DINKS BECOMING MAIN LINE CULTURE AS POPULATION GROWTH REVERSES

young man this writer knows has been in and out of many relationships.

- GURBIR SINGH

He finally seemed to like this girl, and was maybe thinking of marriage and a family. But then misfortune struck again: the nice girl is adamant she doesn't want children, and he's not sure he can go with that.

This is not this young man's problem alone. We are discovering the DINKS - Double-IncomeNo-Kids problem is a worldwide phenomenon; and it has serious economic and societal ramifications. By choice, the modern millennials and the Gen Z are avoiding parenthood, almost selfishly dedicating themselves to self-improvement. Growing larger families is being seen as a distraction, an unwanted responsibility.

At first, these DINKS were seen as kinky fringe elements. But they have now become a full blown cultural mainstream. Studies in the US show by 2022 childless households in the US had hit a high of 43 percent, up from 36 percent a decade earlier; and in the near future they will constitute 50 percent. It's a baby bust, big time; and it is not only in the US. Sociologists are saying as countries reach a certain degree of economic development, fertility rates begin dropping fast. Growth slows, and then it becomes difficult to maintain the population after the birth rate falls below 2.1 children per woman - the minimum required to renew the numbers that pass away.