Correlates of Childlessness and Expectations

It is widely agreed that society has strong mores proscribing couples remaining childless. Nonetheless, childlessness varies regularly by a number of sociodemographic factors. Given the virtually universal acceptance of the norm concerning the desirability of children, why does childlessness vary so widely among social aggregates? First, it may simply be the case that this norm is not as universal as previously thought. Alternatively, if the norm is as widespread as represented, various social structural influences may operate to counter, selectively, the prevailing norms and produce deviance. Data from the 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity for wives still in the childbearing years are used to explore these alternatives. Expectation data, interpreted as indicating the normative position of cou-ples on remaining childless, are contrasted with current rates of childlessness for a number of factors. Comparisons suggest the second alternative and direct future research to include structural considerations. The proposition that strong mores in our soci-ety prescribe that couples have children and proscribe childlessness, is widely held by stu