At 24, El Johnson has made up her mind that she wonB次元官网网址檛 bear children, though she and her girlfriend havenB次元官网网址檛 ruled out adoption.

The graduate student who works in legal services in Austin, Texas, has a list of reasons for not wanting to give birth: the climate crisis and a genetic health condition among them.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think itB次元官网网址檚 responsible to bring children into this world,B次元官网网址� Johnson said. B次元官网网址淭here are already kids who need homes. I donB次元官网网址檛 know what kind of world itB次元官网网址檚 going to be in 20, 30, 40 years.B次元官网网址�

SheB次元官网网址檚 so sure, in fact, that sheB次元官网网址檒l soon have her tubes removed. ItB次元官网网址檚 a precautionary decision sealed by the fall of Roe v. Wade and by tight restrictions on abortion services in her state and around the country.

Other women interviewed also cited climate change, along with overwhelming student debt coupled with inflation, as reasons theyB次元官网网址檒l never be parents. Some younger men, too, are opting out and more are seeking vasectomies.

Whatever the motivation, they play a role .

The U.S. birth rate fell 4% in 2020, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report. The government noted a 1% uptick in U.S. births last year, but the number of babies born was still lower than before the coronavirus pandemic: about 86,000 fewer than in 2019.

Walter and Kyah King live in suburban Las Vegas. Walter, 29, a sports data scientist, and Kyah, 28, a college career counselor, have been together nearly 10 years, the last four as a married couple. The realization that they didnB次元官网网址檛 want to have kids came on slowly for both of them.

B次元官网网址淚t was in our early 20s when the switch sort of flipped,B次元官网网址� Kyah said. B次元官网网址淲e had moved to California and we were really just starting our adult lives. I think we talked about having three kids at one point. But just with the economy and the state of the world and just thinking about the logistics of bringing children into the world. ThatB次元官网网址檚 really when we started to have our doubts.B次元官网网址�

Finances are top of mind. Before taxes, the two earn about $160,000 combined, with about $120,000 in student loan debt for Kyah and about $5,000 left for Walter. The couple said they wouldnB次元官网网址檛 be able to buy a house and shoulder the costs of even one child without major sacrifices theyB次元官网网址檙e not willing to make.

But for Kyah, the decision goes well beyond money.

B次元官网网址淚 think we would be great parents, but the thought of going into our health system to give birth is really scary. Black women, black mothers, are not valued in the same way that white mothers are,B次元官网网址� said Kyah, who is Black.

When KyahB次元官网网址檚 IUD expires, Walter said heB次元官网网址檒l consider a vasectomy, a procedure that went on the rise among men under 30 during the pandemic.

Jordan Davidson interviewed more than 300 people for a book out in December titled, B次元官网网址淪o When are You Having Kids?B次元官网网址� The pandemic, she said, led many to delay childbirth among those contemplating children at all.

B次元官网网址淭hese timelines that people created for themselves of, I want to accomplish X by three years from now, changed. People werenB次元官网网址檛 necessarily willing to move the goalposts and say, OK, IB次元官网网址檓 going to forgo these accomplishments and do this differently,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淧eople still want to travel. They still want to go to graduate school. They still want to meet certain financial benchmarks.B次元官网网址�

Fears about climate change have cemented the idea of living without children for many, Davidson said.

B次元官网网址淣ow with increased wildfires, droughts, heat waves, all of a sudden it is becoming real that, OK, this is happening during my time, and what is this going to look like during the time that my children are alive?B次元官网网址� she said.

In New York City, 23-year-old Emily Shapiro, a copywriter for a pharmaceutical ad agency, earns $60,000 a year, lives at home as she saves money and has never wanted children.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e sticky. I could never imagine picking up a kid thatB次元官网网址檚 covered in ice cream. IB次元官网网址檓 a bit of a germaphobe. I donB次元官网网址檛 want to change a diaper. If I did have one, I wouldnB次元官网网址檛 want them until theyB次元官网网址檙e in, like, sixth grade. I also think the physical Earth isnB次元官网网址檛 doing so great so it would be unfair,B次元官网网址� she said.

Among those Jordan interviewed, concerns over the environment were far more prevalent among the younger group. Questions of affordability, she said, troubled both millennials and members of Gen Z.

B次元官网网址淭here is a lot of fear around having children who would be worse off than they viewed themselves during their childhoods,B次元官网网址� Davidson said.

Dannie Lynn Murphy, who helps find software engineers for Google, said she was nearly 17 when she was removed from her home by child protective services due to a pattern of child abuse. Her wife, she said, was similarly raised in a B次元官网网址渘ot greatB次元官网网址� environment.

B次元官网网址淏oth of us at one point would have said yes to kids,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚n my late teenage, early adult years, I saw and understood the appeal and was attracted to the idea of getting to raise someone differently than I was raised. But the practical realities of a child kind of suck.B次元官网网址�

Murphy earns about $103,000 a year, with bonuses and equity that can drive that amount up to $300,000. Her wife earns about $60,000 as an attorney. They donB次元官网网址檛 own their Seattle home.

B次元官网网址淚 canB次元官网网址檛 see myself committing to a mortgage, let alone a child,B次元官网网址� the 28-year-old Murphy said. B次元官网网址淚 think the primary reason is financial. I would prefer to spend that money on traveling versus sinking a half a million dollars into raising a child. Secondarily, thereB次元官网网址檚 now the fear of behaving with our children the way our parents behaved with us.B次元官网网址�

Alyssa Persson, 31, was raised in small town South Dakota. Getting married and having children was ingrained in the culture, she said. It wasnB次元官网网址檛 until after her divorce from her high school sweetheart that she took a step back and asked herself what she actually wanted out of life.

B次元官网网址淢ost women where IB次元官网网址檓 from lose their identities in motherhood,B次元官网网址� said Persson, who now lives in St. Louis and earns about $47,000 a year as a university librarian.

SheB次元官网网址檚 carrying student loan debt of about $80,000. Persson is a former teacher who loves children, but she feels she is now thinking more clearly than ever about the costs, implications and sacrifices of parenting.

B次元官网网址淗aving children sounds like a trap to me, to be frank,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淔inancially, socially, emotionally, physically. And if there were ever any shadow of a doubt, the fact that I cannot comfortably support myself on my salary is enough to scare me away from the idea entirely.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擫eanne Italie, The Associated Press