Trevor Collins

Lori Bedell
Rhetoric and Civic Life
7 November 2014
Choosing Childfree
There is no love like the love a parent has for their child; there is nothing more
rewarding than seeing this child grow and become their own person; the choice to have a
baby is the best choice you will ever make. These ideas are some that have been
ingrained into our culture and are generally not challenged. Its a widely accepted idea
that all children are the epitome of a happy, successful life. Many people would say that
grandchildren are the greatest gift you could give your parents. The response to the
announcement of We are having a baby is always an applause, cheers of happiness and
Yays providing the news isnt delivered by teenagers. All of these notions are some that
really were not having their opposing sides represented; at least not until now. In the last
20 years, more and more couples have started to think about the true implications of
having a child and less about these culturally ingrained ideas. According to Time: Money,
over these past 20 years, the amount of couples planning on having kids has decreased
from what was previously 78% of partners to about 42% (Davidson). However, this isnt
to say that more people are simply planning on not having kids; theyre following
through with these plans, and apparently have been for a long time. Over the past 40
years, both the population growth rate and fertility rates for the entire world have halved
(Suzuki). Last year in the U.S., fertility rates hit an all-time-low for women under 30
having their first child (Nasser). This trend of less and less people having children is

becoming increasingly prevalent, and the world is likely going to feel many repercussions
of this in the near future. But what are these repercussions? And why is this shift
happening in the first place, specifically in the U.S.? For reasons relating to economic,
cultural and social changes, a shift is occurring in which less and less people are
deciding to take on the responsibility of having a child.
The first and likely the largest proponent of this trend is relating to the economy.
According to Time: Money, the decrease in the number of couples planning on having
children decreasing to 42% from 78% isnt necessarily because less people want kids, but
rather because they feel like their economic stars [wont] align to make it happen
(Davidson). According to estimates made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the
average cost of raising a child for a middle-income family is currently at about $245,000,
which is a sum of money that many people arent feeling capable of spending now, or
even in the future (Hicken). This figure also excludes the cost of college, which is
currently at, on average, about $23,000 for state schools and $45,000 for private schools
(Whats the Price Tag). This price tag is currently very dissuading to chose considering
becoming parents, especially considering many people consider the cost of education to
be rather outrageous in the first place. Now, to millennials looking towards the future, the
cost of raising a child, including tuition, is even less appealing because of how quickly
college costs are raising. Over the past 10 years, the price of college has nearly doubled,
meaning that those who are looking at having children now will be facing college costs
that are three to four times what they are now if we extrapolate this data (Kurtzlaben).
More potential parents are realizing this harsh reality than ever before, and are deciding
they simply cant afford the nearly $300,00 investment. However, this is obviously not

the only aspect of the economy that is causing people to not have kids. According to an
article published by Princeton University, there is a direct relationship between
recessionary conditions and fertility rates in women. It is common knowledge that the
U.S. economy hasnt been doing very well since the last recession. According to the
article, a one-percent increase in unemployment in the age group of 20-24 results in the
loss of six conceptions per one thousand women. This conception loss increases through
age ranges, with 40 year old women losing about 14.2 conceptions per one percent
unemployment (Huber). Recession and poor economic conditions create an environment
in which having a child becomes less of a default action of married couples and more of a
financial decision. This is why the current U.S economy is simply not conducive to
having children, and a large portion of the reasoning behind why the country, and the
world as a whole, are seeing these falling fertility numbers. However, they are not the
only reason.
A very important and often not-so obvious factor playing a large role in this shift
is the changing role of women within society. Its no secret that over the past several
decades, gender roles have started to be put into question more than ever before. In the
current day and age, where women are nearing equal treatment to men, or have already
achieved it depending on who you ask, the traditional role of the stay-at-home mother is
becoming less prevalent as more women find themselves in the workforce or the world of
business Over the past 40 years or so, the number of women in the U.S. civilian
workforce increased by about 40 million (Facts Over Time). However, the trend of less
women having kids isnt purely linked to their newfound career roles. As a matter of fact,
what research has found is that the women that are starting to choose to not have children

are actually those with the highest Intelligent Quotients, or IQs (Walshe). According to a
study that was conducted on this phenomenon, it was found that the desire to reproduce
actually diminishes by 25% for each additional 15 IQ points a women has (Styles). The
reasons that smarter women dont seem to want children, though, are varied. Many of
them, being considered more intelligent tend to have more rigorous work schedules,
and so they just dont see the time. In parallel with this, census data has shown that there
is a link between not having children and having a higher education. Other women
simply say that they just dont have the desire to have children (Walshe). One particular
quote, however, form social scientist, Dr. Nattavudh Powdthavee, seems to capture the
essence of these womens decision. Parents spend much of their time attending to the
very core processes of childcare: problems at school, cooking, laundry; It's these small
but negative experiences that are more likely to impact on our day-to-day levels of
happiness and life satisfaction (Styles). While womens changing roles are important to
this shift, this idea of happiness and life satisfaction that Powdthavee talks about also
seems to be playing a key role in diminishing fertility.
It is undeniable that the world around us has become very media-centered. Its
incredibly hard to go a single day without reading several headlines about Ebola or catcalling; because of this, new discoveries made by various studies that have a broad appeal
are reaching people more than ever before. With that said, over the past few years, people
have become aware of several studies that were done to find a correlation between
children and happiness. For example, an article by Time Magazine, titled Do Children
Bring Happiness- Or Misery, while not really reaching a conclusion one way or the
other, did provide some extrinsic proofs such as that U.S. adults ages 17-25 with children

reported, on average, being less happy than their childless counterparts (Lyubomirsky).
While this group is on the younger side of parenthood, these sorts of statistics could
definitely be playing a role in getting young couples off of the fence in favor of not
having a child. Another study provided by CNN, conducted on several sets of parents,
showed that out of sixteen different activities, taking care of their child ranked only
above housework and commuting in its enjoyableness (Etzioni). Not only this, but many
couples that the quality of the relationship with their actual partner, their marriage as a
whole, gets much worse after having a child (Etzioni). Many young couples that dont
want to risk their relationship may see this as a potential reason to avoid children, at least
temporarily. This reduced happiness as a result of children also isnt simply a correlation;
it isnt that the type of couples who choose to not have children also tend to lead happier
lifestyles. One study went about showing this by tracking several couples before and after
having children, in order to see how they were affected by this decision. On average, the
couples were about 1 point happier on a 10 point scale before they had their children
(Myrskyla). The point to be made is essentially that this type of research is reaching the
hands of many potential parents and they are starting to really question their decision to
have a child. For one reason or another, perhaps they simply have too much that they
want to do in their life, such as travel, that may be imeded by children, or they simply are
more concerned with maintaining intimacy with their partner, these couples are realizing
that the life that comes with having a child simply isn't for them; this is something that
has never been considered so deeply before; In fact, specifically wanting to maintain
intimacy was one of the most commonly cited reasons that the voluntarily

childless choose not to bear or rear children(Blackstone). While the percentage of

parents deciding to not have kids for selfish reasons like these is only 16% out of all
childless parents (Fewer American Couples), that still ultimately makes up tens of
thousands of lost births over the past several years (Kurtz).
For all of these reasons and perhaps some other, this shift is happening, and it
seems that it is going to continue to do so, especially if the U.S. economy does not
recover. With that said, it is important to be aware and prepared for some of the changes
that may occur as a result of this shift, whether they be economic, cultural, or otherwise.
The first thing to be addressed regarding reduced fertility is one that often has
many misconceptions around it; the economy. More often than not, people think that
reduced fertility indicates a decreasing population and subsequently reduces the
workforce, reducing output and ultimately economic growth. The first thing to be
addressed in this misconception is that with fertility numbers such as the one we are
seeing, the population is nowhere near declining. We are simply seeing a slowing of
growth, which can be a good thing in an already overpopulated world. Secondly, history
in countries other than America has shown us that reduced fertility can actually have
astounding economic benefits. It is for this reason that China surpassed India in economic
growth since the 1970s, during the time that Chinas one-child policy was in effect
(Teitelbaum). The reasoning behind this is essentially that reducing births puts more of
the total population in the workforce and increases the amount of older, more
experienced, and overall better workers in relation to the rest of the population
(Teitelbaum). In another article published by Brown University, it was pointed out that
while it is difficult to determine whether the relationship is causal or correlational, it is

fairly definite that we tend to see reducing fertility with improving economic conditions.
To be specific, the GDP per capita of working individuals will increase (Ashraf). This
could be incredibly beneficial to the U.S. economy considering its current state, and
could most likely allow many parents who arent having kids purely for financial reasons
to do so.
Another impact that ties very closely into the economy is education. Many people believe
that smaller class sizes allow for kids to have greater success in school because it allows
them to receive more individual attention. Smaller class sizes are also something that
results from decreasing fertility. As fertility decreases, the amount of children in the
country decreases relative to the rest of the population, meaning there will be fewer
students per class and ultimately more attention being spent per student (Ashraf).
However, its not just more attention that these student receive. If school budgets remain
relatively the same and there are less kids, there is actually more money to invest on
resources per child (Teitelbaum) .
One other potential benefit proposed by an article of the New York Times is that lower
fertility results in greater social stability. The idea behind this is that by having more
positions available for younger workers, since less of them are entering the workforce,
there are more satisfied, productive workers in the positions they desire, rather a large
group of unsatisfied, unhappy ones. Having large groups of youth in this category of not
having a job or role within society that they value can have much worse consequences
than one might expect: many experts have attributed everything from terrorism to the
Arab Spring to this youthquake of disaffected young adults in the Middle East and

North Africa (Teitelbaum). All in all, this reduction in fertility seems to bring about
positive change to society.
According to a poll conducted by CNN Money, 6 in 10 people feel that the American
dream is unattainable (Duke). A man growing up, getting the perfect job and a perfect
wife who, despite being busy taking care of the kids all day, would have a hot dinner
ready for the husband when they got home; this dream used to be strived for, but today is
not just unattainable but also unwanted. Its outdated. People dont want to spend the
hundreds of thousands of dollars required to have children in the current economic state.
Not every woman wants to sit around and take care of children while their husband
works. The idea that this dream, specifically the child portion of it, is no longer just
assumed to bring happiness. People have woken up and started to question what it is that
will really make them happy, rather than simply being told what they want by the culture
they grew up in. Ultimately, this decision of free-thought will benefit us all greatly. It
may bring economic growth and more money to individuals; education may see
improvement as children begin to receive more individual attention; society as a whole
may become more stable, with more young people getting the jobs they really want. Our
culture as a whole may start to be more accepting of the notion of not wanting children,
while those that do want kids will hopefully be enabled to do so by an economic upturn.
However, what must also be remembered is that having children should be ones own life
decision. It isnt simply an economic or financial or job decision; it is something that will
affect a couples entire life and happiness, which is most important consideration of all.

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