Saddest bumper sticker. Generations upon generations of proud family heritage goes out with a bark.
Posted on 02/20/2017 7:32:15 PM PST by Morgana
According to government statistics, an increasing number of women from the millennial generation are opting out when it comes to having babies. Instead, it appears they’re finding an alternative more to their liking.
Why the trend for young couples becoming “child-free”? And what have they found to fill the void?
There’s an important distinction to be made between a “childless” couple that has no control whether or not they hear the pitter patter of little feet in their home, versus others who refer to themselves “child-free.” The latter is an intentional lifestyle choice not to have children.
There is a trend today of young adults making the choice to go child-free, substituting bottles and diapers with leashes, pet food and pooper scoopers. Yes, a growing number are choosing dogs and cats over children.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and reported by Quartz, document this is more than just a casual observation. CDC numbers show there has been a considerable decline of babies born to women between the ages of 15 and 29. It is paired with an enormous increase in ownership of small dogs among millennial women.
Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University said, “Pets are becoming a replacement for children.” Her research on the “the entitlement generation” has been published in a book called Generation Me.
Professor Twenge isn’t the only expert providing evidence of “puppy parenthood.” Nathan Richter with Wakefield Research explains that first-time parents prepare for their impending bundle of joy by reading books and consuming other available research. “That’s how millennials are approaching pet ownership,” he says.
Many Americans have made parenting a central focus and mission of their lives, so naturally they struggle with understanding the motivation behind willingly passing up one of life’s greatest blessings.
Sadly, a bulk of the evidence points to the narcissistic reputation of the millennial generation.
Thirty-year-old Sara Foster told the New York Post, “It’s just less work and, honestly, I have more time to go out.”
Kristen Wile, senior editor of Charlotte Magazine, penned her journey from wanting to be a stay-at-home mom by the time she was 30 to now choosing pets over babies. “They give us a greater purpose without making our lives mainly about theirs.” I was stunned by her self-centered transparency.
“Who needs children when research has shown that certain hormones that increase when we cuddle children also increase when we cuddle our pets,” read an online post on Pet Health & Safety.
Evidence of this growing trend is popping up in American society. The multiple Lucky Dog Bark & Brew locations in North Carolina provide not only a bar but also animal boarding, complete with a play area for large and small dogs. What aren’t allowed? Children.
Writing for creators.com, Dennis Prager believes that throughout civilization there had been three social realities driving the birth of children: a lack of contraception, the economic necessity for children to care for parents in old age, and religion. Prager points out that contraception has changed the way couples approach the act of sex; plus government entities like social security and welfare now care for senior citizens so children don’t have to. Finally, religion is a shadow of what it has been in the past – the one propelling force behind the values demanding children.
Couples should not feel forced or compelled to have children by those around them, just as parents with large families should be spared snide or biting remarks.
Perhaps those who have experienced the joys and blessings of children can by example, demonstrate reasons why young couples should carefully consider all their options. Just as animal lovers might show families without pets that shedding coats, marred wood floors and little piles dotting the back yard are small prices to pay for the joy animals bring.
Yes I know but really I think this generation is too stupid to raise kids!! Wish I was wrong but when I see them at Trump protests makes me wonder how we got this many retarded children in the classroom?
Having children is no guarantee that they will visit you in the nursing home.
Go to any nursing home and see the patients who haven’t had visitors for a long time. Their kids live a couple of miles away but they are too busy.
The saddest one I ever saw was a lovely lady whose son dropped her off one day at noon and told her he’d be back to have dinner that night. He never came back.
Saddest bumper sticker. Generations upon generations of proud family heritage goes out with a bark.
I love my children. I love my dog. It’s not the same thing. If these people don’t grasp that distinction, though, I guess they should stick with pets.
Millenials cannot even take care of themselves, at least some of them are smart enough to figure out that having kids is not a good idea when you don’t have a husband who can provide for the family, you’re mired in student loan debt, you have terrible jobs with flat wage growth, and no hope of ever owning a house.
The ones I know who could technically afford kids would all have to make significant sacrifices in their standard of living, and they are not willing to do that.
I have grand dogs——and love them.
That bumper sticker says no more than that.
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I always thought I’d have 10 kids....or adopt 10, but never met the right man. However, my nieces and nephews number 10 so I had a lot of kids to spoil!
Probably about half of Disney's animated films are about animals that talk and act just like humans. I think you have a point there.
But hey can have sexo
Idiocracy and I blame the Feminazis of NOW who wanted this outcome from day one of their Communist cultural revolution.
Smash the patriarchy. Smash the state.
Margaret Sanger wanted “no more babies” in the West for a period of 10 years following WWII. She didn’t care about “choice” and didn’t care that some women would not be able to bear children after that 10 year ban.
They want the West to commit suicide and with 58,000,000 dead in the US alone, they are doing a damned good job of it.
The plan has always been to go into the woods and let the wolves have me
Wolves are predictable
Maybe there will be a series of movies or TV shows featuring Millineals who have adopted. Just maybe that will come into vogue. I don’t mean simply collecting them the way Madonna seems to be doing. There are millions of American children who would love to have a family to call their own. For those young adults who have enough money and enough love to give, this can be quite fulfilling. Some career women near or past 40 are choosing to adopt a (non infant) child when they get tired of waiting for the right man.
That life situation doesn't stop the illegal immigrants without a high school education from coming here and having several kids.
Don’t worry, Latinos and muslims are still having gobs of babies.
That generation grew up being told by the liberals that oral sex isn’t sex.
Free love isn’t free.
the one good thing about this insanity is that these dolts are self limiting- I would encourage them to keep it up- keep getting pets instead of having children so that millennials become a extinct species- may the millenial go the way of the dodo bird
There is a major difference in all those types of couples.
There is random sexualization these days. Meaning, even a comercical selling M&M Candy with nuts has become heavily sexualized and slutted up. I think the Green is supposed to be a female. ‘She’ has false eyelashes that even Megyn Kelly would envy. Maybe their target market is meant to be grown ups who still eat lots of candy.
Sounds like almost every single woman I have ever known, and every woman over 50.
Not everyone who wants children is able to have them, whether from inability to find that special someone to marry or from infertility. They still have a lot of love to give and don’t want to come home to an empty home. Thus, pets. It isn’t just a narcissistic move for those who want more time to party.
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