the.com/childlessness
The one life plan that lets you finish a sentence without being interrupted.
means The state of not having children, whether by choice, circumstance, or chance.
from Straightforward English carpentry: the noun 'child' (from Old English 'cild') plus the suffix '-less' (from Old English '-leas,' meaning 'free from' or 'without,' a cousin of 'loose') plus '-ness' to turn the quality into a noun. No hidden story here — just a word built plainly to name an absence, the way English builds most of its '-lessness' words: 'homelessness,' 'helplessness,' and so on.
- global trend
- Rising fastest in rich, educated societies
- etymology
- Defined only by absence, like silence or darkness
- economics
- More disposable income, less disposable time guilt
- demographics
- Correlates with longer careers, not less love