The rise of the new ‘M.A.W.F.I.A’: Men Ageing Without Family: Invisible and Alienated

Hadley, Robin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4254-7648 (2023) The rise of the new ‘M.A.W.F.I.A’: Men Ageing Without Family: Invisible and Alienated. In: Men and Boys Coalition National Conference 2023, 23 November 2023, Stoller Hall, Manchester, United Kingdom. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Background: The implications of the global trend of declining fertility rates and an increasingly ageing population have been extensively reported. It is estimated that in the UK by 2030 there will at least 2 million people aged 65 ageing without children. Within this figure it is fair to say at least 25% of will be men who are not fathers and an unknown percentage of men who have lost contact or are estranged from family. Childless men are mostly excluded from ageing, social science and reproduction scholarship and almost completely absent from most national statistics. Objectives: To show the impact of childlessness on men’s health and social wellbeing across the life course. Methods: Based on my doctoral auto/biographical qualitative study using a pluralistic framework drawn from the biographical, feminist, gerontological and life course approaches. In-depth biographical interviews were conducted with 14 men, aged between 49 and 82 years. Findings: The impact of the ‘non-transition’ to fatherhood had significant implications for the childless men in how they performed and viewed their social and self-identity. Diverse elements affected the men’s involuntary childlessness: upbringing, economics, timing of events, interpersonal skills, sexual orientation, partner selection, relationship formation and dissolution, bereavement, and the assumption of fertility. The importance of relationship quality was highlighted for all the men: with and without partners. Quality of life was affected by health, relationships, and social networks. Awareness of “outsiderness” and a fear of being viewed a paedophile were widely reported. The men were socially and structurally excluded.