Childfree by Choice (Upper-Intermediate Lesson)

ESL/EFL Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2/C1)
Lesson Topics: raising children, family
Skill Focus: Speaking, Vocabulary, Listening
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: childfree-by-choice-upper-intermediate-082026.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • Students first warm up with questions about having children.
  • This lesson's video, at 3:36 in length, is a news report that describes the growing trend of women choosing not to have children. The report interviews a few women who explain their reasons, which include wanting to have freedom, financial concerns, and concerns about the current political climate. 
  • The passage is followed by comprehension and follow-up questions.
  • Next, students match vocabulary from phrases in the video to definitions. This is followed by an exercise in which students ask questions to each other using some of the new vocabulary.
  • The lesson has two debate topics on whether people who are childfree by choice just haven't found the right partner yet, and whether the world is indeed so terrible that it would be irresponsible to bring a child into it.
  • The first speaking activity is a roleplay between a husband and a wife. The husband tries to convince his wife to reconsider her child-free perspective.
  • The next short activity is less serious: the husband has agreed to let his wife opt out of several key parenting responsibilities. They must negotiate which responsibilities they are.
  • The storyline of the husband and wife wraps up with a decision to adopt a child after fertility issues. The couple interviews a family counselor about the pros and cons of adopting a child at different ages (e.g., a toddler vs. a teenager).
  • After a few famous quotations about having children, students review collocations and then the vocabulary from the passage.
  • Finally, the lesson ends with a few final discussion questions.

A childfree woman walking by a stressed mother.

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) Lesson: Childfree By Choice

 WARM-UP:

  1. Do you like or dislike children? Why?
  2. In your opinion, how many children is the “right” number to have?
  3. Do most of the adults you know have children? Would you say that more, about the same, or fewer couples are having children nowadays?

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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. Claude AI was used to assist with answer keys and famous quotations..

ANSWER KEY

Comprehension Questions

  1. ...
  2. Sample reasons: enjoying freedom and travel, prioritizing career, not feeling a personal need to have children despite loving kids/working with them, high cost of raising children, medical reasons.
  3. She means that support systems for raising children (childcare, help from others) are generally not accessible unless you can afford them, or have family who can help for free.
  4. High levels of education and high female labor force participation.
  5. Immigrant labor, which has accounted for 80% of Massachusetts's labor force growth since 1990.
  6. (Open-ended: personal response. Sample: because worries about the future of the planet may make people less willing to raise children in it.)
  7. He says the U.S. is projected to have more deaths than births. Consequences: (Open-ended: personal response.)

 

Vocabulary Answer Key

a-infant, b-expense, c-vital, d-labor force, e-instability, f-pass on, g-shift, h-overwhelming, i-factor, j-maintain, k-concern, l-opt out

Collocation Answer Key

1-e, 2-b, 3-f, 4-d, 5-a, 6-c, 7-g

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