Relationships Childfree By Choice Or Otherwise: The Women Whose Stories We Don’t Hear Three women. Over forty. No children. Entirely different reasons. By Natalie Reilly Relationships Three women. Over forty. No children. Entirely different reasons. By Natalie Reilly Previous article The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of Going Freelance Next article Tayla Harris Just Changed The Game Childfree women are the fastest growing demographic group in the world. The Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts couples without children will overtake households with children by 2031. The proportion of couples without children in 1976 was less than a third. By 2011 it had increased to almost 38 percent.Despite these startling figures, being unable to have children and being childfree by choice remain somewhat taboo topics. It’s unusual to see women in the media or depicted in entertainment, who are over the age of forty and don’t have children. When these women’s stories are shared it’s often with pity or disdain. It’s far too rare that we hear about women’s experiences of being child-free in their own words, minus the stereotypical tropes. Future Women spoke to three women about their childfree lives. relationships Best Of Future Women Culture “Never an excuse”: Why Katrina still can’t stand the smell of bourbon By Sally Spicer Culture Janine never thought divorce would mean losing her family and friends By Sally Spicer Culture “Invisible victims”: Why Conor was forced to live in an unsafe home By Sally Spicer Culture Miranda*’s mothers group helped her escape abuse. Then the stalking began By Sally Spicer Culture “We can’t change this on our own” By Melanie Dimmitt Culture “Marching forward means ensuring all our voices are heard” By Melanie Dimmitt Culture Dr Ann O’Neill’s husband committed “the ultimate act of revenge” By Sally Spicer Culture The question victim-survivors like me are tired of being asked By Geraldine Bilston Your inbox just got smarter If you’re not a member, sign up to our newsletter to get the best of Future Women in your inbox.
