More adults say they’re not planning to have children amid declining birth rates, poll finds
By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Christian Post:
A growing number of U.S. adults who do not already have children say they are unlikely ever to have them as birth rates continue to decline across the country, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The Pew analysis is based on a sample of 3,866 U.S. adults ages 18 to 49 collected as a part of an extensive survey conducted Oct. 18 through Oct. 24.
Researchers asked respondents with no children to rate their desire to have them in the future, while adults who said they already have children were asked to rate their likelihood of having more.
Respondents were asked, “how likely is it that you will have children someday” in the future.
Forty-four percent of non-parents ages 18 to 49 said it is “not too” or “not at all likely,” marking a 7 percentage point increase from the 37% who said the same in a 2018 survey.
Fifty-five percent of non-parents said they were either “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to have children someday, a decrease of about 6 percentage points from 2018.
When asked for a reason, over half — 56% of childless adults — said they just don’t want them. The other 43% cited other reasons, including medical issues, finances, not having a partner, climate change and environmental concerns.
Researchers found that among both parents and non-parents, men and women were equally likely to say they will probably not have kids — or more kids — in the future. However, adults in their 40s were far more likely than younger adults to say they are unlikely to have any or any more children in the future.
When it comes to parents who say they are unlikely to have more children in the future, 63% said it’s because they just don’t want to. Fathers (69%) were more likely to say this than mothers (59%).
Please right-click links to open in a new window.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
