By Jennifer Watling Neal and Zachary Neal -
The Conversation
The warning about the decline in the birth rate has come from sources as diverse as Pope Francis and the director of Tesla, Elon Musk.
The Supreme Court decision that struck down the federal right to abortion can force women to give birth against their will, and a British newspaper has even proposed a tax on childless people.
More and more Americans are having fewer children or do not want to be parents.
But the official statistics of the United States and other countries do not offer details despite the fact that among people without children there are distinctions: those who do not want to have them;
those who want but can't;
those who plan to have them in the future;
the undecided...
Biden celebrates that Kansas decided to protect abortion and announces measures for those who need to travel for one
Aug. 3, 202201:42
A 2022 study of 1,500 Michigan adults shows that the
22% of adults consciously decide that they do not want to have children
.
The survey is not nationally representative, but the 2020 Census showed that this state is demographically similar to the nation as a whole in age, race, education and income.
If that local pattern mirrors national trends,
50 to 60 million adults across the country do not want children
.
Who are the ones who decide not to have children?
To identify them, three questions were asked:
Do you have or have you had biological, adoptive or adopted children?
Do you plan to have them in the future?
Would you like to have or be able to have biological or adopted children?
Respondents could answer 'yes', 'no' or 'don't know'.
Those who denied all three questions were classified as
childless
.
This estimate is much higher than previous national studies, which put the percentage between 2% and 9%.
That's because the measurement focuses on a person's desire to have children, not her ability.
It's important because someone may not have them whether or not she can.
The result is also slightly lower than the initial estimate (27%) of a previous study that did not allow an answer of 'don't know' and, therefore, could not separate the undecided.
The video of a child listening to his parents for the first time moves social networks
Aug. 4, 202203:35
People, especially women, who say they don't want children are sometimes told they will change their minds.
But
the study shows that's unlikely:
Respondents said they made the decision early in life, mostly in their teens and 20s.
Furthermore, it is not only young people who say they do not love them;
many women chose in adolescence and now they are much older and still do not have them.
[Biden celebrates that Kansas decided to protect abortion and announces measures for those who need to travel for one]
These results differ from research done in the 1970s, which found that adults without children tended to have them later.
Early decisions may reflect a change in parenting norms
and a greater recognition and acceptance of a childless lifestyle.
Despite Musk's insistence that there is a baby crisis, humanity will continue to grow, and that will possibly have a negative impact on the planet: scientists believe that not having children is one of the best ways to reduce carbon emissions aggravating the climate emergency.
MoMo Productions/Getty Images
The decision of the Supreme Court may lead to a significant part of people now running the risk of being forced to have children despite not wanting them.
The issues that affect them go beyond reproductive freedom.
For example, work-life balance policies often favor fathers.
Because so many people choose not to have them, we believe the needs of this group deserve more attention from policymakers.
Zachary P. Neal and Jennifer Watling Neal are professors at Michigan State University and authors of the cited study.