these dimensions.
• To assess gender differences in attitudes toward voluntary childlessness.

Main Methods:

• Comparative survey analysis across European countries.
• Examination of two distinct dimensions: prescriptive and proscriptive attitudes.
• Statistical modeling to assess the influence of individual and country-level variables.

Main Results:

• Socio-demographic variables impact prescriptive and proscriptive acceptance differently for men and women.
• Lower gender inequality at the macro level correlates with higher acceptance across both dimensions.
• Higher national childlessness rates positively influence prescriptive acceptance, but not proscriptive acceptance.
• Country-level religiosity did not show a significant association with either dimension of acceptance.

Conclusions:

• Distinguishing between prescriptive and proscriptive dimensions is crucial for understanding voluntary childlessness acceptance.
• Macro-level factors like gender equality play a significant role in shaping attitudes.
• Individual socio-demographic factors and societal contexts interact to influence views on childlessness.