Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Childlessness Among Men in Australia

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examines childlessness in later adult life among males in Australia. The data are from 1,610 males aged 45–59 interviewed in 2001 for Wave 1 of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, a large-scale, nationwide, longitudinal survey of the household population. Staged logistic regression models are used to identify the early lifecourse antecedents of a man being childless in later life and the mediating effects of work-related variables and duration of union. The results show that the father’s and mother’s occupations, the level and type of education, and birthplace are important early lifecourse antecedents of whether a man is childless in later life. The lengths of time a man has been in married and cohabiting and his current occupation are found shown to have significant relationships with whether he is childless.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J., & McDonald, P. (2000). Fertility and multiculturalism: Immigrant fertility in Australia 1977–1991. The International Migration Review, 34(1), 215–242. doi:10.2307/2676018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1997a). How Australians use their time. Catalogue Number 4153.0. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1997b). Australian standard classification of occupations (ASCO) (2nd ed.). Catalogue Number 1220.0. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2006a). Tobacco smoking in Australia, 2004-05. Catalogue Number 4831.0.55.001. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved January 7, 2009 from http://www.abs.gov.au.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2006b). Pregnancy and employment transitions. Australia. Catalogue Number. 4913.0 Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007). Births. Catalogue Number 3101.0. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2008a). Overweight and obesity in adults, Australia, 2004-05. Catalogue Number 4719.0. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved January 7, 2009 from http://www.abs.gov.au.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2008b). Australian historical population statistics. Catalogue Number 3105.0.65.001. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved December 16, 2008 from http://www.abs.gov.au.

  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2008). Australia’s health. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved January 7, 2009 from http://www.aihw.gov.au.

  • Baxter, J. (2002). Patterns of change and stability in the gender division of household labour in Australia, 1986–1997. Journal of Sociology (Melbourne, Vic.), 38(4), 399–424. doi:10.1177/144078302128756750.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baxter, J. (2008). Is money the main reason mothers return to work after childbearing? Journal of Population Research, 25(2), 141–160. doi:10.1007/BF03031946.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berrington, A., & Diamond, I. (1999). Marital dissolution among the 1958 British birth cohort: The role of cohabitation. Population Studies, 53(1), 19–38. doi:10.1080/00324720308066.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, S. M. (2000). Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity. Demography, 37(4), 401–414. doi:10.1353/dem.2000.0001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birrell, B., Rapson, V., & Hourigan, C. (2004). Men and women apart: Partnering in Australia. Melbourne: Australian Family Association and Monash University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blake, J. (1979). Is zero preferred? American attitudes towards childlessness in the 1970s. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 245–257. doi:10.2307/351694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borrie, W. D. (1993). The European peopling of Australasia: A demographic history, 1788–1988. Canberra: ANU.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bracher, M., Santow, G., Morgan, S. P., & Trussell, J. (1993). Marriage dissolution in Australia: Models and explanations. Population Studies, 47(3), 403–425. doi:10.1080/0032472031000147216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breusch, T., & Gray, E. (2004a). New estimates of mothers’ forgone earnings using HILDA data. Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 7(June), 125–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breusch, T., & Gray, E. (2004b). Does marriage improve the wages of men and women in Australia? Paper presented to the Australian Population Association 12th Biennial Conference, Canberra 15–17 September. Retrieved November 20, 2007 http://acsr.anu.edu.au/APA2004/papers/7D_Breusch.pdf.

  • Broderick, E. (2008). Gender equality: What matters to Australian men and women. Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. Available via http://www.humanrights.gov.au. Cited 16 December 2008.

  • Cannold, L. (2004). Declining marriage rates and gender inequity in social institutions: Towards an adequately complex explanation of childlessness. People and Place, 12(4), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, G. A. (1998). Things ain’t what they used to be! Demography, mental cohorts, morality and values in Post-War Australia. Journal of the Australian Population Association, 15(2), 91–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, G. A., & McDonald, P. (2003). Fertility trends and differentials. In S. E. Khoo & P. McDonald (Eds.), The transformation of Australia’s population 1970–2030 (pp. 40–76). Sydney: UNSW.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, G. A., & Whittaker, A. (2007a). Choice and circumstance: Qualitative insights into contemporary childlessness in Australia. European Journal of Population, 23(2), 111–143. doi:10.1007/s10680-006-9112-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, G. A., & Whittaker, A. (2007b). Forming relationships in Australia: Qualitative insights into a process important to human wellbeing. Journal of Population Research, 24(1), 23–50. doi:10.1007/BF03031877.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers, G. M., Ho, M. T., & Sullivan, E. A. (2006). Assisted reproductive technology treatment costs of a live birth: An age stratified cost-outcome study of treatment in Australia. The Medical Journal of Australia, 184(4), 155–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, B., Dunlop, Y., Gray, M., Liu, A., & Mitchell, D. (2001). The impact of children on the lifetime earnings of Australian women: Evidence from the 1990s. The Australian Economic Review, 34, 373–389. doi:10.1111/1467-8462.00207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, D. A. (2000). Male fertility trends in industrialised countries: Theories in search of some evidence. In C. H. Bledsoe, S. Lerner, & J. I. Guyer (Eds.), Fertility and the male life-cycle in the era of fertility decline (pp. 29–60). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L. (2005). Does father’s care mean father’s share? Gender & Society, 20(2), 259–281. doi:10.1177/0891243205285212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L. (2006). Children and the revolution: A time diary analysis of the impact of motherhood on daily workload. Journal of Sociology (Melbourne, Vic.), 42(2), 125–143. doi:10.1177/1440783306064942.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., & Bittman, M. (2004). The effect of children on adult’s time-use: Analysis of the incremental time costs of children in Australia. Paper presented to the Conference on Cross National Comparisons of Expenditures on Children at Princeton, New Jersey, USA, January 8–9, 2004.

  • European Commission. (2004). How Europeans spend their time: Everyday life of women and men. Luxembourg: Office for official publications of European communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilding, M. (2005). Rampant misattributed paternity: The creation of an urban myth. People and Place, 13(2), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilding, M., & Turney, L. (2006). Public opinion on DNA peternity testing: The influence of the media. People and Place, 14(2), 4–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, E. (2002). What do we know about men’s fertility levels in Australia? People and Place, 10(4), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, M., Qu, L., Stanton, D., & Weston, R. (2004). Long work hours and the wellbeing of fathers and their families. Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 7(2), 255–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagestad, G. O., & Call, V. R. A. (2007). Pathways to childlessness: A life course perspective. Journal of Family Issues, 28(10), 1338–1361. doi:10.1177/0192513X07303836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hand, K., & Lewis, V. (2002). Father’s views on family life and paid work; do working fathers think they have enough time to spend with their children? Family Matters (Melbourne, Vic.), 63(Autumn), 26–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henman, P., Percival, R., Harding, A., & Gray, M. (2007). Costs of children: Research commissioned by the ministerial taskforce on child support. Occasional Paper No. 18. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

  • Juby, H., & Le Bourdais, C. (1998). The changing context of fatherhood in Canada: A life course analysis. Population Studies, 52(2), 163–175. doi:10.1080/0032472031000150356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karmel, P. (1993). How much education? Journal of the Australian Population Association, 10(1), 17–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, G., & Uhlenberg, P. (2000). The influence of parenthood on the work effort of married men and women. Social Forces, 78(3), 931–949. doi:10.2307/3005936.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koropeckyj-Cox, T., & Call, V. R. A. (2007). Characteristics of older childless persons and parents: Cross-national comparisons. Journal of Family Issues, 28(10), 1362–1414. doi:10.1177/0192513X07303837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lappegard, T. (2008). Changing the gender balance in caring: Fatherhood and the division of parental leave in Norway. Population Policy and Research Review, 27(2), 139–159. doi:10.1007/s11113-007-9057-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesthaeghe, R. (1995). The Second Demographic Transition in Western countries: An interpretation. In K. O. Mason & A. M. Jensen (Eds.), Gender and family change in industrialized countries (pp. 17–62). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marks, G. N. (2006). Family size, family type and student achievement: Cross-national differences and the role of socioeconomic and school factors. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 37(1), 1–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, P. F. (1974). Marriage in Australia: Age at first marriage and proportions marrying, 1860–1971. Canberra: ANU.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, P. (2000). Gender equity, social institutions and the future of fertility. Journal of Population Research, 17(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, P. (2006). Low fertility and the state: The efficacy of policy. Population and Development Review, 32(3), 485–512. doi:10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00134.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan, R. (2007). Male infertility. Fact sheet published by Andrology Australia. Retrieved January 7, 2009 from http://www.andrologyaustralia.org.

  • McLachlan, R., & De Kretser, D. M. (2001). Male infertility: The case for continued research. The Medical Journal of Australia, 174, 116–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan, R. I., Yazdani, A., Kovacs, G., & Howlett, D. (2005). Management of the infertile couple. Australian Family Physician, 34(3), 111–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLanahan, S. (2004). Diverging destinies: How children are faring under the second demographic transition. Demography, 41(4), 607–627. doi:10.1353/dem.2004.0033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merlo, R., & Rowland, D. (2000). The prevalence of childlessness in Australia. People and Place, 8(2), 21–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, P. J., Law, M., Torzillo, P. J., & Kaldor, J. (2001). Incident sexually transmitted infections and their risk factors in an Aboriginal community in Australia: A population based cohort study. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 77, 21–25. doi:10.1136/sti.77.1.21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parr, N. J. (2005). Family background, schooling and childlessness in Australia. Journal of Biosocial Science, 37(2), 229–243. doi:10.1017/S0021932004006546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parr, N. (2006). Do children from small families do better? Journal of Population Research, 23(1), 1–25. doi:10.1007/BF03031865.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parr, N. (2007). Which women stop at one child in Australia. Journal of Population Research, 24(2), 1–20. doi:10.1007/BF03031931.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parr, N., Ferris, S., & Mahuteau, S. (2007). The impact of children on Australian women’s and men’s superannuation. Economic and Labour Relations Review, 18(1), 3–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Percival, R., & Harding, A. (2002). All they need is love and around $450,000. The AMP_NATSEM Income and Wealth Report, No. 3. AMP.

  • Rowland, D. T. (2007). Historical trends in childlessness. Journal of Family Issues, 28(10), 1311–1337. doi:10.1177/0192513X07303823.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smyth, B., Weston, R., Moloney, L., Richardson, N., & Temple, J. (2008). Changes in patterns of post-separation parenting over time: Recent Australian data. Journal of Family Studies, 14(1), 23–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • University of Maryland Medical Centre. (2006). Infertility in men. University of Maryland Medical Centre. Retrieved January 7, 2009 from http://www.umm.edu/patiented/.

  • Van de Kaa, D. (1997). Options and sequences: Europe’s demographic patterns. Journal of the Australian Population Association, 14(1), 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waite, L. J., & Lillard, L. A. (1991). Children and marital disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 96(4), 930–953. doi:10.1086/229613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, N., & Wooden, M. (2002). The household, income and labour dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey: Wave 1 survey methodology. Hilda Project Technical Paper Series No. 1/02.

  • Weston, R., & Qu, L. (2001). Men’s and women’s reasons for not having children. Family Matters (Melbourne, Vic.), 58, 10–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weston, R., Qu, L., Parker, R., & Alexander, M. (2004). It’s not for lack of wanting kids. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse, G., Baird, M., Diamond, C., & Hosking, A.(2006). Parental leave in Australia survey: November 2006 report. Retrieved January 2, 2007 from http://www.uq.edu.a/polsis/parental-leave/level1-report.pdf.

  • Williamson, M., McVeigh, C., & Baafi, M. (2008). An Australian perspective on fatherhood and sexuality. Midwifery, 24(1), 99–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Z. (1995). The stability of cohabiting relationships: The role of children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57(Feb), 231–236. doi:10.2307/353831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This paper uses confidentialised unit record file from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Family, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (MIAESR). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the author and should not be attributed to either FaHCSIA or the MIAESR. The author wishes to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Nick Parr

Authors
  1. Nick Parr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nick Parr.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Parr, N. Childlessness Among Men in Australia. Popul Res Policy Rev 29, 319–338 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-009-9142-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-009-9142-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation