Young Americans Choose to Delay, Not Have Children

Young Americans Choose to Delay, Not Have Children

Many young Americans are not seeking to have children of their own as birth rates in the United States remain near historically low levels.

A group of women who spoke¹ with the Associated Press listed climate change, student debt and inflation² as reasons they do not want to be parents.

Some young men said they also do not want to raise children. Some are considering medical operations that prevent fertility.

A government report found the U.S. birth rate fell four percent in 2020. That was the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years. The government reported a one percent increase 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 talked with more than 300 people for a book to be released in December. The book is called So When Are You Having Kids? She spoke to young people of both the Millennial³ generation and Generation Z. Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996 while Generation Z is just starting to reach adulthood⁴.

The pandemic, Davidson said, led many young people to put off having children. Others say they do not want to have children at all.

She said many young people are not willing to change their plans or goals for children. She added, "People still want to travel. They still want to go to graduate school. They want to meet certain financial benchmarks."

Davidson said fears about climate change have influenced many to consider the idea of living without children.

She said, "Now with increased wildfires, droughts, heat waves...what is this going to look like during the time that my children are alive?"

Among those Davidson talked with, concerns over the environment were far more common among the younger group. But financial concerns, she said, troubled both Millennials and Generation Z.

Davidson said, "There is a lot of fear around having children who would be worse off" than their parents.

At 24, El Johnson has decided⁵ that she will not have children. But she has not ruled out adoption⁶.

The graduate student who works in legal services in Austin, Texas, has a list of reasons for not wanting to have a baby. They include the climate crisis⁷ and a genetic⁸ health condition.

Johnson said, "I don't think it's responsible to bring children into this world." She added, "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."

Words in This Story

benchmark – n. something that can be used as a way to judge the quality or level of other, similar things

drought – n. a long period of time during which there is very little or no rain

adopt – v. to take a child of other parents legally as your own child

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

3 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

4 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

7 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

8 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。