A recently published American study in which young Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 without children were surveyed on their desire or not to have children caught my attention this week.
In an article in the Journal, we can read some conclusions of the study conducted by the Pew Research Center: “When we analyze the results according to gender, we note that 57% of the participating men wanted to become fathers, while only 45 % of women wanted to be mothers.”
Not wanting children
To have children or not: I ask myself the question now at 27 years old. Many women I know my age have made the conscious choice not to have children.
Wanting to dedicate 100% to your career, wanting to travel your whole life without ties, for environmental reasons or even simply not wanting to fulfill the role of mother: I know that several reasons can lead to making this choice.
However, I can’t help but wonder if our fathers didn’t contribute to some women making this choice.
If our fathers had been better
I tell myself that if, in general, heterosexual women my age had had better male role models as parental partners for their mothers, perhaps they would have a different vision of motherhood.
Many women my age have seen their mothers struggle to compensate for their father’s lack of daily involvement.
I understand very well that, as adults, many women my age do not want to be stuck with more than half of the mental load of the family, for example.
Please, let’s respect this choice because still in 2024, becoming a parent is not always fair for a mother.