The US fertility rate hit a historic low in 2023, and a new report points to some possible explanations.
In a Pew Research Center survey of Americans under 50 who don’t have children and say they’re unlikely to have them, 57% said they just don’t want kids.
A larger Pew survey released in 2023 found that 47% of child-free US adults under 50 said they’re unlikely to ever have kids — a 10 percentage-point rise from 2018.
Pew’s recent report, released Thursday, is based on surveys it conducted between April 29 and May 19 with 2,542 people 50 and older without kids and 770 people between the ages of 18 and 49 without kids.
Sixty-four percent of women and 50% of men under the age of 50 cited “just don’t want to” as the main reason they are unlikely to have children. The most common reason adults over 50 gave for not having kids was “it just never happened.”
Meanwhile, 36% of Americans under 50 without kids said they can’t afford to have children, while 26% cited concerns about the environment as the major reason for not having children.
Americans under 50 without kids were nearly four times as likely than Americans over 50 to say environmental concerns were a major reason for not having children.
This comes as the US fertility rate hit a historic low: It decreased by 3% between 2022 and 2023, according to an April press release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 2014 and 2020, the fertility rate decreased by 2% annually, the CDC said.
Americans without kids say they have more time for their careers
Many Americans without kids told Pew that not having kids allows them to focus more on their careers, save money, and have time to engage in social life.
Four in five Americans under 50 said it’s easier for them to have time for their hobbies and interests because they don’t have kids, and 61% said it’s easier to be successful in their jobs because they don’t have kids.
Americans under 50 were more likely than Americans over 50 to cite concerns about the state of the world, affordability, and an interest in focusing on other things as reasons not to have children.
Business Insider has reported on the rise of DINKs — households with dual incomes and no kids. Many of these individuals have shared that not having children has given them financial stability and the opportunity to travel.
“Deciding not to have kids, and instead deciding to just focus on our interests and our desires and what we want out of life has just given us a little bit more freedom, essentially, to take advantage of the world now, versus having to wait until our kids are grown or until we retire — if we retire,” Nicole Valdez, a 37-year-old publishing publicity manager and DINKWAD — which stands for double income, no kids, with a dog — previously told Business Insider.
Correction: July 30, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the results of Pew’s recent report by conflating results from a survey conducted this year with survey results it released last year. It has been updated to clarify the results of the two separate surveys.
Are you choosing not to have children and comfortable talking about why? This reporter wants to hear your story. Please reach out at jtowfighi@businessinsider.com.
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