Nearly a quarter of Gen Z and Millennials ranging in age from 18 to 43, who do not have children, do not intend on becoming parents—and it’s primarily because of financial reasons, according to a new report in Consumer Spending & Saving Index from MassMutual. The report found that 23% of that age group have no plans to have children, and nearly a third (31%) of Millennials and Gen Z who don’t plan to become a parent say it’s because of the social and political world their children would potentially inherit. 43% cited both desire for financial freedom and the inability to afford children as potential reasons to opt out of parenthood.
These attitudes are part of a pattern that research from Pew Research Center also supports. Recent survey data from July found that Americans under 50 without children said they couldn’t afford to raise a child (36%), were concerned about the state of the world (38%), or simply didn’t want to have kids (57%).
Paul LaPiana, head of brand, product and affiliated distribution with MassMutual, told CBS MoneyWatch, "It is difficult to find a parent without some level of financial stress," LaPiana said. "It is almost a 'right of entry' into parenthood. Market and economic cycles come and go, and there are always factors that impact financial stress for parents."
A January 2024 report from childcare service website, Care.com, showed that parents are spending nearly a quarter of their household income on child care with many facing a “childcare cliff” that is, paying higher costs due to the end of pandemic-era funding for childcare programs.
“With the majority of families in America being dual income, there is widespread demand for child care and not enough supply to meet it,” Bryan Jamele, head of government affairs and public policy for Care.com said in the report. “The imbalance of supply and demand existed pre-pandemic, got worse during and because of the pandemic, and is now at its most extreme due to the child care cliff.”
And in an election year, childcare is a critical issue for candidates vying for the presidency. “Unlike so many other issues which get labeled as Democrat or Republican, red or blue state, child care is truly bipartisan. Why? Because legislators have one constituency in common, and that’s parents,” Jemele said.
Both presidential candidates have been called to bolster the federal Child Tax Credit. Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed a $6,000 tax credit for parents of newborns as well as the return of pandemic-era expanded Child Tax Credit. Vice presidential candidate JD Vance floated a child tax credit increase of $5,000 per child in a CBS interview, but Trump has not yet officially endorsed that position.
