By Alexis Blue, University Communications
Today
Many survey respondents were concerned about bringing children into a world with an uncertain future. However, many children have also suggested giving hope for a better and brighter tomorrow.
When deciding if you have children, there are many factors to consider: finances, support systems, personal values. For a growing number of people, climate change is also added to the list of considerations, says a University of Arizona researcher.
Casca Sabrina, an associate professor at the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is the lead author of a new peer-reviewed study of how climate change affects people’s decisions about whether to have children. .
Casca Sabrina
“For many people, the question of whether or not they have children is one of the biggest challenges they will face in their lives,” Helm said. “If you’re worried about how the future will look because of climate change, it’s obviously going to have an impact on how you see this very important decision in your life.”
Helm and her collaborators wanted to better understand the specific reasons for climate change that people have because they do not want to have children. They began by analyzing online comments posted in response to written news articles about the growing trend of people giving up having children due to climate change issues.
Then they looked for adults between the ages of 18 and 35, who said that climate change plays an important role in making their reproductive decisions. They interviewed 24 participants about their concerns.
The researchers’ findings, published in the journal Population and Environment, identify three major topics that have emerged in both online comments and interviews.
- Over consumption. This was the most common concern expressed by respondents, Helm said. Almost all participants expressed concern about how children will contribute to climate change through an increased carbon footprint and overuse of resources that may become scarcer in the future, such as food and water.
- overcrowding. Overcrowding has been the predominant concern of online commentators and has often appeared in interviews, Helm said. Some participants said they felt that having more than two children would be problematic and even selfish because it would “over-replace” them and their partner. Some said they saw adoption as a more responsible choice. “Adoption has been seen as a low-carbon alternative,” Helm said.
- An uncertain future. Interviewees and online commentators also frequently expressed condemnation about the future if climate change remains uncontrolled. Many have said that they will feel guilty or as if they have done something morally or ethically wrong if they bring a child into a world with such an uncertain future.
Although the “doom” perspective was predominant, it was also balanced with expressions of hope, Helm said. Some interviewees and commentators said that the very idea of children offers hope for a better and brighter future. Others expressed hope that future generations could contribute to improving the environment by raising awareness and taking action on climate change.
“There is hope that future generations will do the job and make things better,” Helm said. “But that puts a lot of burden on young children.”
Understanding how climate change affects reproductive decision-making is part of a greater effort by Helm and other researchers to understand how climate change affects individuals mentally and emotionally in general. Helm noted that anxiety about climate change is on the rise, especially among younger people.
“Many people are now severely affected in terms of mental health in terms of climate change issues,” she said. “Then add this very important decision to have children, which very few take easily, and this is an important issue from a public health perspective. All this is related to this broader topic of how climate change affects people beyond the immediate effect of meteorological phenomena. . “
Helm said many study participants expressed anger and frustration that their concerns were not taken seriously by family members and friends, who could reluctantly tell them they would change their minds about having children when they wanted to. be older or will meet the right person.
“It’s still a bit taboo to talk about this – about how worried they are – in an environment where there are still people who deny climate change,” Helm said. “I think what’s missing is the opportunity to talk about it and hear other people’s voices. Maybe this research will help.”