Proposed "childless" tax in Russia

The Russian government is proposing to tax childless couples between the ages of 25 and 50 in an effort to reverse the dropping birthrate. It's a bad idea, as this article points out, for a number of reasons -- not least of which being that it would either punish infertile couples or, if amended to exempt them, encourage couples to seek out fake proof of infertility.
[LINK]

Great advice for managing un-grandparents

Ask Amy's recent column addresses how to manage in-laws who can't cope with the fact they're not going to have any grandchildren. Her advice is right on the mark:

You and your husband should sit down with them and restate your decision, acknowledging how difficult this is for them. Say that you hope they can find a way to accept your choice.

Many people get "broody" as they get older; one remedy for broodiness is to spend time with children -- your in-laws could volunteer at a local day care, offer to tutor children, or visit and play with kids who are in extended hospital stays.

[LINK]

Childfree news roundup

My inbox is full of news from around the world of childfree people taking on our child-obsessed culture. Here are a few of my favorite stories.

In Canada, "Child-free women take on the mommy mafia." With a headline like that, who wouldn't want to read more? In the process I learned about this childfree women-only club, Babes Without Babes.

Although childfree-by-choice women have always endured criticism from other females, it's only recently that people like Semper have chosen to square off against the motherhood mafia: Baby-biased women eager to smother any whimper of dissonance in the ranks.

[LINK]


From Michigan comes this article about how childfree couples (empty nesters as well as those who've forgone parenting altogether) are boosting post-Labor Day travel.

Gone are the days when summer tourism hot spots closed up shop after Labor Day.

In 2005, tourists saved more than 10 percent of their vacation time for September, up sharply from about 6 percent the year before, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

[LINK]


And I loved this commentary from playwright Tina Howe, whose play Birth and After Birth, about a confrontation between a family and a childfree couple, is finally getting the attention it deserves more than 30 years after it was written.

When my brother's German wife shook her finger at me back in the '60s and said, "You're not a woman until you have children," I was speechless! Not a woman? What about my idol, Virginia Woolf? Or the countless other childless women who have excelled in art, science, politics and the boudoir? I was too stunned and insulted to reply, but having been married and childless for five years, part of me naturally wondered if she might be right.

[LINK]

Newsweek Cover Story: Beyond Babies

The September 4 cover story for Newsweek's International Edition is all about the worldwide trend of postponing or skipping parenthood altogether.

In Greece, as in much of the world, having kids is no longer a given among a growing swath of the population. "Never before has childlessness been a legitimate option for women and men in so many societies," says Catherine Hakim, who studies the phenomenon at the London School of Economics. In a rapid shift occurring in countries as disparate as Switzerland and Singapore, Canada and South Korea, young people are extending their child-free adulthood by postponing children until they are well into their 30s, or even 40s and beyond. A growing share are ending up with no children at all.

The article goes on to explore the implications--everything from real estate to population--as well as the growing backlash from religious and conservative types.
[LINK]

Childfree Apocalypse, Coming to Theaters Dec. 25

No Children. No Future. No hope.

That's the tagline for the upcoming movie, Children of Men. Set in London, the film explores what could happen if a worldwide infertility crises left the planet without new offspring. How does the childfree world look? Those hoping for a luxury condo-studded Eden, replete with mandatory wine-tastings and end-of-the world hedonistic revelry will be disappointed. The childfree future is apparently very, very gray -- from the overcast sky to the bags under the actors' eyes -- with explosions and riots a-plenty. What's the solution? Babies!

In spite of the pro-procreation overtones, I gotta say the action-packed trailer and talented cast were pretty inviting. And you gotta love the cynicism of Hollywood. The release date is December 25. After the world's most child-centric holiday, they're banking that quite a few of us will be rearing for a childfree apocalypse chaser.
[LINK to trailer]

I'm Childfree and I Vote!

Education, age, and residential stability are the biggest predictors in whether a person votes in elections, but it turns out that family structure (married or unmarried, with or without children) plays a big role too. Unsurprisingly (to me, at least), childless couples are more likely to vote than those with kids.

From an article on physorg.com:
Married citizens are leaders in voter turnout. Married couples, who account for 58 percent of adult citizens, were 65 percent of the voters in 2000. Childless married couples have turnout rates at least seven percent above other childless adults.

This is a great statistic to have handy the next time someone tells you that childfree people aren't contributing to society. We are, just not by burdening it with more kids.
[LINK]