Young people who are more aware of the effects and dangers of climate change are less likely to have children. A new parameter at the time of the choice to procreate or not.
- Climate change and the threats it poses to the future is, for young people, an element of the choice of whether or not to have children
- The threats most often mentioned are overconsumption and the drying up of resources, overpopulation and an uncertain future.
A new fact seems to be increasingly taken into account at the time of one of the most engaging decisions in life, that of having or not having children: it is that of climate change and its consequences which would henceforth part of the questions that young people ask themselves before this decisive choice.
This is what reveals a study conducted by researchers at the University of Arizona in the United States and published in the journal Population and Environment. Adults aged between 18 and 35 and sensitized on the subject of climate change were selected and 24 of them specified their concerns on the question of having children.
Analysis of online comments accompanying media articles on climate change has alerted researchers to a growing trend of forgoing childbearing due to the threats climate change poses to the future of the planet… and its inhabitants. Hence this work, which has made it possible to bring out the three themes that most concern these young people who are reluctant to become parents.
Overconsumption, overpopulation, dark future
First, there are the “dangers” associated with overconsumption. “This is the concern most frequently expressed by respondents,” said Sabrina Helm, professor at the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences and lead author of this study. More specifically, the concerns of young people, themselves children of the consumer society, relate to the risks of shortage of resources (food and water) and the carbon impact linked to the continuation of these practices.
The second theme evoked to justify reservations about having children, that of overpopulation. This concern, according to the study’s authors, also surfaced frequently, both in online comments about hot topics on climate change and in interviews with the youth panel. And on this point, the explanations go even further than simple fears concerning the vital needs of future generations such as food or water. The young people most aware of the subject of climate change seem to consider that the number of humans must be reduced at all costs: 7.5 billion people, too much for planet Earth? For them the answer is “yes” since they explain their hesitation to have children, or in any case more than two children, by the fear of… “replacing themselves” digitally! And their reasoning goes so far as to promote adoption instead of procreation…
Hope lies in future generations
Third “fear” that could limit the will to reproduce, that linked to an “uncertain” or even bringing misfortune future. And the “guilt” – that’s how they put it – of bringing into the world children condemned to live in this horrible world. But this fear of the future can also have the opposite effect. “Expressions of hope,” as Sabrina Helm describes them, surfaced in the panel interviews. And in particular the idea that future generations would be welcome because they would be able to contribute to improving the environment through an even greater awareness of this problem. “There is hope that future generations will do the work and make things better,” explains Sabrina Helm, adding, however, that “it puts a lot of burden on the little children”… Young people of childbearing age do not have not done asking questions!
And the subject will long fuel debates between friends and family members. The study also highlights the “anger” and “frustration” among young people who express questions and fears about procreation due to the disdain often shown by those around them for whom this question is irrelevant.