A quarter of young adults don’t plan on having kids because of money

A new survey has found that America’s youngest generations are not planning on having kids for a number of reasons, including wanting freedom, the current political climate, and financial situations.

The survey comes from MassMutual and found that 23% of surveyed millennial and Gen Z Americans are not planning on becoming parents because of their financial situation.

Of those who said they were not planning on having kids, 31% said it was because of the political and social world their children would grow up in.

The survey found that another major reason younger Americans are choosing not to have kids is because they wouldn’t be able to take care of them (43%) and want to have monetary freedom (43%).

“With today’s financial stressors, it is understandable why there is a growing trend among young adults to prioritize financial security over parenthood,” Paul LaPiana, head of brand, product and affiliated distribution with MassMutual, said in a statement. “This shift reflects a broader understanding of the importance of financial stability and independence in achieving long-term goals that every generation must reckon with.”

The survey also found that 51% of respondents reported being anxious about not having enough money to support their kids, with the most expensive child-related costs being food (57%) and clothing (51%).

The survey comes as new data released in August from the CDC shared that the US birth rate dropped again between 2022 and 2023.

The poll isn’t the first to find that more Americans are growing less likely to have kids, as a Pew Research Center survey from July found that 47% of adults under 50 without kids aren’t likely to become parents.

The trend has been going on for longer than the last few years, as the CDC data from last month shows that the birth rate in the US has dropped by nearly 23% from 2007 to 2022.

The MassMutual survey was conducted from July 1-26 and included responses from 1,000 American adults.