Contested Parenthood: Attitudes Toward Voluntary Childlessness as a Life Strategy in Post‐Socialist Bulgaria

The article focuses on the social differences in attitudes toward female and male voluntary childlessness Bulgaria their dynamics over time. analysis is based data from European Social Survey conducted 2006 2018 Bulgaria. By means of multinomial logistic regression, we test effect period, gender, age, marital status, number children, education, employment, minority religiosity childlessness. results reveal a decrease negative strong increase neutral stances. However, higher age respondents still associated with an rather than neutrality. Women are significantly more likely to accept be compared men. Respondents who married, parents, lowly educated, jobless or economically inactive, people belonging ethnic groups, highly religious disapprove Perceptions correlated extramarital fertility, cohabitation, divorces when children under twelve years old, full‐time employment below three. variance reveals that individuals have stronger non‐conformist emphasizing self‐expression, idea “having good time,” rejection traditional authorities attitudes.