Hummer Publishes Article on How Japanese Women Describe Their Pathways to Childlessness
Posted: 2026-10-30 12:50:38 (CSDE Research)
CSDE External Affiliate Holly Hummer (University of British Columbia) recently published a research article in the Chinese Journal of Sociology titled, “Motherhood as a ‘Risky Choice’: How Japanese Women Describe Their Pathways to Childlessness.” Using a qualitative, interpretive approach, the study examines how childless women in a low-fertility, high gender inequality context understand their non-motherhood. It focuses on women aged 35 to 50 without children in Japan, a country with one of the world’s highest rates of childlessness. Drawing on in-depth interviews, Dr. Hummer finds that women rarely framed their childlessness as purely a matter of choice or purely a result of circumstances beyond their control. Instead, many viewed motherhood as a risky choice shaped by concerns about stability, identity, and biological reproduction, each of which was gendered by lingering norms that position childcare, housework, and fertility as mainly women’s responsibilities. The study highlights the tensions that amplify hesitation about motherhood in a highly gender-unequal setting, and shows how childlessness can take on new meaning as an alternatively secure status for women approaching mid-adulthood. The full article can be found here. Congratulations Dr. Hummer!
Date: 10/30/2026