Associations between age and social exclusion in the social domain of life by childlessness type among Australian women without children

Abstract

Involuntarily, circumstantially and voluntarily childless women are constructed as deviating from pronatalist mothering norms, placing them at risk of social exclusion driven by unequal gender relations. This research examines associations between age, childlessness type and the probability of impaired social exclusion indicators in the social domain of life (social networks, social support, subjective social support and social interaction), social exclusion drivers (stigmatisation and stereotyping) and perceived exclusion due to not having children. Data were collected via self-administered questionnaire from 789 women aged 25 to 64 years living in Australia. Generalised additive models and general linear models stratified by childlessness type and controlling for education, employment, income and relationship status, assessed associations between age, childlessness type and dependent variables. Age was non-linearly associated with impaired social networks, with different patterns for circumstantially compared to involuntarily and voluntarily childless women. Associations between age and impaired social support and subjective social support were observed among voluntarily childless women. Among circumstantially childless women, there were associations between age and perceived exclusion from social interaction due to not having children. Age was associated with stigma consciousness and stereotyping, with different peak ages for circumstantially compared to involuntarily and voluntarily childless women. Different age-related patterns among childlessness types may relate to nuanced stigmatisation of involuntarily, circumstantially and voluntarily childless women, and its shifting salience over women's reproductive and post-reproductive years.