The investigation of voluntarily childless married couples and marital satisfaction

Abstract

This exploratory study was designed to investigate the impact on marital satisfaction as a result of being voluntarily childless. An open-ended questionnaire was the instrument used in this cross sectional, convenience population. A total of nine respondents mailed back the instrument for analyses. All nine respondents were married females except for one male respondent that decided to remain childless. The findings of the study were that all nine married voluntary childless individuals reported high levels of marital satisfaction. The reasoning for marital satisfaction was primarily the result of increased freedom, money, time together with spouse, and fewer responsibilities within the marriage as a result of being childless. The eight elements that were analyzed to derive levels of marital satisfaction were love, fidelity, companionship, flexibility, affection, intimacy, compatibility, and marital financial status.