Are There Gender Differences in Childlessness Patterns Among Hungarians?

Ivett Szalma, Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Judit Takàcs, Centre for Social Sciences

Most of the recent research studies of childlessness tend to focus on women. Meanwhile it has been shown that childlessness rates are higher among men than among women in almost all European countries (Miettinen – Szalma 2014). It can also be observed on the basis of analyzing European Values Study data (2008) that there is a higher level of agreement with the statement that “a woman has to have children in order to be fulfilled” than with the statement that “a man has to have children in order to be fulfilled”, which might indicate that voluntary childlessness is socially more acceptable among men than among women. Other gendered differences might derive from socio-cultural age norms and biological age limits of having children. The main aims of the research are to provide an overview of male childlessness related issues on the basis of recently collected qualitative data.

Presented in Session 98: Childlessness