Main theoretical approaches to the explanation of the phenomenon of childlessness

Abstract

Childlessness is being widely studied. A surge of attention to this topic was in the 1970s and 80s due to the unprecedented increase of childless women and couples. However, in the early XXI century the focus of study switched to the consequences of the childless lifestyle. The article presents the main approaches to the definition and explanation of the phenomenon of childlessness. Since the problem of childlessness in the Russian demographic and social studies is almost inexistent, the article is based on the review of international studies. The foreign studies devoted to childlessness are numerous but most of them are based on theoretical approaches that were actual ten or twenty years ago. A review of existing approaches to the explanation of childlessness allows us to get a general idea about the stage of scientific understanding and interpretation of the childlessness.