The Attitudes to Parenthood Project
OnePoll conducted a research project explore Millennials’ and Gen Z’s attitudes towards parenthood, in order to understand more about the declining birth rates between 2015 and 2020 and the average age for first births rising to 30.9 yrs.
The Research
1,000 UK Adults aged 18-34 were interviewed about the attitudes to parenthood. The online survey included 28 questions that covered their intent to have children, as well as the reasons why they may/may not choose to have them. It also looked at at associated elements such as societal pressure to have children and attitudes souring the ethics of having children amid the climate crisis.
The Results
The results were collated into an Excel report with cross breaks for age, gender, region, ethnicity and education level. The research found that just over half of Gen Z and Millennials (55%) plan to start a family at some point in the future, with 20% saying that they are unsure if they will.
The most common reason for this, at 49%, was wanting time to themselves, followed by financial pressures (47%) and worries about the state of the world (38%), while 35% cited concerns about the impact children would have on the environment.
The data was used to create a OnePoll led news story which was featured in The Times and on The Times Breakfast Radio show.