A Case Against Children

It might be time to schedule that vasectomy. Or if you prefer, that tubal ligation. 

For your sake, and for that of your (hopefully) unborn children, the collective society should take proactive actions against having children. Why? As the natural circle of life engulfs man-made hardships, undergoing some agony in life is inevitable. Consequently, you and your kids are going to suffer. And with late stage capitalism swarming in on society, living under such financial conditions may feel like an unavoidable fate - one which will be repeated for generations. But it doesn’t have to be that way. 

It would be useless to pretend that there is no fathomable reason behind the desire to have children. From biological drive to societal expectations, having kids can seem like the most natural thing to do. If one is truly inclined to build themself a nuclear family, creating life from scratch does not need to be the answer. There is always the option of adoption. Although there are admittedly some issues with adoption as an institution globally (both in actual organization and moral implications) at any given day there are over 350,000 children living in the U.S. foster care system. Over 100,000 of these children are eligible for adoption at any time (Penny Lane Organization). This means that for many hoping to expand their family, helping a child already born could serve as a much more fulfilling act than creating a new life. 

Continuing to procreate in the 21st century is not only an unnecessary act, but also one that is to your own detriment. In terms of finances, having children in the United States is one of the worst financial decisions we can make. 

While it is true that there were more biological births last year than there are children in the adoption system, it should also be noted that statistically, most parents in the US can not actually afford to take care of the children they do have. The United States is one of the most expensive countries in the world in which to have a baby. In fact, research shows that it costs almost $20,000 just to give birth (Pew Research). And the annual cost of raising just one child is estimated to be a few hundred dollars over that, with the cost of raising children annually increasing 20% (BYU) in the past few years. With the average amount of children per family being roughly 2 kids, this means that in the first year of their children’s lives, most parents will spend nearly $100,000 on child care. But nearly a third of Americans make less than that. How then, should we wonder, are people caring for their children? As a low ball, you will have spent almost $400,000 on one single child in less than two decades (and again, that is for just one single child). That is more than the average price for a home in the U.S, and it is also more than most people make, period. 

Many adults, particularly in the west and especially the United States, are waking up to this fact. The US birth rate has reached a historic low in 2024 (NIH). Due to a mix of factors, such as career instability, financial turmoil, demographic decline, the COVID pandemic and much more, young adults are opting out of having children. This is true despite attempts made by both government organizations and conservative activists who have been attempting to push a pro-natalist agenda. Typically, this is done through cultural media (aka, the push of the “trad wife”) or through pro-nalatist policies, such as Trump's $5,000  “baby bonus”. This agenda (which is typically costly to push) fails to mention how reaching an “ideal” fertility rate may require the quadrupling of household income today. This is an income that simply is not attainable for the average person in the US, let alone globally. 

This leaves us to ponder: is having children even worth it? Ignoring the financial burden of raising kids, consider the issues you yourself face on a daily basis. Climate change related disaster, wage theft and layoffs, systemic oppression or even something as small as spilt milk. No amount of pro-natalist propaganda can erase the monetary inconvenience of having children, and it especially can not mask the moral implications of nonconsensually bringing a human into a world that is systematically built against them. At the end of the day, it is in all our best interests (morally and financially) to abstain from having kids. 

Works Cited 

Goo, S. K. (2014, January 16). The cost of giving birth varies widely. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/01/16/the-cost-of-giving-birth-varies-widely/

Penny Lane Centers. (n.d.). Foster care statistics. https://www.pennylane.org/resources/foster-care-statistics

American Family Survey. (2025). The cost of raising kids 2025. https://americanfamilysurvey.byu.edu/the-cost-of-raising-kids-2025

National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2024). [Article on PMC]. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11537490/