Individual datasets that do not belong to any series.
The data consists of writings in which the respondents describe their experiences related to childlessness due to life circumstances. The data was originally collected for a master's thesis. Using the writings collected through a call for submissions, the thesis sought to examine the effects of childlessness on the daily lives, emotions, close relationships, sense of agency, and vision of the future of those facing it.
The invitation to write included several guiding questions to assist with the writing process. These questions provided an opportunity to reflect, for example, on what it is like to live without children in Finnish society, whether the respondent is able to express their childless status in their close relationships and how this affects those relationships, how they would describe the factors underlying their childless status, and what kinds of things help them cope with the experiences of being childless. The respondents were also asked to include concrete examples of the situations described in their writings.
As background information, participants were asked about their gender identity and age group.
The author of the data distributed the writing invitation primarily through the channels of Simpukka ry (Instagram, website, Facebook) and Sateenkaariperheet ry (Instagram, newsletter) on several occasions. The invitation was also displayed as a physical poster on the Tampere University central campus, in the Tampere University Gender Studies Facebook group, the author's own LinkedIn and Instagram accounts, the Ostrobothnia Welfare Region's Instagram account, and three discussion channels on the Suomi24 service (family/childlessness, family/having a child/baby fever, and relationships/singles). In addition, the author shared the invitation in the Telegram group of Interaktio, the student association for the social sciences at the Tampere University, as well as in the Facebook group Naistenhuone.