Behavior: Down with Kids

"None is fun." That is the slogan of the National Organization for Non-Parents (NON), a new association formed to promote "childfree" marriage and make non-parenthood "not just a word but an option." The nonparents' group is still small—only 400—but it hopes to grow. All of the members, even the parents among them, are committed to childlessness as a way of creating "social space." That means "a combination of time, money and energy" that can be used to conserve planetary resources, beat the high cost of living and free husbands and wives for political activism and the pursuit of free lifestyles.

To help establish childlessness as an institution, NON has decreed two new holidays, Non-Mother's Day and Non-Father's Day. On these days, favorite nonparents are to be honored with flowers and cigars. The organization has begun to publish a rather juvenile newsletter, Non-Sense, which, for example, recently charged that the March issue of Pageant "exceeded the bounds of all decency in extolling the virtues of motherhood." One member, Ellen Peck, has written a book that disparages motherhood mostly because it gets in the way of the glamour of a free life.

Despite its frequently childish espousal of childlessness, NON makes some valid points. It observes that the cultural bias against childless couples is so strong that husbands and wives cannot choose non-parenthood freely; they know they will be branded selfish, shallow and neurotic. In fact, the organization stresses, motives for parenthood are not always what they seem. Some parents use children, like drugs, to shield them from the realities of life. Others want offspring only to fulfill their own frustrated hopes, to have someone to possess and control, or to ensure financial support in their old age.

NON does not advocate that everyone be childless. It recommends a maximum of one child for couples who really want youngsters, and no babies at all before age 21. According to Washington Psychiatrist E. James Lieberman, a member of NON's executive committee, there are good psychological reasons for practicing that restraint. "Our society thrusts people into parenthood prematurely," he says. "The best preventive psychiatry is becoming a parent at the proper time and for the right reasons."