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Childfree people are people who choose not to have children. The term "childfree" may also describe domestic and urban environments in which children are not welcome. In this sense, the term is the opposite of child-friendly, which describes environments that are safe and welcoming for children. In most societies and for most of human history choosing to be childfree was both difficult and undesirable. To accomplish the goal of remaining childfree, some individuals undergo medical sterilization. The availability of reliable contraception along with support provided in old age by systems other than traditional familial ones has made childlessness an option for people in developed countries, though they may be looked down upon in certain communities. == History == The term ''Childfree'' was coined in the English language late in the 20th century.〔. The term does not appear, for example, in the 1971 edition of the ''Oxford English Dictionary''〕 St. Augustine wrote in the year 388 of the Manichaeans, who believed that it was immoral to create children, and thus (according to their belief system) trap souls in mortal bodies.〔 To try to prevent this they practiced periodic abstinence. Christian sects whose views could be seen as supporting a childfree position include the Shakers, a Protestant sect that opposed procreation, along with the Skoptsy and the Cathars. In 12th and 13th centuries, the Cathars were a community which might have understood the contemporary idea of childfree. They accommodated sexual relations but considered procreation undesirable on theological grounds, regarding all matter as intrinsically evil. Most childfree communities, such as monasteries or other religious communities, chose celibacy and organised single sex accommodation as means of achieving childfreeness but did not regard children as undesirable. Such religious communities were childfree in order to devote their time to the service or worship of God or even to the care of other people’s children. They also had concerns about legal requirements to bequeath the community's property to offspring. Following the historical research of P. Aries (''Centuries of Childhood'' London: Cape, 1962 ISBN 0-14-081101-X) sociologists argue that the child as a social role and childhood as a social category separate from adults began to develop in the eighteenth century among the nobility. … Before this period, children were more thoroughly integrated into the world of adults."〔Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill and Bryan S. Turner,''The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology'' (Fourth Edition) London, p. 46 ISBN 0-14-051380-9〕 The meaning of the term "childfree" extends to encompass the children of others (in addition to one’s own children) and this distinguishes it further from the more usual term "childless", which is traditionally used to express the idea of having no children, whether by choice or by circumstance.〔The obsolete term "childerless", meaning "without children" is given, for example in 〕 The term 'child free' has been cited in Australian literature to refer to parents who are without children at the current time. This may be due to them living elsewhere on a permanent basis or a short-term solution such as childcare (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2011). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「childfree」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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