Anxiety over global warming is leading some young Americans to say they don't want children

"Amanda Porretto isn't sure she'll ever 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. She's feeling the pressure as an only child. Her father wants to be a grandfather and her mother, before she died, always told Porretto that she would eventually want to be a mom."

"I just don't think I need to bring more people into (the world) when there's so much here currently that we need to fix. Younger generations of Americans are increasingly citing climate change as making them reticent to have children, according to several studies. They are worried about bringing children into a world with increasing and more intense extreme weather events, a result of climate change, which is caused by the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide when oil, gas coal are burned."

"In a 2024 Lancet study of people 16 to 25 years old, the majority of respondents were very or extremely worried about climate change. The study also found that 52% said they were hesitant to have children because of climate change. Adults under 50 years old without children were four times more likely than adults over 50 without children to say that climate plays a factor in their decision, according to a Pew Research Center report published last year."

Many younger Americans report that climate change influences their family-planning decisions. Individuals express worry about bringing children into a world facing more frequent and intense extreme weather events caused by greenhouse-gas emissions. Survey data show high levels of climate worry among 16- to 25-year-olds and significant hesitancy about having children because of climate risks. Adults under 50 without children are substantially more likely than older adults to cite climate as a factor in reproductive decisions. Concerns combine fear for a child's future safety with anxiety over the environmental impact of having children.

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