Concerns about global warming have led some young people in the water to not want children

Amanda Porretto is not sure if she will have children.

At 27, she is the average age of new mothers in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He feels the pressure as an only child. His father wants to be a grandfather and his mother, before he died, always told Porretto that he would eventually want to be a mother.

“Some people think it’s a bad thing” to not have a child, said Porretto, who works in advertising. “I just don’t think I need to bring more people (to the world) when there’s so much here right now that we need to fix.”

Older generations of Americans are increasingly expressing concern about climate change as they have children, according to several studies. They are worried about bringing children into a world that is growing and is extremely powerful, a result of climate change, caused by the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide when oil, coal gas is burned. And they are worried about the purpose that their descendants will have in the world.

In the 2024 Lancet Study of 16- to 25-year-olds, the majority of respondents were “very” or “extremely” concerned about climate change. This study also found that 52% said they are reluctant to have children because of climate change. Adults under the age of 50 without children were four times more likely than adults over 50 without children to say they regretted the situation in their decision, according to a Pew Center report. And a study published this year in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found more than half of the respondents said “yes” or “maybe” or “maybe” or “probably” whether climate change made them question having children.

The influence of climate on children

Parenting and climate change are related not only out of fear for the well-being of the child, but also out of concern for the well-being of the planet.

Compared to the carbon emissions of all other decisions, “Having a child is far, far greater,” said Nandita Bajaj, senior director of Population, a non-profit organization focused on environmental research.

Unlike other decisions, sales that come with adoption come with something that Professor Travis Rieter of Johns Hopkins University calls “carbon.”

“You’re not just doing carbon-intensive activities like buying a big house and a big car and diapers and all that,” Reider said. “You’re creating someone who will have their carbon footprint for the rest of their life.”

That child may have children, and those children may have children, creating an impact that lasts for generations, Reider. It’s true, the logical extreme of reducing natural footprints means not having children, says Reider, not to allow.

Measuring a child’s impact is tricky. That’s because there’s no consensus on what percentage of a parent’s responsibility is, and partly because that man’s influence depends on their parents’ lives.

“One of the best predictors of how carbon-expensive is going to be,” Reider said.

For example, the US emits 123 times less carbon than Ghana, according to data released by the Global Space Research Institute. Adjusted for population size, that means the average American is more than 12 times as large as the average Ghanaian.

Why is it taboo to talk?

Adoption can have a huge impact on the climate, but when it comes to actions people can take to reduce their contribution to global warming, having too few children is not discussed.

Researchers studying climate change and family planning offer two reasons.

“If someone tells you they’re expecting or pregnant, the immediate response is to offer some kind of support, congratulate them, that kind of thing,” said Trevor Hedbert, who teaches moral philosophy at the University of Arizona.

Another thing, says Reider: The impact of occasional cravings is tied to discussions about overeating. The environmental movement in the 1970s expressed the fear that there were too many people on the planet’s resources, which led to racial discrimination and eugenics, which met a heavy backlash.

Taboo or not, weather is a matter of people’s choice

Ash Sanders, 43, knew at a young age that he did not want to have a child. Then she got pregnant.

“I didn’t want to add another person to the world and have them have an additional impact on a world that was already organized and populated by the number of people that were here,” she said.

Sanders, a freelance writer who covers religion and nature, wanted to have an abortion but felt pressured by Mormons and was raised by his Father to have a child. He said he was called a bad person for not wanting a child.

He placed his child in open reception and saw him regularly. Today he feels conflicted about his decision.

“I feel so hopeful about bringing him into the world. I mean, he loves the world, he’s a happy friend, he’s very cool. But I like to be positive all the time,” she said.

Juan Jaramillo said the area was always a factor in his parenting calculus, even when he was a teenager in the 1970s. He later went to school to become a marine biologist.

“Pollution and climate change weren’t a problem at the time, but all of the other problems we have now were then,” he said.

And, she just didn’t want children. So she got a vasectomy and doesn’t regret the decision. Her decision not to have children and her environmental problems are mature.

Not that Reider, a bieecics professor, has spent years studying that effect, and still wanted to be a father.

“Having children is a deep and very important thing for people. It also costs carbon,” she said. “So how do you get these things out?”

For RIEDER, finding balance meant having one child.

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