46% Of American Adults Do Not Want To Have A Child In Future: Survey

A survey conducted by Harris Poll found that almost half, 46%, of American adults who do not have children do not want to have a child in the future, while 43% of American adults who are unmarried want to get married in the future, with only 28% of them wanting to have a child.

People attribute the trend “dual income, no kids,” popularly referred to as “DINKS,” to their personal financial situation, as with DINKs, the couples can fully reap the benefits of the combined finances, eradicating expenses such as childcare, while 33% noted housing prices as a factor.

“This idea and household configuration of dual-income partners living alone without children is on the rise,” according to Misty L. Heggeness, an associate research scientist at the University of Kansas’ Institute for Policy and Social Research. “In 2022, it was around 43% of households, and that’s about a 7% increase from a decade previously.”

“When we advise clients about having children, we honestly don’t even give them the full details and the real numbers,” said Shannon McLay, founder of The Financial Gym. “It’s one of those things that, if you see the math of it all, might make you decide not to have children.”

“Being able to split our finances, to look at both of our incomes coming in and see how we’re able to handle all of that because we don’t have extra finances with a child or anything like that, it’s much more comfortable,” said Taylor Graves, a 32-year-old project manager in health-care technology who has been living the DINK lifestyle for 10 years. “We get to focus more on the things that we want to do, saving a lot of that money for the future, and worry less about the day-to-day finances of the house and our bills.”