Is having children no longer fashionable?

Not too long ago, social and traditional conventions dictated that the life of a married couple was destined to start a family and have children. However, that seems to be a thing of the past now...

For better or worse, times have changed, society has evolved and in the 21st century, more and more couples are included in the so-called D I N K group.

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D I N K couples (Dual Income, No Kids) prioritise life as a couple, economic stability and quality of life, above starting a family with children.

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The social stigma of not having children has become obsolete, and more and more couples are proactively choosing not to have children.

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However, the current global situation, very similar in many countries, means that many other couples enter the D I N K group more out of circumstantial obligation than by their own decision.

On the one hand, job stability is hard to come by; add in minimal or no family conciliation policies, unemployment and, above all, the increase in the cost of living, and starting a family isn't very attractive.

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In many countries, access to housing is prohibitive due to cost, and this implies an ageing population, a delay in the age of having children and, therefore, a notable reduction in birth rates.

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Faced with such a scenario, many couples, especially those in their thirties, are rethinking their situation and their medium and long-term projects and increasingly, they are choosing to take having children out of the equation.

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From there, the lifestyle of D I N K couples focuses on improving the quality of life through travel, leisure, mobility, shopping...

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According to 'The Conversation', in the United States 20% of the population does not plan to have children in the medium or long term. This is a trend that is going global.

More and more couples are choosing the child-free route, so much so that on TikTok there is even a specific hashtag, #D I N K, in which childless dual income couples show their lifestyle and their day-to-day life without kids.

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Without a doubt, these child-free influencers are showcasing the advantages of the D I N K life and there is a high chance that will lead many couples from Generation Z and Generation Alpha to take this route, after seeing the advantages that this type of less traditional life implies.

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The formula is as simple as it is effective: couples who do not have the expenses of raising children, dedicate that saved money to other purposes, as reported by 'Insider'.

Added to this is the fact of having more time and freedom to make plans, play sports, travel or, simply staying at home without doing anything.

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Having children certainly isn't cheap -from the day your child is born until they turn 18, you can expect to spend about $310,605 — or  $17,000 a year, according to a new Brookings Institution analysis of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department.

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But what happens if one partner feels a maternal or paternal instinct after the couple has agreed to no kids? Well often they decided to become D I N K W A Ds  (Dual Income, No Kids, With A Dog), and adopt a fur baby instead.

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As we have already mentioned, there are couples who are forced not to have children due to circumstances or because they cannot and seek comfort in a pet who, in some cases, they treat as if it were their own child.

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Be that as it may, times have changed, we have to adapt to them and the traditional family, as it was known until recently, has given way to a multitude of alternatives already established in society.

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