Race/Ethnicity, Childlessness, and Self-Perceptions of Aging: Gender Differences Among Adults over 50

Background and Purpose: Self-perceptions of aging (SPA), how older adults perceive their own aging, play an important role in later-life health outcomes. These perceptions develop through lived experiences and sociocultural contexts. As childlessness rises among older cohorts, more older adults are aging without adult children, who often provide key socioemotional that may shape SPA. However, the link between childlessness and SPA remains unknown and likely depends on broader sociocultural contexts, particularly race/ethnicity, particularly race/ethnicity, which shapes family norms, community support, and the meaning of aging without children. Race/ethnicity may also directly relate to SPA through cultural resilience and structural inequality, and these associations may further differ by gender. This study addresses these gaps by examining how race/ethnicity and childlessness are independently and interactively associated with SPA among older adults, and whether these associations vary by gender.

Methods: This study used data from the 2016 and 2018 Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults aged 50 and older (N = 11,118). SPA was measured using an 8-item scale, capturing both positive (4 items) and negative (4 items, reverse-coded) dimensions. Participants were classified by race/ethnicity (Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic) and childlessness status. Non-Hispanic Other respondents were excluded due to group heterogeneity. OLS regression models were estimated in three steps: unadjusted models with race/ethnicity and childlessness; adjusted models adding gender, age, education, and household wealth; and gender-stratified models. The interactions between race/ethnicity and childlessness were tested.

Results: In unadjusted models, Non-Hispanic Black individuals reported higher overall SPA than the Non-Hispanic White (b = 0.14, p < .001), while the Hispanic showed no significant difference. After adjusting for socioeconomic factors, both Non-Hispanic Black (b = 0.21, p < .001) and Hispanic (b = 0.13, p < .001) individuals reported significantly higher overall SPA. Subscale analyses showed different patterns: both minority groups scored higher on positive SPA, but the Non-Hispanic Black also reported higher negative SPA (b = 0.24, p < .001), while the Hispanic reported lower (b = -0.12, p < .01). Childlessness was associated with lower positive SPA in adjusted models (b = -0.10, p < .05) but was unrelated to negative SPA. Gender-stratified models showed that childlessness was linked to significantly lower overall SPA among men (b = -0.15, p < .01), driven by lower positive SPA (b = -0.25, p < .001), whereas childlessness was unrelated to any SPA dimension among women. The interactions between race/ethnicity and childlessness were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Race/ethnicity and childlessness are both SPA, but in different ways. Racial/ethnic minority older adults reported more positive SPA after accounting for socioeconomic factors, suggesting that cultural strengths such as familism and community solidarity may buffer against negative aging perceptions. However, the Non-Hispanic Black reported higher negative SPA, possibly indicating structural disadvantage with resilience. Childlessness was linked to lower positive SPA only among men, pointing to their greater reliance on adult children for socioemotional support. These findings suggest the need for culturally informed and gender-sensitive approaches to promoting positive aging.