The Un-dependents: In Numbers

Why are more adults actively choosing to not have children? The number of people making this decision is rising in most developing countries; #childfree is a growing TikTok trend; and the declining birth-rate is worrying governments around the world. 

The backdrop to the emergence of the consciously child-free generation tells us that it is influenced by finances, wellbeing, and issues that are uppermost in the minds of Gen Z and millennials such as climate anxiety and other perspective-shaping events, like a global recession. It was therefore surprising to hear from the people we interviewed for our report, The Un-dependents, that despite this provocative background, they still don’t feel represented in wider culture. Below are (a few) of the numbers about The Un-dependents to get started on talking to the child-free.

Childless By Choice

1980
In her groundbreaking work, Childless by Choice, Jean Veevers was one of the first researchers to study this phenomenon over 40 years ago

37%
of young Americans (under the age of 40) say that having children isn’t on their agenda (Pew, 2021)

1 in 2
Gen Zer’s say that they’re ‘committed to being committed’ (Vice – Love & Loyalty)

2 in 3
In a recent survey of more than 20,000 people in China – mostly females between the ages of 18-31 – two thirds of respondents said they did not desire to have children (Asia Society, 2023)

Baby Bust 

27%
of Gen Z women in America don’t want to have kids (Ruby Home, 2022)

37%
of Britons say that they never want to have children (YouGov, 2020)

44%
of US millennials say it’s unlikely they will ever have children (Pew, 2021)

€29.7m
In Iran, the parliament ring-fenced about €29.7 million to be paid in interest-free loans to 6,000 low-income, two-child families that have a third child by 2022

 ++%
The number of one-person households is expected to grow in all the OECD countries for which projections are available. The largest increases are expected in Korea (43%), Australia (48%), England (60%), New Zealand (71%), and France (75%). (The Future of Family to 2030, OECD)

Why Be Childfree?

No.1
The most citied reason to opt to not have a child is ‘financial worries’ (Ipsos poll, 2022)

1 in 3
Australians won’t have children for climate reasons (Australian Conservation Foundation, 2019)

162 million views
#childfree (TikTok, 2021)

$7,000
The ‘motherhood penalty’ is illustrated by how single women without kids had an average of $65,000 in wealth, and for single mothers it was $7,000 (Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis, 2022)