The number of Canadians who want to remain childfree is a constant and steady force. A new survey looks at who wants to remain childfree in Canada and found that one in ten singles have no intention of taking the plunge.

Overall, newly released data from Statistics Canada's 2001 General Social Survey showed a strong relationship between the marital status of the individuals and their desire to raise a family. The respondents were in the 20 to 34-year-old age range.

Single Canadians were almost twice as likely to say they didn't want children at nine per cent. In contrast, five per cent of married and common-law couples said they had no intention of having children.

The one constant in the survey was the number of individuals who intended to remain childless -- seven per cent for women, eight per cent for men. The reasons given were varied and included medical factors, living arrangements, and career demands.

Childfree.net is a website devoted to adults who do not wish to have children. According to the website's introduction, everyone from teachers to doctors belong to the group.

"We choose to call ourselves 'childfree rather than 'childless', because we feel the term 'childless' implies that we're missing something we want - and we aren't. We consider ourselves childFREE - free of the loss of personal freedom, money, time and energy that having children requires," the website says.

According to the survey, childhood experiences did not appear to play a significant role in the decision to become a parent.

The GSS showed that seven per cent of those who had a happy childhood expected to remain childfree, while nine per cent of those with unhappy childhood memories had no intention of becoming a parent.

Another point of interest. Twenty-six per cent of those who did not plan on having a child said that happiness in life did not depend on being part of a couple. In contrast, just six per cent of those who felt their happiness was tied to being part of a couple said they expected to remain childless.

Individuals without a religious affiliation were more likely to say they planned to remain childless than those without a religious affiliation.

The survey also revealed that 85 per cent of men in the 20 to 24-year-old age category intended to have at least one child. Seventy-four per cent of women in the same age group said they were planning on having a child.

Predictably, the number of Canadians with children increases with age. In the 30 to 34-year-old age group, 72 per cent of women have a child compared to 54 per cent of the men.