1 in 4 young Americans claim they’re too poor to have children, but many put off kids for other reasons

Despite living in one of the richest nations in the world, many young Americans are worried they can’t afford to have children.

The latest Consumer Spending & Saving Index from insurance giant MassMutual revealed 23% of childless millennials and Gen Z don’t plan on becoming parents for financial reasons.

“With today’s financial stressors, it is understandable why there is a growing trend among young adults to prioritize financial security over parenthood,” said Paul LaPiana, a certified financial planner and head of brand, product and affiliated distribution for the insurer. “This shift reflects a broader understanding of the importance of financial stability and independence in achieving long-term goals that every generation must reckon with.”

Financial concerns of child-raising range from buying food and clothes to paying for college tuition and saving money. 

And it doesn’t help that the average annual cost of childcare is $14,760. 

But perhaps most frightening is the fact that indifference to parenthood has risen significantly in just the past few years. 

According to surveys from the Pew Research Center, in 2018, 61% of adults aged 18 to 49 said they would likely have children in the future. Just 37% said it was unlikely.  

But in 2023, 47% said it was unlikely and just 50% said they would probably have children – a 10-point difference on both sides. 

But when researchers asked “why,” the most common answers expressed ambivalence. 

Most 18 to 49-year-olds “just don’t want” to have children or want to focus on “other things.”  

Only one-third cite finances as a major concern, and very few people aged 50 or older (12%) say money was the reason they never had children. 

But there’s actually a third aspect to the money vs. children debate: marriage.  

In America, married couples are able to build much more wealth than single or divorced individuals, studies show.  

According to the Institute for Family Studies, a person who remains in their first marriage will be worth almost $650,000 on average by the time they reach middle age. 

Remarried individuals are worth about $460,000, while divorced people and those who never married have a net worth of $167,000 on average.  

It follows that by marrying later in life – or not at all – Americans are missing out on the opportunity to build wealth.  

In the 1950s and 60s, the average age of first marriage was around 20 for women and 23 for men, the U.S. Census Bureau reports.  

However, by 2023, the average skyrocketed to 28 for women and 30 for men. 

In addition to having fewer children, women are also delaying having children until much later in life.  

In just the past 20 years, birth rates among women aged 30-44 have risen slightly while rates for teens and 20 to 29-year-olds have dropped dramatically. 

This runs counter to female physiology, which makes pregnancy and birth easier in earlier years. 

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “a woman’s peak reproductive years are between the late teens and late 20s. By age 30, fertility (the ability to get pregnant) starts to decline.” 

And the Mayo Clinic notes pregnancies after 35 are riskier for both the mother and baby. These pregnancies have higher rates of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, premature births, C-sections, and miscarriage or stillbirth.