People choose to be childfree for many different reasons. The reasons can range from the environment to financial reasons. These are eighteen reasons why someone may choose to be childfree.
18 Reasons Someone May Choose To Be Childfree
1. Want leisure time
The first reason why people are deciding not to have children is that they want leisure time. Children take away from your leisure time. Time is the one thing that you cannot get back in life, and it is the one thing that everyone has in common. Leisure time is valuable because you can spend it doing the things that you enjoy. Children take away from leisure time since you have to take care of them.
2. They haven’t found a partner
For those singles who may want to marry and have kids, they just haven’t found a partner yet. This could be because they are in a place where they cannot meet someone who shares their values or has not found someone. After all, they are too busy with work.
3. Can’t afford childcare
The cost of everything has continued to rise in the United States, along with childcare. The average price of childcare is around $12,000 a year. That varies on the age and the state where you live. Due to these rising costs, people are staying single longer and are choosing to be childfree.
The average salary in the United States in 2020 ranges from $29,068 to $49,764. The cost to raise one child to the age of 18 is roughly $284,000. That does not include the prices of childcare, education, healthcare, clothes, housing, and food. As the cost of housing has continued to rise, parent’s children are living with them longer. Children may end up living with their parents past the age of eighteen. This means they will live with their parents longer while they work or until they can buy a place of their own.
4. No desire to have children
More people are deciding not to have children. This is for a range of personal reasons, but some people do not want to have children. People who do not wish to have children may enjoy the freedom that comes with the single life.
5. Can’t afford a house
The cost of a house has continued to rise in the United States. This has made it more difficult for the younger generations to buy a home that is normally thought of as one of the first ways to get started in life and start a family.
6. Not sure that they would be a good parent
Yet others do not want to have children because they are not sure that they would be a good parent.
7. Worried about the economy
Some people are deciding not to have children because they are worried about the economy. They may be concerned about their economic situation. This concern may lead them to conclude that they don’t want to bring a child into the world if they are not optimistic about the economic future that children would have to deal with in society. For every new child born, another person is born with a debt burden that they will have to deal with on top of the current level. This means that they have to pay more than the past generations, especially Baby Boomers.
There are also economic reasons to be childfree. The average cost to raise a child from birth to the age of eighteen is around $284,570. That is $15, 809 a year. The most typical salary in the United States is $52,918. That leaves $37,109 to cover expenses such as food, healthcare, clothes, transportation, and education. Prices continue to go up in the economy from inflation; the cost of raising a child will continue to rise with it. For women, having children can disrupt their careers. More women are entering the workforce, so it may be in their economic and career interest to delay having children or to remain childfree. Due to the rising costs of living and the cost of raising a child, some couples and singles may choose to be childfree.
8. Worried about global instability
There is growing concern about global instability for several different reasons. Some of the problems could be related to globalism, breakdowns of supply chains, and physical or cyber warfare between nation-states.
9. Career is a greater priority
Getting a job and working up their way up in their career field is a greater priority than having children. Millennials have ranked their education and their careers as more important than having children. This is a shift in the preferences as past generations have married and started a family at an earlier age than Millennials.
10. Worried about population growth
Someone may choose to be childfree because they are worried about overpopulation and population growth.
11. Too much student debt
Millennials and the younger generations have gone to college and higher education, resulting in student debt. Debt makes it harder to have children since it is a sound financial practice to work on paying off any debt that you may have.
12. Personal health reasons
People are deciding not to have children for health reasons. This is especially true for women since they have a higher risk of experience adverse health effects after giving birth to children.
13. Can’t afford college
College is considered a life milestone, and it is pushed in high school for students to go to college. It is becoming harder for people to afford college as the price of attending college continues to rise.
14. Worried about climate change
Some people may choose to remain childfree because they are worried about climate change. It has been found that carbon dioxide contributes to climate change, and humans emit approximately 2.3 pounds of carbon dioxide a day. This means that having one less child or being childfree is a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the world.
15. Worried about domestic politics
The domestic politics in the United States have steadily been growing more divisive over the past decade. The United States has continued to become more polarized. There may be concerns about the state of the country or the political direction of the country.
16. Worried about domestic stability
There are also concerns about domestic stability. This goes along with domestic politics. These concerns could be about the growing political divide and the country’s changing demographics and economic stability. The rising costs to buy a house in the United States and potential concerns about civil unrest and possibly even a civil war.
17. Worried about the environment
People are deciding to be childfree because they are worried about the environment. People pollute the environment and change the environment by taking down trees or tearing up the land to build. Being childfree is a way to preserve the environment, have less co2 to for climate change, and decrease trash and waste in the environment.
18. Freedom of the single life
Being single provides freedom which is one of the four single life values. The single life allows you to live your life exactly how you want without having to worry about a spouse or children. Singles have the freedom to do as they please without worrying about caring for a spouse or children. This gives you the freedom to travel, see the world, pursue your own interests, develop your skills, discover yourself, and live your best life.
Conclusion
No matter why you are childfree, there is nothing wrong with making the personal decision not to have children. Some of your friends or family may think that it is a wrong choice for whatever reasons they may give, but they are not in charge of your life. You are the one in control of your life.
