The other choice

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We all know the classic life stages: pre-family, family, post-family. Behaviours and attitudes can change significantly depending on where people are in their life journey. There is, however, a growing segment that does not fall into any of these descriptions. In fact, it may be a blindspot for research. These are the people who ignore the path to parenthood and make the active choice to go childfree. Say hello to the ‘otherhood’.

Childlessness in the western world is more common than ever before. In the UK, almost half of women who turned 30 in 2016 did not have any children, up from 18% in 1976, according to ONS data. US Census Bureau data shows that 20% of women aged 40 to 44 were childless (up from 10% in 1976 ). Moreover, those who voluntarily make this decision are a significantly growing segment: one in five 25- to 55-year-olds without children in the UK is voluntarily childfree – or, as we have defined it, part of the otherhood.

Over the past three months, Bamm has been immersed in their lives, conducting a survey and ethnographies, and gathering expert inputs in the US and the UK, to demystify their still relatively unknown lifestyle and find revealing opportunities for brands.

A misunderstood lifestyle

Until the 1960s and the introduction of the contraceptive pill, being childfree was a woman’s issue: usually seen as a consequence of a biological or circumstantial factor. Conversations in culture would project on them the predictable archetype of bitter stepmothers.

After the sexual liberation, otherhood became a choice – albeit filled with judgement: some portrayed it as ‘a phase’ before realising that having a child is the natural path in life. Many viewed it as a lifestyle deviation: childfree people were seen as miserable, lonesome singletons, or superficial, self-obsessed bachelors. The characters of Bridget Jones and Daniel Cleaver are a great example of this stereotype. So it is unsurprising to find that only 11% of otherhood people feel represented in films and TV, according to our study. In advertising, just 8% feel that brands represent them.

It is only in more recent years that otherhood has begun to be talked about explicitly in culture, mostly driven by the diversity agenda of media companies such as Netflix. Celebrities shout loud about this choice, too; big names such as Oprah and Ricky Gervais have spoken up, showing a latent need to start the conversation and normalise this lifestyle choice.

Breaking assumptions

The reasons for otherhood may vary – from lifestyle to the environment – but the behaviour of those who choose it has proven to be surprisingly unifying. First, their life is cyclic, not linear. The otherhood lifestyle differs from that of other childfree people, who are more likely to be saving for a family and following a linear path. In our survey, the otherhood are likely to have flexible and ever-changing jobs, claim to be more spontaneous, and are less likely to enjoy making long-term decisions.

They are not self-absorbed, but considerate; they invest time and money into learning and personal development, reinventing their lives, dedicating time to fulfill passions, such as life coaching or helping on conservation projects. They are also more charitable and care more for people than those with children.

Lastly, they are not workaholics – they value a better work-life balance; even without a significant difference across socio-economic profiles, they are more than twice as likely to go to galleries, theatres or museums than others who are childfree.

A blueprint for brands 

There is a great opportunity for the research community to dig deeper into this demographic, and for brands to raise awareness of the size of opportunity to cater for this group.

Here are some ways to be relevant to this group:

• Fit their unstructured lifestyle: the lack of routine and a rootless life allows otherhoods to carry a modern lifestyle that demands brands to adapt. Solutions that make decisions for them, such as meal-kit Hello Fresh, or brands that allow them to share a lifestyle without commitment – such as designer dress and accessories supplier Rent the Runway – respond to this unorthodox way of living
  
• Cater for their crafted purpose: this audience avoids virtue signalling and puts a conscious effort into identifying brands and solutions that generate the best holistic impact. Brands that prove this are likely to win their hearts
• Include, don’t highlight: communications have come a long way in portraying diverse identities across different genders, ages and ethnicities, but family compositions still dominate the scene. There is a great opportunity to normalise this lifestyle in media.

Jeremy Poole, planning partner at Grey London, says: “It’s part of the diversity agenda. You don’t necessarily have to pigeon-hole them as different – just respecting the fact they exist will be a huge step forward.”

The world of research has just started to understand this intriguing segment of the population. There is still a lot of investigating to be done by agencies and brands alike.

It’s time to ditch the conventional life-stage approach and include otherhood in your sample: this is an important demographic that brands just can’t afford to keep in the dark.

Nathalie Gil is research director at BAMM.

Bamm’s research consisted of cultural analysis, expert interviews, 12 in-home and online ethnographies, and a survey – conducted in September 2018 – of 1,000 childfree people in the UK ( 495 of whom are part of the otherhood).

The term ‘otherhood’ is inspired by Melanie Notkin’s Otherhood: Modern Women Finding a New Kind of Happiness.

This article was first published in Issue 24 of Impact.