Childfree

[James Callan]

"Childfree" seems to be a relatively new term for people who have chosen
not to have children. "Childless" would be used for people who don't have
children but are unable to, while "childfree" describes those who are
happy to be non-parents.

I was wondering how old "childfree" is. A search of Google groups turns
up two uses between 1981 and 1990. The first, in 1985, is probably not
being used in the same way:
"Speaking as one who as a teenager maintained his parents' pool, I think
they're more work than they're worth; others (especially childfree
couples) don't want to have every kid in the neighborhood trying to
wangle an invitation, or (worse) trying to sneak in."

The other, in 1990, is in quotes, and is closer to the current definition:
I respect you and your wives decision to remain "childfree."  I feel that
many couples are doing this nowadays.

After that, there's 1 use in 1991, 6 in 1992, 51 in 1993, 66 in 1994, 342
in 1995, and 798 in 1996. At some point that year, the group
alt.support.childfree is created, and every year after that shows 319,000
mentions (319,000 seems to be Google's default number for "a lot.")

Does anyone know if the word was coined by anyone in particular? Or why
its popularity gained so much traction in 1995-6?

 -- James