Family

Young adults share their thoughts on having kids

We could be doomed at this rate.

When it comes to having kids, there’s a lot to consider. Is your relationship strong enough to support them? Are you financially stable enough? Will your career prospects be affected? Can you handle it?

And in the interests of finding out how young adults feel on the matter, Reddit asked men and women between the ages of 20 and 35 to find out where they stand.

As you might expect, many young adults worried about having enough money to take care of a child as well as themselves.

“I like the idea of having children, but I am nowhere near financially stable enough to support one,” wrote one user.

Others, wrote about their desire to do the same, but were crippled by student debts, a massive mortgage and frozen salaries, and just didn’t feel they’d ever be able to do it.

Some, simply didn’t feel the need.

“I got a vasectomy just after my 30th birthday, shortly after I was married,” wrote one Redditor. “No kids, don’t ever want them. I like kids. I just don’t want my own. I love my nephew and my godson, but I also love my vacations, my free time, and my solitude.”

Other female posters admitted that coming clean about not wanting to have children was “liberating,” and that they no longer felt like they were slaves to societal norms.

And some went even further, saying they saw no upside to having children.

“Married 31 year old male and I just don’t see the upside in having kids. It’s expensive, consumes all your free time, and there isn’t even a guarantee your kids will like you when they grow up.”

But for these people many fellow Redditors had some sage advice – to simply wait and see.

“Take your time. Enjoy your freedom and think about it again in a couple of years. Maybe you think different then, maybe not. My wife and I also enjoyed our freedom and travelled a lot. After 8 years we decided we wanted to start another ‘adventure.’”

You can read the full list of responses here.

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