Are more women remaining childless, and if so, what is the impact of this on New Zealand's future? To answer this question, we looked at census data from 1981, 1996 and 2006, the censuses where a question on children ever born was included.
Of those women aged 40–44 years in 2006, 15 percent were childless, up from 12 percent childlessness in this age group in 1996, and 9 percent in 1981. A similar increase was also found in the next age group, with the proportion of women aged 45–49 years who were childless in 1981 (9 percent) increasing to 10 percent in 1996, and then to 13 percent in 2006.
This trend towards increasing childlessness is also apparent in other developed countries. In Australia, 9 percent of women who were aged 40–44 years in 1981 had no children. In 2006, the proportion of women in this age group remaining childless had risen to 16 percent.
This is not a myth: more women are remaining childless
The trend is expected to continue. For those women born in 1975, indications are that around one in four may remain childless. As childlessness increases, the remaining women will need to have more children if New Zealand is to achieve replacement level (that is, 2.1 babies per woman).
For those who would like more information, there is an article on increasing childlessness in New Zealand in Demographic Trends 2007.
Provided by Statistics New Zealand, 5 June 2008.