Do you think DINKs are the future?

[Anonymous]

Not everyone is cut out to be a parent. Now, women have options. Those who want kids can spend their time earning a living and tying to raise those kids to be good citizens. The childfree have more time to contribute to society in other ways. Everybody wins, the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I definitely think the "trend" is going. Many people (generally women) are realizing they don't have to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. They want to contribute and make money and travel and make the world a better place.

There will always be people popping out kids like no tomorrow. If more people decide not to, more power to them.

TBH, women have known this realization for decades now. The previous generation (x and boomer) did both, had amazing careers and had families. The millennials don’t want to make the trade offs, which I can understand. And yes power to them. As for your second statement, also true, but there will be a seismic demographic shift in one generation as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely think the "trend" is going. Many people (generally women) are realizing they don't have to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. They want to contribute and make money and travel and make the world a better place.

There will always be people popping out kids like no tomorrow. If more people decide not to, more power to them.

TBH, women have known this realization for decades now. The previous generation (x and boomer) did both, had amazing careers and had families. The millennials don’t want to make the trade offs, which I can understand. And yes power to them. As for your second statement, also true, but there will be a seismic demographic shift in one generation as a result.

"Decades" is still very new in the relative sense. My mom was born before she could she could get her own credit card, as a woman. How is someone who can't even pay for their own groceries, with their own money, not feel like they have to rely on a man and his whims for a family? I'm glad women are standing up and doing what they want, instead of caving to patriarchal/societal pressure. I'd really much prefer if only people who wanted children had them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I definitely think the "trend" is going. Many people (generally women) are realizing they don't have to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. They want to contribute and make money and travel and make the world a better place.

There will always be people popping out kids like no tomorrow. If more people decide not to, more power to them.

TBH, women have known this realization for decades now. The previous generation (x and boomer) did both, had amazing careers and had families. The millennials don’t want to make the trade offs, which I can understand. And yes power to them. As for your second statement, also true, but there will be a seismic demographic shift in one generation as a result.

The duggars of the world havent overtaken us yet!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can DINKs be the future? Once we reach negative population growth, we wind up with massive economic problems. It doesn't work. Our whole society depends on the idea of there always being a replacement workforce (who will pay taxes and take care of the elderly) coming up.

I don't care if any individual person has kids or not, and I myself decided to only have one so my spouse and I didn't even reach replacement level. But the idea that "the future" is people just choosing not to have kids is crazy because that future would be extremely short lived and ultimately really unpleasant.

This a Malthusian pre-industrial myth.

Growing population creates poverty because people need to eat, so the elites owners of capital can make them compete for subsistence wages.

Yes, fewer children means fewer young people for old people to rob. That problem fixes itself in one generation, as the number of old people shrinks.

This is so cute, because you are overlooking what the DINK lifestyle is and the way it relies heavily on capitalism and population/GDP growth in order to function.

The ideal of the DINK lifestyle is having two decent jobs, a home in a place with plenty to do (good restaurants, nightlife, parks, etc.), and the disposable income to not only enjoy those things but also to outsource the stuff you don't want to do. DINKs like their house cleaners, their meal kits, their dog walkers and sitters so they can travel and go out to dinner, yes? Also consumer goods -- TVs and computers and new furniture and fancy running shoes? Workout classes and food halls? Well all of that requires moderate population growth to support. You cannot have that lifestyle if suddenly everyone stops having kids. It would not "fix itself" in a generation. It would be a massive shift in way of life and not one that many current DINKs would enjoy. What if being a DINK meant having to do literally everything yourself because there's no workforce to outsource it to? What if many of the fields DINKs work in die because they rely on a large workforce of relatively cheap labor (i.e. young people and immigrants) to function? What happens when your dual-income shrinks because there aren't consulting jobs and Big Law jobs and non-profit jobs because those industries can't sustain themselves without either a larger low-level workforce OR a larger consumer base (or both?).

Also, if literally everyone became a DINK, the population would just die out. Do you know what population death would look like? The last 50 years of that would be painful and cruel. You want to live through that? Enjoy.

But okay, please entertain with your crack-pot pseudo-intellectual theories on capitalism (which I don't even like, I would support European style socialism which keeps the worst aspects of capitalism in check, but anyway). It's hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah, I think childfree people tend to be vocal about it but in reality they are the minority. I'm 33 and most of my friends have or want kids.

You do realize that that is because you tend to associate with people who tend to think like you. You can’t make generalizations about the whole world based on your group of friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Women have seemed to crave children biologically for millennia. Has that really changed, statistically?

Personal preferences of women not yet premenopausal are less relevant than those of women who've been through it.

Women didn't have reliable contraceptives for most of human history and mother hood was the only acceptable goal for women.

+1
Women have also been trying to avoid being raped and manage their fertility for millennia too. Some women want kids, some women don't. Some men want kids, some men don't.

[Anonymous]

40 y/o DINK. It is a personal decision for me, but unfortunately it is forced on some people (whether due to infertility or financial issues). I would not say it's the "future", but it's an option (one that many people are choosing due to rising COL and economic / educational factors that result in people starting families later).

I'm an outlier in my friend circle, but not so much in my immediate family. I think most people want kids and would choose to do so if there were not so many economic barriers.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids with kids, one married kid who doesn’t want kids, and another kid who doesn’t want to either get married or have kids. None of it has anything to do with the economics, just personal choices. And they are all happy with their own decisions. It’s the 21st-century folks, women have choices.

[Anonymous]

It's necessarily the future, but it's relatively recent that women even had these choices. It's great that people aren't forced into parenthood.

I love having kids and would never make a different decision, but I can see the appeal of being a DINK too.

[Anonymous]

I am 33 with one kid that is 6 months. every friend, but one, in my immediate social circle (friends since high school) have 2 kids.

Those that I know that do not have kids typically do not have the same economic situation that those with kids do have...even as a DINK.

[Anonymous]

Yes the birth rate is down.

[Anonymous]

We live in DC, have two kids, and so many of our friends are SINKs and DINKs. Like, tons.

We have more SINKs and DINKs than friends with kids. Spouse is an exec with F100 company and tons of older colleagues are DINKs or SINKs. You find proportionately more as you move up the management chain.

[Anonymous]

By definition, no.

This is like asking if Shakers are going to dominate the earth because so many people are converting to their religion. They died out all the same.

It will be a trend, but then the next generation will be made up 100% of the kids of the people who made the opposite decision, which will impact the culture. My kids are still young but they are all happy about the idea of being moms and dads.

[Anonymous]

We are now DINKS, wanted to have children but couldn't naturally, so stopped trying medical intervention when it all became too much.

In our 50s now and a number of friends from high school and college are in the same boat. A few have adopted, but like us, most have not.

Not everyone is rabidly "child free" and for most of us it's just how things turned out, even when we wanted otherwise. No one wants to hear that, because it's and downer which means that they too might not get a "rainbow baby."