From ADISC Answers Wiki
One question that preoccupies many infantilists is how widespread infantilism is among the general population. There is no easy answer. For one thing there is likely to be a significant amount of regional variation. It seems safe to assume that cultural factors play a significant role in the development of infantilism; thus, to take a very basic example, the population of diaper fetishists among tribal societies where diapers are not used and are virtually unknown is likely to be quite small.
Another factor that limits our ability to obtain conclusive information about the population of AB/DLs is the lack of a reliable way to gather data. Few people are willing to be forthcoming about such a private matter, so to conduct any sort of broad-based survey of the general population would be a complicated and delicate task, and one that has not yet been accomplished.
Internet Data
It is possible to formulate a rough estimate of the population of AB/DLs in the general population by using a much more limited, internet-based sample. By far the largest social networking site on the internet is aby.com. The site encourages its users to list a location in their profile. Not all users comply, and many give a general location such as "Canada" or "Ohio." Nevertheless, it is possible to get a general sense of the size of the AB/DL population in specific cities and towns relative to the general population.
For example, Madison, Wisconsin has a population of 223,000, and there are 36 people on aby.com who list that as their location. That gives a ratio of 1 in 6,194.
Here are some other ratios for U.S. cities:
- Portland, Oregon: 1 in 6,843
- Portland, Maine: 1 in 4,571
- Santa Fe, New Mexico: 1 in 7,750
These are the results from medium-sized cities where the population is generally homogeneously middle-class, and where a large percentage of the inhabitants have access to the internet. Ratios are much lower for larger cities, where variations in social class restrict internet access for large portions of the population, rendering the results unpredictable. In more rural areas, sample sizes are too small to obtain accurate information. By no means should the above information be construed as representative of a world-wide or even nation-wide population ratio.
The limited size of the sample suggests in some ways that the actual population of AB/DLs in these cities may be much higher. Obviously, not every infantilist in a given city is a member of aby.com. In fact, the site requires its users to be 18 or older, so infantilists under the age of 18 are not included in this data. Nor are those who lack access to the internet, or who are unwilling or simply uninterested in networking with other infantilists on that particular site. Even among infantilists who do maintain an account on aby.com, not all of them list a specific location. Thus it is safe to assume that there are many infantilists in the above-listed cities who aren't represented in the calculated ratios. It wouldn't be outrageous to estimate an adjusted ratio as low as 1 in every 1,000 for these cities.
However, there are also mitigating factors which suggest that the ratios given above may be over-generous in some ways. It's quite possible that many people giving "Madison, Wisconsin" as their location on aby.com may in fact live in the greater Madison area rather than in the urban core of 223,000 people. Information about the population of the rural areas surrounding the U.S. cities listed above is probably available, but would be useless without a reliable estimate of how many people are prone to that sort of approximation. Additionally, it should be kept in mind that the AB/DL population may vary widely in response to social strata, and that an urban vs. a rural environment may also play a role. Populations may be much lower in different socioeconomic environments.
