Many American women are not interested in motherhood

When not working, urban analyst Taylor Schenker teaches general design to students. In her free time, she exercises, listens to lectures at her local college, volunteers at an environmental nonprofit, raises dogs, cooks, and walks.

The 25-year-old woman living in Charleston (South Carolina) would not be able to live like that if she had to take care of her children.

Schenker said that the idea of ​​not wanting to have children gradually arose in her mind. Over the years, she became more passionate about her career and witnessed many women Struggling to balance work and family.

She believes that women still have to bear the burden of housework in the current society while taking care of a family is not easy.

“It just doesn’t seem like fun to anyone. I can’t imagine having to do that, raise kids while still being able to take care of myself.”

Hiking is just one of Taylor Schenker’s many hobbies. Photo: Taylor Schenker

American women do not want to have children

More and more Americans like Schenker are no longer interested in becoming mothers. In a November Pew Research Center survey of more than 3,800 Americans, 44% said they either did not or were highly likely not to have children, up 7 percentage points from 37% in 2018.

According to Pew, behind the growing number of Americans who do not want to have children are many reasons, such as the cost of child care nearing $10,000 a year, women of childbearing age growing up in a generation affected by the background economy and the pandemic, while 56% said they simply “don’t want to have children”.

The Pew study comes after the pandemic caused the US birth rate to drop 4% from 2019 to 2020, the steepest drop in nearly 50 years and the lowest number of births since 1979.

Falling fertility rates have put the US on track with high- and middle-income countries like Spain, Norway and Greece as women delay childbearing until an older age. It was a sign of economic progress, heralding the rise of individualism and women’s autonomy.

A new world of opportunity has enabled millennial women (those born between 1981 and 1996) to have four times more college degrees than millennial women (those born between 1928 and 1928) until 1945, suffered the most because of the Second World War, had a peaceful character).

The more a woman has access to education, the more likely she is to delay having children until the age of 30 or never have children.

When the career is the children

Since the age of 11, Jennifer Mathieu, 40, has not wanted to have children. She said: “I won’t have children and will live the life I want“, she attributed this to her unique upbringing, in which her father played a major role as her mother often prioritized career over family..

“I realized my mother’s struggle between career and family and decided that I wouldn’t go down that path. I couldn’t imagine having to shoulder the burden of work and kids. I wouldn’t be able to take care of myself. Take care of two dogs if you have a husband.”

From an early age, 40-year-old Jennifer Matthieu knew she didn’t want to have children. Photo: Jennifer Matthieu

Freelance writer Heather Watson, now in her 40s, also has no regrets about choosing work over children. She said that children are never a priority for her and her husband, this decision was made easily but not taken lightly.

“We’re both working hard to develop our careers and honestly don’t feel that the kids are right for the lives and goals we want. We’ve always had a feeling it wouldn’t be fair when the kids weren’t right. the child tries to fit in with our lives”.

Brittany, 31, said she always lacked maternal instincts. She said: “I never get nervous when siblings and friends start having kids. I really love my grandchildren, but I love sending them home to my parents at the end of the day.”

Brittany shared, she never felt like she was missing out on anything without children. She also thought that she might regret it in the future, but she would rather regret it later than now, when she didn’t really want to have children.

Tasmin Turner, a 34-year-old project coordinator, shared that not having children means her time, money and decisions are all for herself.

Turner says: “I can travel as I please, sleep comfortably, and treat the weekend as self-care time. I can move around the country and return as I please.”

When she saw her friends struggling to take care of their new life after having a baby, Turner didn’t want to go through it herself. She used to think that she also wanted to have children, but as soon as she entered her twenties, she changed.

“People say having a baby brings unfathomable joy, but now I’m happy very much”.

According to Vietnamese Women