Gen Z, millennials are reluctant to have children because of climate change

[Anonymous]

They don't want to become parents because of climate change.

 ac_wot



NEW YORK (AP) — At 24, El Johnson has made up her mind that she won't bear children, though she and her girlfriend haven't ruled out adoption.



The graduate student who works in legal services in Austin, Texas, has a list of reasons for not wanting to give birth: the climate crisis and a genetic health condition among them.



"I don't think it's responsible to bring children into this world," Johnson said. "There are already kids who need homes. I don't know what kind of world it's going to be in 20, 30, 40 years."



Other women interviewed also cited climate change, along with overwhelming student debt coupled with inflation, as reasons they'll never be parents. Some younger men, too, are opting out and more are seeking vasectomies.



Whatever the motivation, they play a role in dramatically low birth rates in the U.S.



The U.S. birth rate fell 4% in 2020, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report. The government noted a 1% uptick in U.S. births last year, but the number of babies born was still lower than before the coronavirus pandemic: about 86,000 fewer than in 2019.



Jordan Davidson interviewed more than 300 people for a book out in December titled, "So When are You Having Kids?" The pandemic, she said, led many to delay childbirth among those contemplating children at all.



"These timelines that people created for themselves of, I want to accomplish X by three years from now, changed. People weren't necessarily willing to move the goalposts and say, OK, I'm going to forgo these accomplishments and do this differently," she said. "People still want to travel. They still want to go to graduate school. They still want to meet certain financial benchmarks."



Fears about climate change have cemented the idea of living without children for many, Davidson said.



"Now with increased wildfires, droughts, heat waves, all of a sudden it is becoming real that, OK, this is happening during my time, and what is this going to look like during the time that my children are alive?" she said.



Among those Jordan interviewed, concerns over the environment were far more prevalent among the younger group. Questions of affordability, she said, troubled both millennials and members of Gen Z.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/smart-living/gen-z-millennials-speak-out-on-reluctance-to-become-parents/ar-AA11gK5A?li=AAgh0dA&ocid=mailsignout">https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/sma ... ailsignout">https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/smart-living/gen-z-millennials-speak-out-on-reluctance-to-become-parents/ar-AA11gK5A?li=AAgh0dA&ocid=mailsignout

[Garraty_47]

One of the main reasons I've never been particularly eager to cause kids is that the world is obviously not about to find itself lacking people.



Adding a few of my own seems unnecessary or even overkill.

I know that's not the norm for others in my generation (technically a boomer) though.



Maybe people born in that grey area between one generation and the next are just unavoidably weird since we've spent our entire lives not actually 'belonging' to either generation which kinda translates to not identifying as any particular generation at all?

[Anonymous]

One of the main reasons I've never been particularly eager to cause kids is that the world is obviously not about to find itself lacking people.



Adding a few of my own seems unnecessary or even overkill.

I know that's not the norm for others in my generation (technically a boomer) though.



Maybe people born in that grey area between one generation and the next are just unavoidably weird since we've spent our entire lives not actually 'belonging' to either generation which kinda translates to not identifying as any particular generation at all?

You got to to do what is right for you. But, scaring the shit out of kids to the point they don't want what should be natural for all living creatures is messed up. Do you think Gen Zers in Ghana or Tajikistan don't ant kids because the frickin climate is changing. The answer is no.