[Music] Poor Millennials and gen Z adults are Deciding not to have kids and it appears One of the main reasons is money According to a new survey for Mass Mutual about 23% of adults ranging from 18 to 43 years old say they don't want Children because they value their Financial Freedom and they have concerns About the cost of raising kids in Today's economy joining me with more on This is CBS money watch associate Managing editor Amy pitchy Amy thank you So much for being with us I mean look I've got a 2 and a halfy old I'm still Like deep in the diapers and all of that It is expensive um the the average Family spend $700 a month alone just in Child care can you break down what other Figures you found and how they've Changed in recent Years yeah I mean there there's an Estimate out there about how much it Cost to raise a child from birth to age 18 and it's about $240,000 that's about 13,000 a year on Average and that's up 20% from um 2016 So you know that's that's things like You know inflation but of course that Precedes um you know our inflationary um Hike after the pandemic but it's just Really expensive to raise a kid and I Think a lot of younger people what we're Seeing in these surveys um they're
Worried about it they're worried about Their ability to handle the cost of Raising a kid and they're worried about Their ability to do the things that they Want um with their lives their careers Or Hobbies or interests um you know on Taking on a financial burden like having A kid but it's always been expensive to Have kids of course I mean that that was Has always been the case yeah I mean the Graphic that we just showed more than $200,000 that is without college that is Up until the age of 18 which which is Just Bonkers how has sentiment changed Across Generations when it comes to People not having Children yeah I think that's one of the Really interesting things here um Pew Did a study asking people without kids Um why they didn't have kids and this This was a study from July and what's Interesting is those people over 50 um Said it just never happened for them Like they just didn't meet the right Person it just you know didn't turn out That they had kids those under 50 cited Were more likely to cite financial Reasons concerns about the environment Um concerns about their ability to Achieve what they wanted to in their Career so there's sort of a shift there Between Generations you know Gen X and Boomers versus Millennials and gen Z so You know I have a 529 I'm trying to put
You know the few sense I can every month When I can and of course I I'll be the First one to tell you being a parent is Such a blessing Um you know everybody gets to choose What they would like to do for their own Lives not saying it's for everybody but What tips do you have for people who are Interested in having a family growing a Family but they're not sure how they can Do it yeah I think one interesting thing The Mass Mutual study found is that most Parents did prepare for having a kid Financially uh 529 plan which you Mentioned is a great idea um it can Actually also cover um High School I Think Middle School and High School cost Now not only College um and you know if You don't use the money for for higher Education you can also use it for later Um for for other costs so you know it's It's not only for college but you know The other thing to remember is that it Just you know is going to cost money to Have a kid and just to prepare to save Look at your finances um budget and That's what Mass Mel told us all right Amy such great advice thank you
