3 ms·

Why doesn't Gen Z want children?

7 points by jseliger 3y ago

teovall 3y ago
It's pretty simple. Gen Z can't afford children.
- shrimp_emoji 3y ago
  It's pretty simple. No one in a developed country wants children.
  - hitsurume 3y ago
    People in developed countries can barely afford to live on their own, let alone buy a home.
  - salamiboy 3y ago
    [dead]
bell-cot 3y ago
Roughly speaking, having kids requires: (1) A good, stable long-term relationship, with someone who seems to be good parent material (2) A sense of long-term economic security, with a surplus sufficient to cover the costs of a kid (3) A good, stable, kid-friendly housing situation (4) Plenty of spare time, long-term (to be spent parenting) What % of Gen Z feels that they have good prospects of achieving all 4 of those, before age 50?
- JimtheCoder 3y ago
  "requires" might be the wrong word? Having kids requires a physical act between a male and a female (assuming natural conception) and nothing more. If all of your requirements were met before people had kids, there wouldn't be so many messed up people in this world. There probably wouldn't be nearly as many people, period...
  - eesmith 3y ago
    I interpreted "roughly speaking" as wanting to skip over the obvious mechanical details like you mention and instead focus on the cultural norms affecting why Gen Z doesn't want children compared to previous generations. bell-cot's comment is well aligned with https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/young-put-off-having-children-by-global-fears-z5c2w5f3l https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/young-put-off-having-chil... which is one of the cited sources. It starts "Only half of Generation Z and millennials plan to start a family as finances and global anxieties put them off having children, a survey found." > If all of your requirements were met before people had kids Again, "roughly." Just like we know bell-cot's criteria aren't meant for a subsistence farming society, where the tradeoffs in having children are very different than in a high-technology culture, and just like we know it only make sense in a culture with access to effective birth control and family planning.
goddessoflists 3y ago
1. I'm terrified of childbirth and do not want to go through it. 2. Climate change -- I don't look forward to it myself and wouldn't want to bring more children to go through even worse conditions. I'll be adopting kids instead.

7 points by jseliger 3y ago

teovall 3y ago

It's pretty simple. Gen Z can't afford children.

shrimp_emoji 3y ago
It's pretty simple. No one in a developed country wants children.
- hitsurume 3y ago
  People in developed countries can barely afford to live on their own, let alone buy a home.
- salamiboy 3y ago
  [dead]

bell-cot 3y ago

Roughly speaking, having kids requires: (1) A good, stable long-term relationship, with someone who seems to be good parent material (2) A sense of long-term economic security, with a surplus sufficient to cover the costs of a kid (3) A good, stable, kid-friendly housing situation (4) Plenty of spare time, long-term (to be spent parenting) What % of Gen Z feels that they have good prospects of achieving all 4 of those, before age 50?

JimtheCoder 3y ago
"requires" might be the wrong word? Having kids requires a physical act between a male and a female (assuming natural conception) and nothing more. If all of your requirements were met before people had kids, there wouldn't be so many messed up people in this world. There probably wouldn't be nearly as many people, period...
- eesmith 3y ago
  I interpreted "roughly speaking" as wanting to skip over the obvious mechanical details like you mention and instead focus on the cultural norms affecting why Gen Z doesn't want children compared to previous generations. bell-cot's comment is well aligned with https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/young-put-off-having-children-by-global-fears-z5c2w5f3l https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/young-put-off-having-chil... which is one of the cited sources. It starts "Only half of Generation Z and millennials plan to start a family as finances and global anxieties put them off having children, a survey found." > If all of your requirements were met before people had kids Again, "roughly." Just like we know bell-cot's criteria aren't meant for a subsistence farming society, where the tradeoffs in having children are very different than in a high-technology culture, and just like we know it only make sense in a culture with access to effective birth control and family planning.

goddessoflists 3y ago

1. I'm terrified of childbirth and do not want to go through it. 2. Climate change -- I don't look forward to it myself and wouldn't want to bring more children to go through even worse conditions. I'll be adopting kids instead.