Social Struggles and Treatment Seeking Behaviors of Infertile Women among Different Classes in the Urban Areas of Bangladesh

Background: Infertility is considered a taboo in the society of Bangladesh and is negated in reproductive health programs as well as in the research setting. Yet it is crucial and endemic for social and public health sectors. In Bangladesh, infertile women have to bear the drudgery of dishonor and shame because of their childlessness. The childless women have to shoulder most of the burden of ill-treatment for impotence regardless of who is at fault. Like other social stigmas, this also intersects across class, gender and setting barriers. Objective: The aim of the study is to understand the social struggles, stigmatization and treatment seeking behavior of infertile women of different classes in the urban context of Bangladesh. Methodology: A descriptive qualitative research methodology with in-depth interviews was used to collect data from 20 childless urban women aged between 18 to 45 years. They were urban residents for at least ten years and were aware of their infertile condition for at least one year. Results: The research results showed that childless women, irrespective of their class identities, always live with stigma, accusations and fear of abandonment in their personal lives. It also initiates an arena of violence. Many infertile women face physical and mental abuse due to their childlessness. The treatment seeking behaviors also vary based on financial conditions and the formality of the services among infertile women of different social classes. Conclusion: Infertility is a critical component of reproductive health. When a woman’s worth is measured by her reproductive functions, the childless woman faces humiliation and even abandonment. Attitude towards them is changed due to the societal norms and patriarchal social structures. This affects their treatment seeking behaviors as well. A proper understanding of the social condition of infertile women will facilitate the improved quality of women’s reproductive health care services. J Shaheed Suhrawardy Med Coll 2020; 12(2): 82-86

Existential vulnerability and transition: Struggling with involuntary childlessness on Instagram

In their efforts to find others who share their experiential reality and existential struggle, many involuntarily childless women turn to Instagram to engage and participate in the practice of trying-to-conceive (TTC) communication. Through the conceptual lens of digital existence, where the digital and online are regarded as constitutive of existential transition, we draw on ten interviews and an online ethnography to explore some of the struggles that involuntarily childless women experience with and through technology. We find that TTC communication can be constitutive of coming to terms with the status of involuntary childlessness. In particular, this study illustrates that TTC communication, for involuntarily childless women, is both a site of struggle and a safe space as they transition to nonmotherhood in an existential terrain where they share an intimate journey.

The Motherhood Penalty in Context: Assessing Discrimination in a Polarized Labor Market

Prior research provides important insights into employer discrimination against mothers but has focused exclusively on college-educated mothers in professional and managerial occupations. As a result, we lack evidence about whether less-educated mothers navigating the low-wage labor market experience similar disadvantages and whether the mechanisms underlying discrimination vary across contexts. These gaps are important because more- and less-educated mothers increasingly possess distinct resources and face unique demands both at home and at work, which may impact employer perceptions of conflicts between motherhood and job performance. This study reports results from an original field experiment in which 2,210 fictitious applications were submitted to low-wage service and professional/managerial job openings across six U.S. cities, experimentally manipulating signals of motherhood status. Findings provide causal evidence that employers in both contexts discriminate against mothers relative to equally qualified childless women. However, within labor market segments, distinct job demands listed in job advertisements are associated with stronger discrimination: time pressure, collaboration, and travel in professional/managerial jobs and schedule instability in low-wage service jobs. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the mechanisms underlying mothers' disadvantages in an increasingly polarized labor market.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment situation and financial well-being of families with children in Austria: Evidence from the first ten months of the crisis

Objective: This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment situation of parents and in turn on the subjective financial well-being of families with children in Austria. Background: The pandemic had strong repercussions on the Austrian labour market. The short-time work (STW) programme covered a third of employees in the first half of 2020 and helped to maintain employment levels. We provide evidence on how an unprecedented labour market crisis of this sort and in particular the exceptionally wide use of STW had affected the (gendered) employment situation of parents and the financial well-being of different types of families. Method: The study draws on representative panel survey data that cover 905 families with underage children. The data include information on the employment situation and financial well-being of single and cohabiting parents before the onset of the crisis, three months and ten months after its onset. Results: In contrast to other countries, mothers were not more strongly affected by the labour market crisis of 2020 than childless women or fathers. About a third of couples with underage children experienced income losses. Despite the wide use of STW and government support to families, the share of families in financial difficulties has substantially increased, especially among those with many children and single parents, many of who were at risk of poverty already before the crisis. Conclusion: Substantial shares of dual-earner families that had low poverty risks before the crisis were in financial difficulties in 2020. Potential spill-over effects of financial shocks on children are discussed.

Knowing and Not Knowing about Fertility: Childless Women and Age-Related Fertility Decline

Knowledge claims may play an essential role in reproductive decision-making, as individuals seek out, assess, reject, and use information about health and fertility gathered from numerous sources. This paper focuses specifically on childless women’s self-perceptions of knowledge about infertility and age-related fertility decline. How knowledgeable do childless women perceive themselves to be about fertility and infertility in general, and from where they do they obtain this knowledge? Furthermore, how knowledgeable do childless women perceive themselves to be about their own fertility and ability to conceive, and to what do they attribute this knowledge? Data for this project was gathered through semi-structured interviews with 72 childless American women; the interviews were inductively and thematically coded using qualitative-analysis software. Childless women assessed their general knowledge of fertility as confident, self-doubting, or novices, and they claimed multiple sources as the basis of this knowledge, including formal education and training, media and popular culture, and family members and peers. When assessing knowledge about their own fecundity, the women tended to rely on two additional sources: biomedical diagnostics and embodied knowledge. Childless women’s awareness of average statistics of age-related fertility decline did not necessarily translate to individual self-knowledge about their own bodies and fecundity. Because knowledge claims were based on multiple information sources given unequal weight, this raises questions about authoritative knowledge—that is, the knowledge that “counts” for women as they make decisions regarding their future childbearing.

Specific work-life issues of single and childless female expatriates: an exploratory study in the Swiss context

PurposeResearch on work–life interface in the expatriation context has to date focused on expatriates relocating with a family, and the work–life experiences of single and childless expatriates remain largely unexplored. This is particularly relevant for women, as female expatriates appear to be more often single than their male counterparts and have children less often. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to examine the specific work–life experiences of single and childless female expatriates who are working and living in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research design has been adopted for this exploratory study. Data was collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 20 single and childless female expatriates living and working in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.FindingsOur findings identify a set of personal, work-related, and social and cultural factors contributing to single and childless female expatriates’ conflict and enrichment between work and nonwork spheres, as well as a range of sources and types of social support they rely upon. Our findings demonstrate that work–life issues are also exacerbated for single and childless women in the international context.Originality/valueThis study is the first dedicated to the examination of specific work–life issues of single and childless women in the expatriate context. By revealing the specificities of their work–life experiences, this study contributes to the fields of (female) expatriate research and work–life research and advances current knowledge on nontraditional expatriates.

The Unethical Nature of Abuse of Childless Women in African Traditional Thought/Practice

One of the major challenges confronting marriages and families in African from the past to the present is the issue of barrenness or childlessness. Childlessness was often blamed on the woman, even though at times it may arise from the medical conditions of a man. African traditional culture had great value for children and childless marriage was seen as cursed and the woman in particular was even labelled a “man” or a witch. The woman is often verbally abused, and physical violence was meted on her. The marriage is often made unbearable and uncomfortable for the woman by the man or the in-laws of the woman. In some exceptional cases, the man and his relatives were understanding and coped with the situation or the man was allowed to marry another woman, while bearing with the childless woman. In order to cope with the challenge of childlessness women even encouraged their husbands to marry another woman (women). This paper written from critical philosophical analysis and hermeneutics argues that this abuse of childless women is unethical/immoral. The paper will draw upon instances from both written and oral literature to bring light on this belief and practice. No woman or man gives children. Even though a woman may have conditions that may impede the birth of children, it is rare to see a woman causing her own childlessness. These cultural practices that still influence the attitude and (mal) treatment of women need to be denounced and abrogated. The paper finds and concludes there is a need to end these unethical treatments of childless women.

Are States Created Equal? Moving to a State With More Expensive Childcare Reduces Mothers' Odds of Employment

Married mothers who relocate are less likely to be employed after an interstate move than married childless women and nonmobile mothers. Here, we ask whether moving to a state with more expensive childcare is associated with lower odds of maternal employment among mothers who had been employed prior to relocation. We use hierarchical binomial logistic regression models, combining data from the 2015 American Community Survey five-year sample and state-level childcare costs to assess married mothers' employment following an interstate move, controlling for states' economic conditions. We show that employment odds for married mothers were about 42% lower than those for childless married women in the year following a move. Married mothers who moved to more expensive childcare states had odds of employment that were 18% lower than those of married mothers who moved to less expensive childcare states, showing that childcare accessibility shapes mothers' employment decisions even among those with stronger labor force attachment. Moving back to respondents' or their spouses' state of birth and moving to states with more favorable economic conditions improved odds of employment as well. Overall, we show that moving to states with fewer childcare barriers is associated with higher levels of maternal employment, partly mitigating the negative labor market effects of interstate migration.

Comparison of Early-Stage Mothers and Childless Women Seeking Pregnancy: Experienced Stress, Resilience and Satisfaction with Relationship with the Partner

Introduction: The birth of a child is a significant turning point in the life of a woman. It is a source of personal fulfilment, but also a great challenge. On the other hand, the inability to conceive a child in a natural way results in a serious distortion of a woman’s psychic balance. Becoming a mother is an indicator of personal fulfilment and the source of social acceptation. Therefore, both becoming a mother and the inability to conceive a child in a natural way may be seen as stressful factors that impact a woman’s life. Aim of the study: The research project aimed to analyze the differences in stress, resilience and satisfaction with relationship and sexual satisfaction between early-stage mothers, i.e., women having a child and childless women seeking pregnancy. Sample: The study involved 80 women—40 mothers and 40 infertile women. The mean age of the mothers was 31.10 yrs (SD = 3.76) and of the childless women seeking pregnancy—31.48 yrs (SD = 3.35). Both groups were homogenous with regards to education, place of residence, the form and time of their relationship with partners. Method: The perceived stress was measured with the Perceived Stress Scale PSS—Polish adaptation by Juczyński and Ogińska-Bulik. Resilience was measured with Personal Adaptation Scale (LIRS-pl)—Polish adaptation by Malina, Pooley and Harms. The quality of the relationship was measured using the Quality of Relationship Inventory (QRI) adapted to Polish version by Suwalska-Barancewicz, Liberska and Izdebski and the sexual satisfaction was measured with the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire by Nomejko and Dolińska-Zygmunt. Results and conclusions: Statistical analyses indicate that the participating women differ in the level of perceived stress (higher among childless women seeking pregnancy; t = 2.721; p = 0.008), the depth/intensity of the relationship (higher among childless women seeking pregnancy; t = 2.376; p = 0.020) and conflict (higher among mothers; t = −2.829; p = 0.006). This research project proved that infertility and its consequences are not only negative. The research has shown that lower levels of relationship conflicts and greater commitment occur more frequently among infertile women than among mothers. Regardless of the observed differences in the studied sample, it is noteworthy that the compared groups are also similar to some extent. They neither differed in the level of personal resilience nor perceived support. Therefore, although the two experienced issues seem to be different, they may appear psychologically similar to some extent.

Using intentions to predict fertility

On average, childless women observed by the Panel Study of Income Dynamics report that they intend to have more children than they actually have. A collection of intentions that record only whether respondents intend to have another child can more accurately predict the number of children they have. Errors in the formation of intentions are not required to explain this finding. Rather, if intentions record a survey respondent's most likely predicted number of children, then the average of these intentions does not necessarily equal average actual fertility, even if intentions are formed using rational expectations.