Why Americans don't want kids
For the majority of adults in the U.S., the reason for not having kids is that they just don't want to. Image: REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
United States
- More than half of non-parents in the US aged 18-49 who say they are not likely to have children, have simply decided against it.
- Aside from medical reasons, the next most common reason for not having children, was financial at 17%.
- 9% of respondents were put off by the current state of the world.
- Climate change and the environment was cited by 5% of respondents as a reason for not wanting to have a child.
For the majority of childless adults in the U.S., the reason for not having kids is bluntly simple: "I just don't want to". According to a new survey by Pew Research Center, 56 percent of 18-49-year old non-parents in the States who say they are not too likely, or not at all likely to have children have simply decided against it.
What's the World Economic Forum doing about diversity, equity and inclusion?
Breaking down the other reasons though, we can see an interesting mix of factors coming into play. Aside from the involuntary situation of having medical reasons, the most common deterrent was financial (17 percent). Looking outside of their own personal situation, 9 percent of respondents have even been put off by the current state of the world. Meanwhile 5 percent cited climate change and the environment specifically as reasons for not wanting to bring another life onto the planet.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.