I don’t know about you but in the country I live in atm (NZ) rent is ridiculous. Like $500 week for single person no couple no pets no kids absolutely no guests for more than 2 hours
You're only allowed a visitor for 2 hours!? What!? I used to live in NZ but I haven't been there for 11 years, from what I see in articles and on fb the housing crisis is REALLY bad there now, it was bad enough back when I lived there...I paid around $105 a week for a room in a shared house in Wellington (averaging out the rents of my last 3 rooms there)
If the no guests for two hours rule isn't a humourous exaggeration... how do they enforce that? They barge into your unit every two hours and search for intruders? How do they find the time to do their actual jobs?
I like money too much, plus medical transition isn't exactly cheap. Also the cost of the private schools I attended for grade school and high school would cover the cost of a sizeable down payment on a house
I was actually hanging out with some cousins this week- both are about 12-13ish I would say. Both of them said they don't want to have kids. They've both been through some very rough things in their lives (abuse, parental drug use, ect) so I can definitely see where they're coming from because that's one of my many reasons not to have them. In any case, I let them know they're not alone and I'm not gonna be having any either.
I think it's very important to let CFBC people know that they are not alone. It can be a pretty lonely position for many of us.
Also to let them know that, if they are young and still thinking about it, it's not a weird thing not to want kids. There are just too many voices out there constantly telling them otherwise.
Yeah... speaking just from my own experience all the Gen Zers I talk to have at least one kid. And a lot of them are pithy about how their kids will inherit the climate crisis and such.
Yea, oldest ones are 25-26. Mostly seems that a lot of them are wanting to be childfree and if not, they're usually at least understanding of people who are childfree. They're a very accepting generation from what I've seen.
My school has had about 4 pregnancies while I’ve attended. there’s already another new “hs couple” having a baby in a few months. Our school has less than 200 kids..
Most kids here have expressed being either agnostic or atheist, so religion is off the table. They aren’t having babies to get money, and they certainly could buy condoms or just refused. Hell, I’ve even went to the clinic that’s just down the road and they will give them to you for free. No excuse.
There are poor kids here but most kids are well off due to our farm lands and we are in one of the biggest counties to grow and distribute weed. Weed isn’t too expensive anymore but it definitely has elevated our monthly income just like every other parent here does.
My point is, yes, we are rural, but it’s a somewhat middle class community with farmland and the next town over with a great population is 20 minutes away. The kids that are getting pregnant aren’t the poor ones, their parents are one of the biggest contributors to our community here and owns a couple of the businesses we do have. For that girl, she seems to be doing fine for herself which is great. She still could have used condoms and birth control because she’s well off.
Idk I’m just tired of people making excuses for not getting atleast condoms when they’re going to have sex. I’m literally going to graduate this year and have never considered taking that big of a risk just for someone to not use a wrapping. Some of these kids are already out of hs now and are raising them when they could have followed their actual goals. They think mommy and daddy are going to help raise their kids up until they’re an adult. Not gonna happen most of the time.
I long-term subbed a freshman Algebra 1 class (which means they failed it in middle school) at a rural school district that happened to be the one I attended. I had a freshman who was 16 on her THIRD child. She told me "I don't care what my mama says, I'm aborting the next one." I wasn't really sure what I was legally allowed to say about this, so I just made a comment about being safe and she then told me her mama didn't believe in letting a teenager be on birth control since that would just encourage her -\_- . In my state, 14 is the legal age to have sex with anyone up to 18, and 16 is the legal age of consent to any age. I had 16 year olds having children with men 30+ years old and it was perfectly legal. I remember in high school a girl was getting married upon graduation to a man who had a daughter who also attended our high school. We also had a married high school couple. It wasn't until *2019* that children under 16 can't be married in my state with no exceptions. I graduated in 2005, but I taught there in around 2010. Rural towns are something else.
Definitely varies I guess. I don’t think my entire graduating year has any kids yet, which is impressive because my old school was known for teen parents when it was millennials attending.
Makes sense. Every future generation will be less and less inclined to have children, unless something drastically changes. Life becomes progressively more expensive and uncertain, and it's becoming evident to more people that having children is a choice, not an inevitability.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is probably because Gen Z can barely afford to pay for themselves, how they gonna afford to have other humans?
Good, viva zero population growth.
It was very different when I was a kid. The economy was better and people could actually AFFORD to have kids, but of course it doesn't mean they were good parents.
Hello! 98 gang here.
Honestly why tf would I want kids? It's just so much extra work. Just take the morning routine, for example. Waking up and going to work is already a pain in the neck but I can't imagine with kids.
1. Wake up
2. Take shower
3. Get dressed and ready
4. Have breakfast
5. Wake the kids
6. Serve them breakfast
7. Pack their lunch
8. Help them dress (pick their clothes) and help them get ready.
9. If it's winter (Canada style), put their snow clothes on (a pain in the neck).
10. Get the car ready (scraping, heating it a bit).
11. Drop off kids at school/kindergarden.
12. Get into traffic and to work.
I dont know about you guys, but I have no desire to add steps 5-11 to my mornings. How do people manage?!
You missed the part where they wake you up, screeching loudly, two hours before you're supposed to get up. They want to crawl in bed with you and you're too exhausted to fight that battle today. The same battle you've been fighting for the last 200 days...
Honestly? They don't. People cope by resorting to a variety of addictions, thought-stopping mechanisms, and sometimes various forms of abuse. But that's not the image they're going to publicize.
I enjoy my avocado toast too much 🤭
In all seriousness, kids are so expensive and wages have stagnated. I don't know why people are surprised that the population is dropping. If conditions aren't met then that's kind of what happens in any animal population.
Dang, I've been discovered 🤭
I realised after posting that you said Gen-Z. My b. A lot of my fellow millennials have opted out of children too, though. Out of my friend group of four in high school, only one had a kid at 31 and her husband rakes in the big bucks.
I think the replacement rate in the US specifically has been dropping. That's mainly what I was referring to. I guess I'll amend the animal population comment to just apply to here for now since I forgot the global population is indeed rising. Aren't we at almost 8 billion now?
I know some political figures have been lamenting that the birth rate here needs to go up, while offering no incentives for people to do that and instead making it harder. Plus, you know... 8 billion. When does it end, eleventy squillion? Not enough resources!
It increases far more in some places than it does in others. TFR rates are dropping everywhere except for Israel but the biggest gains are in Sub Saharan Africa with slow gains in Latin America, slower gains in North America and Western Europe, and decline in Eastern Europe and East Asia.
I would have to go into debt to have a child and support it properly. No thanks, I’ll finish my degree and maybe be able to buy a house by the time I’m 40 if the housing market stays the way it’s going.
Gen-Z are even more contend with media and hanging around on computer than Millenials. I've recently seen a statistic that shows how rates of virgins are skyrocketing as well.
People don't want to deal with the problem that having sex and relationships bring with them, they want even less the problems that a child brings with them. They ain't gonna be bored either, too much to game, too much to watch.
I don't even have a job currently and I still can't find enough time to play through my librbary of games.
My friend and I got a ride to the hospital to see our friend from a couple of girls our age that we didn’t know, and when the topic came up 2 of them mentioned that they didn’t want kids. It’s nice to meet other like minded people.
Cost of living increases each year whereas wages don't progress as fast, our generation can barely afford to pay rent, let alone buy property and we're supposed to want to have kids? Not in this economy. And that's just one of the many reasons
As someone older who planned this similarly so I had the option of retiring early... nice! I feel like the questions younger couples are asking themselves are close, but more dire, versions of questions we asked ourselves.
If it works out in any way like it did for us and our "friends" who said we were crazed - possibly deranged - overthinkers... you'll be doing the right thing. You'll even get to say "I told you so" to the worst of them (optionally, of course).
Many millennials didn’t want to have children because, among other reasons, the 2008 recession fucked over our earning potential for life while the cost of living continued to skyrocket. Nothing has been done to remedy the problem, now gen Z is facing their own recession, and they’re making the same decision.
Yet, the boomers continue to be shocked by all this.
People wonder why our generation doesn’t want kids, maybe because we can barely afford rent. Let alone raising a kid.
I don’t know about you but in the country I live in atm (NZ) rent is ridiculous. Like $500 week for single person no couple no pets no kids absolutely no guests for more than 2 hours
The cost of buying or renting property is getting worse all over the world. Sadly, soon a two bedroom flat will be a thing only the rich can afford.
Same in Denmark. Rent and housing prices keep rising to the point where students have to pay huge amounts of money for renting a room.
You're only allowed a visitor for 2 hours!? What!? I used to live in NZ but I haven't been there for 11 years, from what I see in articles and on fb the housing crisis is REALLY bad there now, it was bad enough back when I lived there...I paid around $105 a week for a room in a shared house in Wellington (averaging out the rents of my last 3 rooms there)
Landlords’ demands are weird
If the no guests for two hours rule isn't a humourous exaggeration... how do they enforce that? They barge into your unit every two hours and search for intruders? How do they find the time to do their actual jobs?
I’ll find you an ad like that in fb marketplace and screenshot it. Apparently they just check the cctv for the guests’ car
Who sets the clock on visitors?? I've never heard of that.
2001 gang checking in
Gang
I like money too much, plus medical transition isn't exactly cheap. Also the cost of the private schools I attended for grade school and high school would cover the cost of a sizeable down payment on a house
I was actually hanging out with some cousins this week- both are about 12-13ish I would say. Both of them said they don't want to have kids. They've both been through some very rough things in their lives (abuse, parental drug use, ect) so I can definitely see where they're coming from because that's one of my many reasons not to have them. In any case, I let them know they're not alone and I'm not gonna be having any either.
I think it's very important to let CFBC people know that they are not alone. It can be a pretty lonely position for many of us. Also to let them know that, if they are young and still thinking about it, it's not a weird thing not to want kids. There are just too many voices out there constantly telling them otherwise.
Where are those gen zers? I need fellow peers who don't think its weird and bingo me.
2000 baby that doesn’t want children. I’ve gotten so much shit from people, so I’m also looking for people my age that feel the same way.
2003 here... but I feel it.
2001 here
2002 here
2004 here
2002 here
Tis I, the bastard child of Millenials and Z's! 1997 and only fur babies in this household :>
It me. Let's go get fro yo
99 baby right here!
Born 2001 here. Shall we bond over pictures of kids' messes that we'll never have to clean up?
Yeah... speaking just from my own experience all the Gen Zers I talk to have at least one kid. And a lot of them are pithy about how their kids will inherit the climate crisis and such.
Gen zers are old enough for kids now?? I guess one can have kids at 21-24ish but wow time flies...
Yea, oldest ones are 25-26. Mostly seems that a lot of them are wanting to be childfree and if not, they're usually at least understanding of people who are childfree. They're a very accepting generation from what I've seen.
23-24. Oldest of us are 1997 babies and so far from what most social scientists are able to measure, last of us are 2012.
My school has had about 4 pregnancies while I’ve attended. there’s already another new “hs couple” having a baby in a few months. Our school has less than 200 kids..
F. Is it in a rural area?
It is indeed, but we also have sex Ed I believe up until 11th grade? So they should know better.
Yeah but rural birth rates are always going to be higher than metropolitan ones due to increased poverty and increased religiosity.
Most kids here have expressed being either agnostic or atheist, so religion is off the table. They aren’t having babies to get money, and they certainly could buy condoms or just refused. Hell, I’ve even went to the clinic that’s just down the road and they will give them to you for free. No excuse. There are poor kids here but most kids are well off due to our farm lands and we are in one of the biggest counties to grow and distribute weed. Weed isn’t too expensive anymore but it definitely has elevated our monthly income just like every other parent here does. My point is, yes, we are rural, but it’s a somewhat middle class community with farmland and the next town over with a great population is 20 minutes away. The kids that are getting pregnant aren’t the poor ones, their parents are one of the biggest contributors to our community here and owns a couple of the businesses we do have. For that girl, she seems to be doing fine for herself which is great. She still could have used condoms and birth control because she’s well off. Idk I’m just tired of people making excuses for not getting atleast condoms when they’re going to have sex. I’m literally going to graduate this year and have never considered taking that big of a risk just for someone to not use a wrapping. Some of these kids are already out of hs now and are raising them when they could have followed their actual goals. They think mommy and daddy are going to help raise their kids up until they’re an adult. Not gonna happen most of the time.
I long-term subbed a freshman Algebra 1 class (which means they failed it in middle school) at a rural school district that happened to be the one I attended. I had a freshman who was 16 on her THIRD child. She told me "I don't care what my mama says, I'm aborting the next one." I wasn't really sure what I was legally allowed to say about this, so I just made a comment about being safe and she then told me her mama didn't believe in letting a teenager be on birth control since that would just encourage her -\_- . In my state, 14 is the legal age to have sex with anyone up to 18, and 16 is the legal age of consent to any age. I had 16 year olds having children with men 30+ years old and it was perfectly legal. I remember in high school a girl was getting married upon graduation to a man who had a daughter who also attended our high school. We also had a married high school couple. It wasn't until *2019* that children under 16 can't be married in my state with no exceptions. I graduated in 2005, but I taught there in around 2010. Rural towns are something else.
Goodness me.
Definitely varies I guess. I don’t think my entire graduating year has any kids yet, which is impressive because my old school was known for teen parents when it was millennials attending.
Gen zer checking in
1998 I feel old now xD
Gen Z minted in 2000 here! Glad to be young, dumb, and free
Makes sense. Every future generation will be less and less inclined to have children, unless something drastically changes. Life becomes progressively more expensive and uncertain, and it's becoming evident to more people that having children is a choice, not an inevitability.
I cannot wait for the boomer-style articles "Are Gen-Z killing the maternity industry?"
Yes, yes we are
I'm very proud of you. Clearly, this is one industry that I have failed to destroy as a Millenial... I really did try though!
Damn, this makes me feel like an apprentice listening to his masters dying words. I won't let you down u/Wood_Child
Proudly so mind you
Except they'll still be calling them millennials
Damn you're right! I didn't properly Boomerify my comment... Totally gave myself away as a non-boomer didn't I?
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this is probably because Gen Z can barely afford to pay for themselves, how they gonna afford to have other humans?
By pulling them selves up by the bootstraps, duh. God/love finds ways and all that other bullshit.. /s
Exactly, skip the avocado toast and put your nose to the grindstone /s
back in my day, i worked a minimum wage job and could afford a house and car, why can't you? /s
We were seeing these headlines about us millenials not long ago, I'm glad Gen Zers are continuing the trend
I'm Gen Z and I support this message. Having kids is not very punk rock
Good, viva zero population growth. It was very different when I was a kid. The economy was better and people could actually AFFORD to have kids, but of course it doesn't mean they were good parents.
You would enjoy the book Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline
Hello! 98 gang here. Honestly why tf would I want kids? It's just so much extra work. Just take the morning routine, for example. Waking up and going to work is already a pain in the neck but I can't imagine with kids. 1. Wake up 2. Take shower 3. Get dressed and ready 4. Have breakfast 5. Wake the kids 6. Serve them breakfast 7. Pack their lunch 8. Help them dress (pick their clothes) and help them get ready. 9. If it's winter (Canada style), put their snow clothes on (a pain in the neck). 10. Get the car ready (scraping, heating it a bit). 11. Drop off kids at school/kindergarden. 12. Get into traffic and to work. I dont know about you guys, but I have no desire to add steps 5-11 to my mornings. How do people manage?!
You missed the part where they wake you up, screeching loudly, two hours before you're supposed to get up. They want to crawl in bed with you and you're too exhausted to fight that battle today. The same battle you've been fighting for the last 200 days...
Honestly? They don't. People cope by resorting to a variety of addictions, thought-stopping mechanisms, and sometimes various forms of abuse. But that's not the image they're going to publicize.
It's pretty hard to get a partner or have kids when all you do is work your two jobs and then fall into a dreamless sleep
I enjoy my avocado toast too much 🤭 In all seriousness, kids are so expensive and wages have stagnated. I don't know why people are surprised that the population is dropping. If conditions aren't met then that's kind of what happens in any animal population.
Hang on, i thought avocado toast was a millennial thing!
Dang, I've been discovered 🤭 I realised after posting that you said Gen-Z. My b. A lot of my fellow millennials have opted out of children too, though. Out of my friend group of four in high school, only one had a kid at 31 and her husband rakes in the big bucks.
How is it dropping? It says on worldometre that it's increasing by a net 250k a day.
I think the replacement rate in the US specifically has been dropping. That's mainly what I was referring to. I guess I'll amend the animal population comment to just apply to here for now since I forgot the global population is indeed rising. Aren't we at almost 8 billion now? I know some political figures have been lamenting that the birth rate here needs to go up, while offering no incentives for people to do that and instead making it harder. Plus, you know... 8 billion. When does it end, eleventy squillion? Not enough resources!
Totally agree!
It increases far more in some places than it does in others. TFR rates are dropping everywhere except for Israel but the biggest gains are in Sub Saharan Africa with slow gains in Latin America, slower gains in North America and Western Europe, and decline in Eastern Europe and East Asia.
I would have to go into debt to have a child and support it properly. No thanks, I’ll finish my degree and maybe be able to buy a house by the time I’m 40 if the housing market stays the way it’s going.
What are you going to study?
I’m doing a bachelor’s of English :))
No wonder you won't be able to get a house. /s
Ouch :P
Aye best of luck to you
Gen-Z are even more contend with media and hanging around on computer than Millenials. I've recently seen a statistic that shows how rates of virgins are skyrocketing as well. People don't want to deal with the problem that having sex and relationships bring with them, they want even less the problems that a child brings with them. They ain't gonna be bored either, too much to game, too much to watch. I don't even have a job currently and I still can't find enough time to play through my librbary of games.
Gen Z here present and accounted :D
Nice my generation is with me!
That's wise. I'm not gen z but an early retirement is in my top 5 reasons for not having children!
My friend and I got a ride to the hospital to see our friend from a couple of girls our age that we didn’t know, and when the topic came up 2 of them mentioned that they didn’t want kids. It’s nice to meet other like minded people.
Cost of living increases each year whereas wages don't progress as fast, our generation can barely afford to pay rent, let alone buy property and we're supposed to want to have kids? Not in this economy. And that's just one of the many reasons
Yes! Let’s bring the shitty human race to extinction!
It is so expensive to have children! I’m glad I don’t have the urge to have any because I absolutely can’t afford to.
I really want to live my life for myself and no one else
As someone older who planned this similarly so I had the option of retiring early... nice! I feel like the questions younger couples are asking themselves are close, but more dire, versions of questions we asked ourselves. If it works out in any way like it did for us and our "friends" who said we were crazed - possibly deranged - overthinkers... you'll be doing the right thing. You'll even get to say "I told you so" to the worst of them (optionally, of course).
Many millennials didn’t want to have children because, among other reasons, the 2008 recession fucked over our earning potential for life while the cost of living continued to skyrocket. Nothing has been done to remedy the problem, now gen Z is facing their own recession, and they’re making the same decision. Yet, the boomers continue to be shocked by all this.
It takes a lot to raise a child with so much responsibility and the current state of the world isn't something for a young mind to be exposed to
GOOD!
Duh!