Voluntary Childlessness in Marriage and Family Textbooks, 1950—2000

• Published in: Journal of family history Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 206 - 223
• Main Authors: Chancey, Laurie, Dumais, Susan A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-04-2009; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Childlessness; Children; Content analysis; Education, Medical, Undergraduate - history; Empirical Research; Families & family life; Family; Family Characteristics - ethnology; Family Health - ethnology; Higher education; History of medicine; History, 20th Century; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Life styles; Marriage; Marriage - ethnology; Marriage - history; Marriage - legislation & jurisprudence; Marriage - psychology; Parenting - ethnology; Parenting - history; Parenting - psychology; Personal Satisfaction; Psychology - education; Psychology - history; Reproductive Behavior - ethnology; Reproductive Behavior - history; Reproductive Behavior - physiology; Reproductive Behavior - psychology; Stereotypes; Stereotyping; Students; Textbooks; Textbooks as Topic - history; Twentieth Century; Undergraduate Programs; voluntary childlessness; stereotypes; undergraduates; content analysis; family; textbooks
• ISSN: 0363-1990; 1552-5473
• DOI: 10.1177/0363199008330733

We perform a content analysis of twenty marriage and family textbooks published between 1950 and 2000 to study how the voluntarily childless are presented in undergraduate courses. Throughout the time period studied, independence, pursuit of a career, and romance were prominent themes in the representation of voluntary childlessness. Other themes emerged specific to each decade—the 1950s portrayed parenthood as a challenge, while the 1990s concentrated on alleviating negative stereotypes of the voluntarily childless.