{"id":7602,"date":"2024-07-30T13:37:12","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T13:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/?p=7602"},"modified":"2024-07-30T13:37:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T13:37:12","slug":"why-are-fewer-couples-choosing-to-have-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/2024\/07\/why-are-fewer-couples-choosing-to-have-kids.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Fewer Couples Choosing to Have Kids?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Becky and her husband Seth have spent 21 years of marriage being fully active members of their community in California. They\u2019ve run a local scholarship program and have kept a closetful of prom dresses to loan out to students in need. They\u2019re mentors in their community, but they don\u2019t have any kids of their own. Becky said, \u201cA lot of people assume because we don\u2019t have kids, we\u2019re not fulfilled. And it\u2019s not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proportion of adults in the United States younger than 50 years old who do not have children is growing \u2014 leaping from 37 percent in 2018 to 47 percent in 2023, according to a new\u00a0Pew Research Center survey published<\/a>. The new Pew study comes as comments resurfaced from Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, who told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in 2021 that the country was being run by \u201ca bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they\u2019ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, with more people not having children, Pew researchers wanted to investigate whether the unhappy childless adult characterization is actually true. Rachel Minkin, a report coauthor and Pew research associate, said, \u201cWe wanted to learn more about the reasons adults don\u2019t have children, their experiences, how it impacts their relationships.\u201d The latest poll surveyed more than 3,300 adults who do not have children and say they are not likely to have them.<\/p>\n

While researchers did find that those surveyed reported some difficulties and pressure, they also found that people without children also reported ways in which their experiences were full and connected. \u201cWe see majorities \u2026 \u00a0saying having a fulfilling life doesn\u2019t have much to do with whether someone does or doesn\u2019t have children,\u201d Minkin said.<\/p>\n