Children are a blessing, right? In the past, people learned to do life one day: you grow up wanting to eventually get married and have kids. That’s just how you did things!

However, in more recent times, a rising number of people have decided that they actually don’t think they’ll ever have children. Though this has been a trend for quite some time, there’s been an enormous increase in this notion since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

In a recent Pew Research study, 44% of people that don’t currently have kids said that it’s not too likely or not at all likely that they’ll ever have kids. That’s a whopping 37% increase since 2018.

Most people’s reason simply consisted of that they “just don’t want to have children,” but other reasons included medical or financial reasons, not having a partner (or their partner doesn’t want kids), the state of the world and environmental concerns.

Additionally, the number of people who said they were “very likely” to have kids one day is down from 32% in 2018, at just 26%.

What’s more, 74% of people who already have kids said they are unlikely to have more kids, which was mostly due to older age of themselves or their partner, or medical and/or financial reasons.

The survey was conducted in October of 2021 and included 3,866 U.S. adults ages 18 to 49. It was conducted after birth rates in the U.S. dropped to an all-time low in the winter of 2020—the same time the pandemic struck.

The U.S. birthrate fell by 4 percent in 2020, a record low, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

“This is the sixth consecutive year that the number of births has declined after an increase in 2014, down an average of 2% per year, and the lowest number of births since 1979,” the National Center for Health Statistics said.

“The rate has generally been below replacement since 1971 and has consistently been below replacement since 2007,” according to the agency, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additionally, there’s been a downward trend of U.S. fertility rates, which was another all-time low before COVID struck.

What do you think of the low birth rate that’s continued to decrease as the years have gone on? If you don’t already have children, do you want them? If you do already have children, do you plant o have any more? Why or why not? We’d love to hear your stance on this trending topic!