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Census Bureau: Older Childless Women Make More Money, In Better Health Than Male Counterparts
Carlie Porterfield
Forbes Staff
Business
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- Childless Older Americans: 2018, which is based on survey results from that year.
About 20% of adults ages 55 to 64 do not have children, a jump from the 11% of Americans 75 and older who are childless, a figure that the bureau says indicates adults without children will grow to make up a larger portion of Americans.
PROMOTED
The study found childless adults are slightly more educated than parents, with 38% having at least a bachelor’s degree compared to 30% of adults with children, but were also more likely to live in poverty, with 12.4% living below the poverty line compared to 10.5% of mothers and 7.5% of fathers.
Older adults without children are also twice as likely to live alone, which researchers said could pose a challenge when it comes to accessing social support and care in old age, though the study found childless adults were more likely to volunteer and take part in organized group activities.
According to the study, declining marriage rates are a factor in the increasing rate of childlessness.
SURPRISING FACT
The study indicates men and women have far different experiences when it comes to not having children and that “childless older women appear to be in a more advantageous position than their male counterparts in later life,” according to researchers. Childless women had the highest median net worth of all Americans 55 and older with $173,800 each, according to the study while the median personal net worth of all adults 55 and older was $133,500. Women without children even had a higher median net worth than fathers, who had $161,200. Childless women were also more likely to report being in better health than childless men.
Women are happier without children or a spouse, says happiness expert
Behavioural scientist Paul Dolan says traditional markers of success no longer apply
Men benefited from marriage because they “calmed down”, he said. “You take less risks, you earn more money at work, and you live a little longer. She, on the other hand, has to put up with that, and dies sooner than if she never married. The healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children,” he said.
Dolan’s latest book, Happy Ever After, cites evidence from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which compared levels of pleasure and misery in unmarried, married, divorced, separated and widowed individuals.
Other studies have measured some financial and health benefits in being married for both men and women on average, which Dolan said could be attributed to higher incomes and emotional support, allowing married people to take risks and seek medical help.
However, Dolan said men showed more health benefits from tying the knot, as they took fewer risks. Women’s health was mostly unaffected by marriage, with middle-aged married women even being at higher risk of physical and mental conditions than their single counterparts.
Despite the benefits of a single, childless lifestyle for women, Dolan said that the existing narrative that marriage and children were signs of success meant that the stigma could lead some single women to feel unhappy.
“You see a single woman of 40, who has never had children – ‘Bless, that’s a shame, isn’t it? Maybe one day you’ll meet the right guy and that’ll change.’ No, maybe she’ll meet the wrong guy and that’ll change. Maybe she’ll meet a guy who makes her less happy and healthy, and die sooner.”
they want. They have careers, decent income and no major responsibilities outside of work. Imagine a dude that makes 6 figs, no kids or debt and can smash literally hundreds of women with almost no effort in online dating....an average looking breh that's not even tall or attractive.
