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Childfree individuals choose not to have children, which makes them a distinctive group from parents who have had children, not-yet-parents who plan to have children, and childless indivduals who would have liked to have children. Most research on parental status and psychosocial characteristics has not effectively distinguished childfree individuals from other non-parents or has relied on non-representative samples. In this study, we use a representative sample of 981 Michigan adults to estimate the prevalence of childfree individuals, to examine how childfree individuals differ from parents and other types of non-parents in life satisfaction, political ideology, and personality, and to examine whether childfree individuals are viewed as an outgroup. We find that over a quarter of Michigan adults identified as childfree. After controlling for demographic characteristics, we find no differences in life satisfaction and limited differences in personality traits between childfree individuals and parents, not-yet-parents, or childless individuals. However, childfree individuals were more liberal than parents, and those who have or want(ed) children felt substantially less warm toward childfree individuals than childfree individuals felt toward each other. Given the prevalence of childfree individuals, the risks of their outgroup status, and their potential role in politics as a uniquely liberal group, it is important for demographic research to distinguish the childfree from others and to better understand these individuals.

Childfree individuals, who are also described as ‘childless by choice’ or ‘voluntarily childless’, have decided they do not want biological or adopted children. This is an important population to understand because its members have unique reproductive health and end-of-life needs, and they encounter challenges managing work-life balance and with stereotypes. Prior estimates of childfree adults’ prevalence in the United States, their age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgements have varied widely over time and by study design. To clarify these characteristics of the contemporary childfree population, we conduct a pre-registered direct replication of a recent population-representative study. All estimates concerning childfree adults replicate, boosting confidence in earlier conclusions that childfree people are numerous and decide early in life, and that parents exhibit strong in-group favoritism while childfree adults do not.

We propose transaction cost economics theory as a tool for exploring when school administrators rely on information from two types of sources: internal sources like their own colleagues, and external sources like researchers and government agencies. The theory’s application is illustrated in a comparative case study of two public school districts in Michigan. Consistent with the theory’s predictions, the smaller, homogeneous, high-performing district used more external sources of information, while the larger, diverse, low-performing district used internal sources of information. We conclude by identifying some strengths and limitations of the theory, which can serve as starting points for debate.

Background:A growing literature focuses on the roles of brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners (BIBS) in addressing the challenges of transferring research evidence between the research and practice or policy communities. Aims and objectives:In this systematic review, we examined two research questions: (1) where, how, and when are different BIBS terms (broker, intermediary, and boundary spanner) used? and (2) which BIBS terms get defined, and when these terms are defined, who are BIBS and what do they do? Methods:We conducted literature searches designed to capture articles on BIBS and the transfer of research evidence. We extracted information about eligible articles’ characteristics, use of BIBS terms, and definitions of BIBS terms. Findings:The search revealed an initial pool of 667 results, of which 277 articles were included after screening. Although we coded 430 separate uses of BIBS terms, only 37.2% of these uses provided explicit definitions. The terms, ‘broker’ and ‘brokerage’, were commonly applied in the health sector to describe a person engaged in multiple functions. The term, ‘intermediary’, was commonly applied in the education sector to describe an organisation engaged in dissemination. Finally, the terms ‘boundary spanner’ and ‘boundary spanning’ were commonly applied in the environment sector to describe people or organisations that engage in relationship building. Discussion and conclusions:Results demonstrated that when BIBS were defined, there were important (albeit implicit) distinctions between terms. Based on these results, we identify archetypal definitions for brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners and offer recommendations for future research.

Childfree adults do not want to have children, making them distinct from parents and other adults without children. However, they are difficult to study because they cannot be identified using conventional data on fertility. We use data from a representative sample in the United States to examine the prevalence, age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgments by and about childfree adults. Our prevalence estimates suggest that childfree adults are quite common, comprising over one-fifth (21.64%) of the population. Our analysis of age-to-decision suggests that most childfree adults reported that they decided they did not want children early in life. Finally, our analysis of interpersonal warmth suggests asymmetric affective polarization among parents and childfree adults driven primarily by parent’s ingroup favoritism. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of childfree adults and for future research on this historically overlooked segment of the population.

Childfree people—people who do not have children and do not want to have children in the future—represent and large and growing percentage of the population in wealthy countries. However, less is known about childfree people in developing countries. To facilitate this research, we developed software to identify childfree people in data from the Demographic and Health Surveys. Using this software, we estimated the prevalence of childfree people in 51 developing countries. Among single women ages 15–29, we found substantial cross-national and within-region variation in childfree prevalence, ranging from 0.3% in Liberia to 15.6% in Papua New Guinea. We also estimated the association between being childfree and country-level indicators of human development, gender equality, and political freedom. Results suggest that the prevalence of childfree people in a country is associated with the country’s level of human development, and to a lesser extent their gender equality and political freedom. These results suggest that some developing countries have large populations of childfree people, and thus that being childfree is not a choice restricted to those living in the West or in wealthy countries. As developing countries evolve in terms of their human development, gender equality, and political freedom, it will be important to continue studying their childfree populations, both to understand demographic transitions in this part of the world, and to support its members’ reproductive health and other needs.

Measuring the use of research evidence (URE) by schools has become a central focus of education researchers. However, it has proven challenging due to low response rates, social desirability bias, and costly or time-consuming data collection methods. To overcome these challenges and meet the needs of research focused on URE, this paper introduces a non-reactive archival measure: Archival Search of Use of Research Evidence (ASURE). ASURE counts references to research or evidence on a school's or school district's website to capture the extent of its rhetorical use of research evidence. After illustrating the collection of ASURE in all public school districts in Michigan (N = 595), we use data on these districts to show that ASURE is reliable and valid, and thus offers a promising new strategy for measuring URE in schools. We conclude by considering future steps for exploring ASURE, not simply as a measure of URE in schools, but instead as a measurement strategy for assessing URE in a broad range of organisational contexts.

Childfree adults are the most common type of non-parent in the United States and are distinguished by their lack of desire to have children. Although there are many reasons one may choose not to have children, recent restrictions on reproductive health care may also contribute to this decision. For example, the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson eliminated a long-standing constitutional protection for abortion access, which reduced patients’ medical autonomy and increased the risks of pregnancy and childbirth, and therefore may have led adults to decide not to have children. In this study, we use representative data on Michigan adults immediately before and after the Dobbs decision to examine changes in the prevalence of childfree adults in this population. We find that 21% of Michigan adults were childfree before the Dobbs decision, but this number rose to nearly 26% after the decision. Controlling for demographic characteristics, a Michigan adult was 32.8% more likely to be childfree after the Dobbs decision than before. We conclude that when access to safe reproductive health care is uncertain or unavailable, adults that do not already have children may decide that they do not want children.

Bipartite projections (e.g., event co-attendance) are often used to measure unipartite networks of interest (e.g., social interaction). Backbone extraction models can be useful for reducing the noise inherent in bipartite projections. However, these models typically assume that the bipartite edges (e.g., who attended which event) are unconstrained, which may not be true in practice (e.g., a person cannot attend an event held prior to their birth). We illustrate the importance of correctly modeling such edge constraints when extracting backbones, using both synthetic data that varies the number and type of constraints, and empirical data on children’s play groups. We find that failing to impose relevant constraints when the data contain constrained edges can result in the extraction of an inaccurate backbone. Therefore, we recommend that when bipartite data contain constrained edges, backbones be extracted using a model such as the Stochastic Degree Sequence Model with Edge Constraints (SDSM-EC).

Childfree adults neither have nor want children, but estimates of their prevalence vary widely, leading to ambiguity about how common this family status actually is. The goal of this study is to examine the effects of sample composition, time, and question wording on estimates of the prevalence of childfree adults. We pool 83 nationally representative estimates of the prevalence of childfree adults in Japan since 2000 using meta-regression to identify the influence of sex, marital status, year, and survey question. Prevalence estimates are higher when computed from samples of women than men, from samples of singles than married people, from samples collected more recently, and from surveys asking questions about expectations than wants. Most of the variation in estimates of the prevalence of childfree adults can be attributed to differences in sample composition, time, and question wording. Taking these factors into account, we estimate that over 2.5 million Japanese adults age 18-50, or 5.64% of this population, were childfree in 2020.