Voters without kids are in the political spotlight – but they’re not all the same

As many as 50 million to 60 million Americans may have decided that they don’t want to have kids. Getty Images by Jennifer Watling Neal, Michigan State University and Zachary P. Neal, Michigan State University In the 2024 election cycle, voters without children are under the microscope. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance has said that “childless cat ladies” and older adults without kids are “sociopaths” who “don’t have a direct stake in this country.” So it was notable that when pop star Taylor Swift endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, she didn’t simply express her support and leave it at that. She also called herself a “childless cat lady.” Politicians and others often use the word “childless” as an umbrella term for people who do not have children. But as social scientists who study people without children, we know that this doesn’t capture some important nuances. Using large-scale demographic data, we’ve found that there are many types of nonparents – and each has its own set of political priorities. The range of nonparents Only about 3% of Americans are truly childless, or what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls “involuntarily childless.” Most Americans who do not...