People Choose Not To Have Children Due To Climate Fears
Family sizes began to shrink significantly in the last decade, particularly in the developed world. “Two and done had been a way to think about family size for some time.” People did not want to raise children when the oldest was 18 and the youngest was 7 in a family of four or five children. Two children were less expensive to raise than five. In the US, it costs almost $300,000 to raise a child until it leaves high school. Climate crisis fears have become a larger factor in this movement not to have children, as global warming, lack of water and arable land, extreme weather, and high temperatures across parts of the globe have become increasingly common.
Add to the practical list of reasons some people do not want any children because of the climate crisis.
Academicians from University College London produced a research paper titled: “Ethical, environmental and political concerns about climate change affect reproductive choices.” In summary, some potential parents do not want to bring children into a world unimaginable beyond what most adults will have to experience during their lifetimes–as if the climate crisis were not already bad enough. Indeed, if most climate forecasts, which usually have an endpoint of 2060 or 2100, are right, large portions of the currently habitable world will not be places where people can live. Other areas will face violent floods, drought, and storms, making life unpredictably dangerous.
The report was an evaluation of 13 studies which polled a total of 10,788 people. The information was gathered between 2012 and 2022. Most of the work came from academic research in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and parts of Europe.
The UCL researchers looked at four reasons people may decide not to have children. These included “uncertainty about the future of an unborn child, environmentalist views centered on overpopulation and overconsumption, meeting family subsistence needs, and political sentiments.”
The extent of the problem moves beyond the climate to the effects new children may have on the climate. More children mean more chance of overpopulation, the need for already scarce food and water, and additional pollution.
According to the United Nations’ 2022 Revision of its World Population Prospects, the number of people on earth will hit its maximum level in about 2090 at 10.4 billion. If enough people don’t want to have children due to the climate crisis, this forecasted date may be sooner.
