Blackstone & Stewart ’09 Article Published
Amy Blackstone is pleased to share that “UMaine alum Mahala Stewart ’09 and I have an article, entitled “‘There’s More Thinking to Decide’: How the Childfree Decide Not to Parent,” in the forthcoming volume of The Family Journal. In it, we analyze data from interviews with childfree women and men and find that the processes by which people decide not to have or rear children are lengthy and complex. Our findings put into context those from a study that grabbed the attention of reporters last spring which found that couples make the decision not to have kids “after just one conversation.” Mahala and I find that the decision not to have kids is not a “snap decision,” as so many of the stories last spring suggested, but instead one that people make over time.”
The paper will be included in The Family Journal’s forthcoming issue but has been posted to the journal’s “online first” pages.