Millennials Were Already Putting Off Having Children. Then the Pandemic Hit.
Millennials and Gen X adults without children were the most likely generations to choose “I have no desire to have children” as a major or minor reason they don’t have any, at 47 percent and 49 percent, respectively. Forty-four percent of adults overall said the same.
That largely tracks with existing economic research, Bahn said, where historically, fertility is closely tied to economic prosperity. Parenthood is right now something that is disproportionately experienced by the more economically stable, according to the Morning Consult poll.
Of those who earn more than $100,000 a year, 65 percent said they are parents, compared with 44 percent of those who earn less than $50,000 a year.
Half of adults in the survey said they are the parent or guardian of at least one child, including 63 percent with a postgraduate degree. Of those who do not have a college degree, 48 percent said they are parents.
An important point to remember: It’s not yet been nine months since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. So while economists are looking forward at that nine-month mark and beyond, most of what they have to go on are historical trends and general attitudes about childbearing.
“It’ll be interesting to look back one to two years from now and see,” Bahn said.
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