The Italian “No Mommy” women. Motivations for childlessness in the North-East of Italy.

Nowadays about 20% of the female population of industrialized countries conclude their fertility cycle without experiencing motherhood, in the face of a deliberate choice or of certain conditions that have occurred in the courses of life. The procreative project is characterized as one of the many aspects of personal fulfillment on which every woman can decide whether to invest or not, choosing the times and the ways. The present study aims to provide a picture of the No Mommy phenomenon in the North East of Italy, through 50 interviews with women without children: efforts were made to understand what are the motivations underlying childlessness and what are the related factors. Analyses have allowed to identify five different profiles characterizing the childlessness, besides showing the importance of the personal factors (childhood experience, affective relationships, aspirations and expectations) in comparison to the structural factors (economic and working condition, presence of services for childhood).