There is never a "right" time to have a baby, so the saying goes. There is a
myriad of factors to take into consideration when deciding to have a child,
which might include financial stability, personal goals and aspirations or
accessibility to childcare support. The list goes on and is unique and
deeply personal.
"For many people, the question of whether to have children or not is one of
the biggest they will face in their lives," Sabrina Helm, associate
professor in the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the
University of Arizona, said in a press release.
Helm is the lead author of a new study published in Population and
Environment that sought to discover whether climate change was a concern
that impacted individuals' decisions to have a child.1 "As public concern
about climate change grows, anecdotal evidence reported in the media points
to a group of people who are questioning their fertility desires and
intentions," the researchers write in the paper.
A two-pronged approach
The publication outlines two studies conducted by Helm and colleagues. The
first involved content analysis of online comments that were shared in
response to news articles that explored a seemingly "growing" trend of
individuals opting not to have children because of climate change.
Next, they identified adults aged 18-35 who had shared that climate change
was a factor of consideration for them and conducted semi-structured
interviews. "We focused on young adults as previous research has shown this
age group is more likely to consider climate change as one of the biggest
issues and about a third consider climate change in their childbearing
decisions," the authors write.
The survey sample consisted of 24 participants: 17 women, four men and three
participants that identified as gender non-conforming. Data was collected in
Tucson, Auckland and Christchurch.
The interviews asked the participants questions about their knowledge of
factors driving climate change, their vision for the future, motivations
(and anticipated consequences of) having children or not and the associated
emotions.
To analyze the data, the researchers adopted thematic analysis and coding.
Two coders utilized deductive and intuitive coding, and a priori template
(codes that are developed before examining the data based on the objectives
of the research) was created. As analysis began, the codes were either kept
or divided into new codes based on new themes that emerged in the data, for
example "burden of responsibility".
"In analyzing the interviews, credibility was improved using triangulation
through source triangulation (i.e., using quotes from different
participants), while transferability was addressed through thick
descriptions in the findings to increase the transferability of the findings
to other contexts and individuals," write the researchers.
The collective results revealed three major themes: overconsumption,
overpopulation and an uncertain future. Overpopulation was the main concern
and motivation for opting not to have children in the first study, whereas
overconsumption, where participants expressed fears that having children
would further contribute to an increased carbon footprint and consumption of
vital food and water resources, was the predominant theme in study two.
The third theme – an uncertain future – related to participants' concerns
over the prospect of climate change continuing to go "unchecked";
expressions of guilt and feeling a sense of ethical dilemma were highlighted
in the interviews and comments. In contrast, however, some participants
suggested that the very notion of children provided hope of a "brighter"
future: "There was a hope that future generations will get the job done and
makes things better, " Helm said.
The opportunity to talk
There are limitations to the study that the authors highlight in the paper;
one being the fact that study two was subject to self-selection bias, as
only individuals who had expressed that they were considering not having
children due to climate change were included. To this end, the researchers
state that future studies should aim to include larger study samples and
random sampling techniques.
"Many people now are severely affected in terms of mental health with regard
to climate change concerns […] Then you add this very important decision
about having kids, which very few take lightly, and this is an important
topic from a public health perspective. It all ties into this bigger topic
of how climate change affects people beyond the immediate effect of weather
phenomena," – Helm.
Furthermore, the participants for study two were predominantly women; more
research is required to identify what factors contribute to men and
individuals that identify as non-gender conforming, opting not to have
children in the context of climate change.
Nonetheless, the researchers firmly believe that this is a topic of great
public health and policy interest, and that this work is a stepping stone in
the right direction: "It's still a bit taboo to even talk about this – about
how worried they are – in an environment where there are still people who
deny climate change […] "I think what's been lacking is the opportunity to
talk about it and hear other people's voices. Maybe this research will
help," Helm concluded.
Reference:
Helm S, Kemper JA, White SK. No future, no kids–no kids, no future? Popul
Environ. 2021. doi: 10.1007/s11111-021-00379-5.
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