Millennials aren’t having kids. Here’s why.

[jmyrlefuller]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/03/millennials-only-children/

by Andrew Van Dam
November 3, 2023

The U.S. birthrate languishes at its lowest level in history. So when our friend and colleague Herman Wong suggested running the numbers on only children, we lit up with the cheap joy of answering a question to which we already knew the answer. With fewer kids overall, Americans are surely cranking out one-hit wonders in record numbers, right?
Not so fast! (...) As we analyzed the latest figures, from 2022, our brains spun in our skulls: Since the mid-1980s, the rate at which we produce only children has remained absolutely flat. Something like 1 in 5 American women ages 25 to 44 are one and done.

That’s bizarre, given birthrates! But let’s zoom out and look at the whole universe of possible family sizes.


First, we noted that families with three or more kids plunged in the 1980s, as birth control, education and greater opportunity helped women pile into the workforce. That’s also when only children rose to their current level. Families shifted again after the Great Recession when, among women 25 to 44, even having two children lost its luster. The number of women who had zero children soared. Only children held steady.

(excerpt)

[jmyrlefuller]

This is what I'm up against in my personal life.

But look deeper at that data and you’ll spot something wild. Women in their early 20s embraced childlessness first, with a sharp rise beginning around 2002. That happens to be when the first millennials, born in 1981, entered that age group. For women in their later 20s, the jump in childlessness happened in 2006, just as the first millennials arrived.

As you ascend the age spectrum, the millennial echo follows. When the oldest millennials hit their 40s, even 40-year-olds become more likely to go childless.

Generations are squishy, man-made distinctions. Outside the baby boom, it’s rare to see such a vivid generational turning point. Both married and unmarried Americans have shifted toward childlessness in the millennial era. And levels of childlessness have actually accelerated among millennials as their homeownership rates have recently grown.

[libertybele]

I'm afraid to weigh in on this one as I apparently didn't help matters yesterday...so....

 

[DefiantMassRINO]

Having children is too goddam expensive.

The current structure of the economy discourages family formation and births, but encourages illegal immigration to compensate for demographic deficiencies.

[libertybele]

Having children is too goddam expensive.

The current structure of the economy discourages family formation and births, but encourages illegal immigration to compensate for demographic deficiencies.

There you have it.  ILLEGALS get all the perks, while Americans foot the bills.

[berdie]

It is expensive.

In addition, the younger generations don't seem to mature as quickly as before. I don't mean this as a blanket statement...some do. But I see more and more young people that don't want to drive, get a place of their own, or do anything that was a "right of passage" back in the day. Getting married and having kids isn't even on the radar. I see this in both male and female. And the desire for these things seems to get further and further out age-wise as time goes on.

That doesn't mean that lots of folks aren't having kids. I have several members of my family that have had kids and remained single. I do think it's best to have a two parent household, but that doesn't seem to be the case any longer.

[Gefn]

bookmarking. This is a really interesting thread, it's just I don't feel competent to comment

[libertybele]

It is expensive.

In addition, the younger generations don't seem to mature as quickly as before. I don't mean this as a blanket statement...some do. But I see more and more young people that don't want to drive, get a place of their own, or do anything that was a "right of passage" back in the day. Getting married and having kids isn't even on the radar. I see this in both male and female. And the desire for these things seems to get further and further out age-wise as time goes on.

That doesn't mean that lots of folks aren't having kids. I have several members of my family that have had kids and remained single. I do think it's best to have a two parent household, but that doesn't seem to be the case any longer.

Yes, having children is expensive, but I was once told if we waited till we thought we could afford to have children, we'd never have them.  Children must be a financial priority and one's first responsibility.

[Free Vulcan]

Here in the Midwest, they are getting married and they are having kids.

[Hoodat]

Yes, having children is expensive, but I was once told if we waited till we thought we could afford to have children, we'd never have them.

That's what I was told as  well.

The reason millennials aren't having kids is because their futures have already been unfairly mortgaged by previous generations, and they have no desire to do the same to future generations.  Their outlook on life is far more cynical because of the hand they have been dealt, which is why they choose to live for the now while it lasts because tomorrow there won't be anything left for them.  No possibility of home ownership.  No social security.  No retirement.  And a standard of living lower than their parents.

[Wingnut]

The reason millennials aren't having kids is because their futures have already been unfairly mortgaged by previous generations, and they have no desire to do the same to future generations.  Their outlook on life is far more cynical because of the hand they have been dealt, which is why they choose to live for the now while it lasts because tomorrow there won't be anything left for them.  No possibility of home ownership.  No social security.  No retirement.  And a standard of living lower than their parents.

Well there is that perspective.  But then it might be more simple.  They are dumbasses.

[corbe]

   I was afraid, as a boomer, of my kids doing to me to what I did to my Parents, DNA.  So, I elected not to have any.  It caused a Divorce with my first Wife, who I Loved very much.  I have been a Dad to many Children through the years with the Women I've dated, but I've never been a Father.  Can I say I've had LESS Heartbreak~NO But there is no one to put me in a Nursing Home if I outlive my Freeper older Sister, so there's that.

[Smokin Joe]

It is expensive.

In addition, the younger generations don't seem to mature as quickly as before. I don't mean this as a blanket statement...some do. But I see more and more young people that don't want to drive, get a place of their own, or do anything that was a "right of passage" back in the day. Getting married and having kids isn't even on the radar. I see this in both male and female. And the desire for these things seems to get further and further out age-wise as time goes on.

That doesn't mean that lots of folks aren't having kids. I have several members of my family that have had kids and remained single. I do think it's best to have a two parent household, but that doesn't seem to be the case any longer.

I especially agree with the part in bold. What for us were responsibilities we scooped up like a Scout on their way to Eagle went after merit badges, just don't seem to appeal to kids nowadays.
I don't understand, except to say what gave us social status seems not to count, for whatever reason.

[DB]

They've been told they've been destroying the planet - over and over since birth. Many have lived well with little effort on their part. Many also want a quick buck and don't want to work hard for it. Boys have also been told they are toxic and when they were young if they acted like boys they were drugged to make them docile.

Societal death by a thousand cuts.

[Smokin Joe]

We are all going to die:

... in a great climate catastrophe!

...When SMOD hits!

...In the zombie apocalypse!

...when Captain Tripps hits.

...when all the food/fuel/sunshine/water runs out.

Just look at the Sci-Fi movies of today, commonly set in "post-apocalyptic" dystopian settings.

Who would bring a kid into that? 

Besides, this way, you don't have to fight them for the video game controller.

[sneakypete]

The "numbers" are obviously  coming from 3rd World Families  who  move here and get on welfare. The more children they have,the more money they get each  month.

Go ahead and disagree with  me if you want. I no longer give a damn.