Nearly 1 in 4 childless millennials and members of Generation Z said they don’t have children now, and they don’t plan on having them in the future.

A study from MassMutual found that 23% of the child-bearing cohort without children don’t have any plans to change their state of affairs. Of these, 43% cited financial reasons. The study didn’t distinguish between those who don’t want children because they can’t afford them and those who want more “financial freedom.”

“With today’s financial stressors, it is understandable why there is a growing trend among young adults to prioritize financial security over parenthood,” Paul LaPiana, CFP, head of brand, product, and affiliated distribution with MassMutual, said. “This shift reflects a broader understanding of the importance of financial stability and independence in achieving long-term goals that every generation must reckon with.”

Thirty-one percent of people said the social and political world their children would inherit was another prominent reason.

Parents of children also expressed financial woes. Fifty percent of parents said they suffer anxiety over not being able to afford to support their family, while nearly 4 in 10 said having children negatively affected their finances.

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The low birthrate in the United States and across the world has emerged as one of the biggest looming crises, as fears rise that the lack of children will render the welfare system unable to support the aging generations. The birth rate has been consistently declining in the U.S. since 2014, with a brief respite from 2020 to 2021, before hitting a record low in 2024. The current birthrate is below the replacement level of two children per woman.

The study was conducted by PSB Insights from July 1 to 26 among a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. adults.