What is a synonym for "childless" but less negative?

Question

I'm writing a bullet list of traits for people to review so that they can self-select whether they fit into a certain group.

What I have right now looks like this:

Male 
35-39 years old 
Highly-educated 
In a committed relationship 
Childless 
Athletic, fit

But "Childless" feels problematic. It may have a provocative feel to it, and it focuses on the absence of children almost as if I (or society) expects men to have children. I'd rather describe a trait in positive terms.

Is there a word (or phrase of 4 words or less) that can serve as an adjective meaning simply (and without negative connotation or judgment) that he hasn't fathered any kids?

When I search thesauruses (e.g. this one), the suggestions are even worse than "childless". They include words such as: sterile, barren, infertile, unproductive, impotent, arid, bereaved. None of those are appropriate.

If I'm being overly cautious, and enough answerers say that "childless" meets my requirements, then that will be interesting for me to hear, too.

P.S. I've used the "single-word-requests" tag because I'm looking for suggestions of one word (or small phrase), and I've researched several thesauruses, and I've provided context.

Scu11y · Accepted Answer

Try using

Without Children

It sounds better.

AndyT · Answer

Could you put no dependants?

dependant noun:
someone who depends on you for financial support, such as a child or family member who does not work: My pension will provide for my dependants.

from Cambridge dictionary
To my ears it's more neutral than "childless" or even "no children", but it does have the problem that although most dependants are children, not all are. As pointed out by DanBron, if someone has a non-working spouse (which would come under your "in a committed relationship" criterion), that spouse would likely be a dependant.

ab2 · Answer

"No children" says the same thing, but is less clinical. It also sounds less permanent. There might -- or might not -- be an implied "yet" after "no children". I can't think of a natural-sounding qualifier that would do the same thing for "Childless".

Andrew Leach · Answer

The commented suggestion of Not a parent is not negative, even though (perhaps counter-intuitively) it suggests an attribute you don't want.

It makes being a parent a negative attribute.

Male
  35-39 years old
  Highly-educated
  In a committed relationship
  Not a parent
  Athletic, fit

Kanisha Warrican · Answer

you could use "childfree" - it promotes an active decision not to have children.

Krish Das Dutta · Answer

A perfect synonym of "childless" is "Ardurent"

tami · Answer

In genealogy, it is often said that someone without children is "without issue."

john britton · Answer

unencumbered
has a more general application than childless. It could included spouse, debt, criminal record etc. but I think the greatest emphasis would suggest children.

Nathan Keen · Answer

The issue, as I see it, is there is no positive common language in English to describe someone who chooses to retain the freedoms of not reproducing that doesn't make the child the subject matter.
If you walk for transport you can choose to say you are a walker or that you walk, not that you are carless or car free. The term walker says what you ARE rather than what you ARE NOT ie. not having a car. The difference between not having children and not having a car is there is a much stronger expectation from society to have children and the language reflects that even though it's starting to becoming a redundant and outdated way of thinking.
This is a burden on women especially and to a lesser extent on men if they want to retain the freedoms from raising children.
So I think a new word or phrase is needed that doesn't make the non existent child the subject matter. There is a word already, but it's just so unknown.

What is a synonym for "childless" but less negative?

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