Will the World Deserve Our Kids?
We Grew Up Asking If We’d Get To Have Kids. Now We’re Asking If We Even Should.
Years ago, deciding to have children was mostly about “when.” You’d finish school, land a decent job, pick out baby names. Maybe you argued about bedtimes or parenting styles, but never questioned whether the world was stable enough for a child to exist. That was the script. But it’s shredded now.
The planet feels like it’s burning from every angle, the economy seems rigged for corporate gain, and social institutions keep failing, leaving us to wonder: “Is it even fair—or kind—to bring a life into this?”
We’re not just talking about climate, though that’s front and center. We’re talking about a society that can’t—or won’t—protect what matters. Normal life no longer feels guaranteed.
People in their 20s, 30s, and 40s aren’t overthinking it. They’re forced to look around and see a world that might be half uninhabitable in their child’s lifetime. The question “Am I ready to parent?” is overshadowed by “Would my child have clean water, breathable air, a functioning democracy?”
Those who decide to have children anyway aren’t clueless. They know the data, they see the chaos.
But maybe they refuse to let despair kill the human story. They believe we can still turn things around, or that life’s continuity is an act of hope in a bleak era.
Ultimately, it’s not “Do I want kids?” It’s “Does this world deserve them?”
And if we’re not sure, what are we doing to fix that?
Those who opt out often do so out of real compassion. They see a broken system and can’t fathom foisting it on someone else. They’re not short on hope; they just refuse to gamble someone else’s existence on the off-chance we’ll fix everything in time.
This conflict isn’t some phase—it’s our new normal. We’re the first generations who
grew up with climate meltdown in our faces
saw the gig economy replace any stable sense of work
watch democracy fray under endless culture wars
None of that screams “Go forth and multiply.”
Yes, older folks say “We survived tough times before.” But unstoppable heat waves, antibiotic resistance, entire coastlines going underwater—this isn’t your typical adversity cycle. It’s existential.
So maybe, instead of pestering each other with “When are you having kids?” we should ask “What would it take for us to make this world worth having kids in?” Because the true crisis isn’t that people hesitate about parenthood. It’s that the world offers them every reason to.
Want more people to confidently bring new life into the world? Then address the bigger fires:
a system that rewards corporate greed
a climate that’s nearing catastrophic tipping points
a healthcare racket that leaves families bankrupt
an education system overshadowed by threat of violence.
We can’t just hand-wave that away.
If there’s any hope left, it’s in refusing to accept meltdown as a given—fighting tooth and nail for climate action, for universal healthcare, for wages that let people breathe, for communities that stand up for one another. That’s not some starry-eyed fantasy; it’s the bare minimum if we want the next generation to have anything close to a fair shot.
And whether you decide to have kids or not, that choice is steeped in heartbreak and honesty about how fragile everything is. Let that heartbreak be your fuel.
If you become a parent, I know you’ll fight like hell for the world they’ll inherit. And if you don't have kids, I know you’ll fight just as fiercely for mine, because I will.