No Kids, No Problem: 40 Hilariously Spot-On Memes And Jokes About The Childfree Life (New Pics)
Interview
Kids aren't for everyone. Some people simply have different priorities and goals that do not align with raising children. To be specific, a 2022 Michigan State University study found that 21.64% of American adults are choosing to be childfree.
Instead of condemning them, like many like to do, and saying that they will regret this after some time, let's try to understand this group instead. For that, the subreddit 'Childfree' is the perfect resource.
Created back in 2009, it now unites 1.5 million members whose posts provide a better understanding of what happens after you make this life decision.
This post may include affiliate links.
So the big question is: do people later regret not having children? They might not.
"[We] found no evidence that older childfree adults experience any more life regret than older parents,” Jennifer Watling Neal, the co-author of the aforementioned Michigan State University study, said.
“In fact, older parents were slightly more likely to want to change something about their life.”
I've seen some tradwife post something like "I feel bad for girls in their 20s who are single and childless while I'm married with two kids at 21" and the whole Tumblr agreed her life sounds like hell.
Sometimes the other party might doubt their course, too. YouGov data from 2021 found that 1 in 12 British parents (8%) currently regret having kids.
Younger parents aged 25 to 34 (one imagines the most sleep-deprived group) were the most likely to feel his way, while those aged 55 and over were the least regretful.
Similarly, a 2013 Gallup survey found that around 7% of American parents older than 45 wouldn’t have any kids if they “had to do it over again.”
Parents in Germany seem exceptionally unhappy: a study discovered that 19% of German mothers and 20% of fathers say that if they could decide again, they would not want to have any more children.
Omg yes, I hate that! I'm single and have no kids and I still have a family! Just because they don't live with me doesn't mean they are not my family.
We reached out to the moderators of the subreddit, and one of them, Mel, agreed to tell us more about it.
They explained to Bored Panda that it's important to understand that "we're not the right community for parents to wax lyrical about their kids, and we're not here to provide an emotional labor 'village' for parents."
"We see limited interactions between parents and childfree people on our subreddit, and we lock comments should they become uncivil," Mel added. "We acknowledge that we are one of the bigger online childfree-centered communities, and one of our primary aims is to maintain a safe space for childfree people."
"This is how liberty dies... with a thunderous scream of a newborn."
The ultimate takeaway from all the research and people's activity on the subreddit could be that having kids isn't good or bad per se. It may sound cliché but there is more than one way to live a happy and fulfilling life.
Parenthood should be a choice. Not an inevitable duty.
As my colleague Jonas wrote in our earlier publication on the subreddit 'Childfree', the grown-up thing to do is to respect each other, even if we might do things differently.
As for the future of 'Childfree,' Mel said the moderators anticipate the subreddit will "hold steady" for some time, and continue to see slow but consistent growth.
"We do every so often see trends and changes in posted content and we expect these ebbs and flows to continue. For example, some weeks I'll have 20 new submissions for the childfree-friendly doctors list and others I'll have 3," they explained.
So very true. I hate all the screeching and screaming for no reason.
Sometimes, when my boyfriend and I have our Familyday on Sundays, I look at him, sitting in front of his playstation in cozy clothes and me, laptop on my legs and no pants, both of us munching on snacks, our cats peacefully sleeping around us, and think: "A kid would really ruin this"
I read that wrong. I read it as -SEX WHENEVER YOU WANT (DOES NOT INCLUDE S****Y F*****G KIDS), one sentence.
Since my hysterectomy, I laugh when going past the baby needs, family planning, and pad/tampon aisles.
Yay, I'm not making more bipolar alcoholic drug addicts! But even if that was a non-isssue, still wouldn't want kids.
I've managed to dodge some genetic bullets like the bipolar disorder. I have addictive tenancies, so I try to do things in moderation and also not experiment with street drugs. I just got brushed with the depression bullet. My grandpa was bipolar, and it randomly shows up in the family. Like one of his sons and granddaughters didn't have it, but great-granddaughter does. (That son is a serious alcoholic though and he fried his brain from drinking.) My mom and brother have it and I know I cannot emotionally deal with the child version of my brother. I would also feel very guilty about making a kid with these issues. (But even if it was a non-issue and I was rich, I still don't want to be a parent.) I love my brother, but we have never lived together without at least one of our parents because we'd probably kill each other.
Load More Replies...
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.
I made the conscious decision not to expose a grandchild to, or continue the cycle of, my mother's psychotic bouts of paranoia and father's narcissism. My mom once made some statement about "giving a man children." I thought "Why should I be forced to have to "give" a man kids?" Like I'm nothing but a possession with a uterus. It made me both mad and kind of nauseous. Plus, I wanted to keep having a good time. Mission accomplished.
My parents asked my twin and I to help end the generational trauma cycle in my family. So both of us talked and decided we wouldn’t be having children. Cycle is broken! Win-win :) I could never pass on the terrible genetic mental health issues my family faces. Here’s to healthier future generations!
Every once in a while I look around and I just can't believe people are still having children.
I call them glue kids if the parents try to fix their broken relationship by having a baby. They seldom work. I know some one who is trying for glue kid #2 ... at this point I am taking bets.
PARKS AND RECREATION <3333333333333 (also same, kids make things Gross with a capital G)
I live in a small close of 12 houses. About half have children. Yet they're the ones driving in fast without worrying about what might be in the road. Wonder if it's because they know where their kids are and don't care about anyone elses.
Noted, now we have heard your opinion, go on and move along. Getting a child, only to please your parents' needs a couple of times each month is a really stupid idea, when you will pay the price of putting in a lot of hard work each day. The cost benefit analysis is simply too scewed in this context, and it surprice me how many "grandparents" completely fail to notice this when they put up their demands. Children or no children, that is entirely your decition to make and it is none of their business. Trying to get their will by pressuring/guilting you is a nasty move to make.
Note: this post originally had 50 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
I (63F) have no regrets. And btw, none of my 3 sibs have kids either. After what we put our parents through why would we want to do that to ourselves?
its just personal opinions. i love children and babies, but i dont want any of my own. do what you want, thats all
I love a good non children joke even though I have them. However, I think threatening to to ‘throw rocks’ at a being making noise should be considered offensive. The ‘joke’ specifically singles out a being as less than another (‘I would throw rocks but I don’t want to hit the dog [who is also making noise]). This joke is currently #2 on the list so it’s a popular sentiment. Is it really okay to joke about child violence just because someone is ‘child free’? There can be some funny non children jokes - having more money, more sleep, etc. Even better if those telling the jokes understand those are just stereotypes. However, looking at the comments of these articles can be quite scary. The sentiment boils down to intolerance and even violence towards a subgroup of vulnerable people.
Load More Replies...
I won’t be having kids when I get older (asexual), but I think at some point, when I’m really mature and have taken care of a dog, I’d like to adopt. Or foster kids. So I can give them a happy life for the time we have together
I agree I would love to give a kid a better life and I am asexual also so don't want my own
Load More Replies...
I think it's the ones joking about harming OTHER PEOPLE'S children that cross the line. "I'd throw a rock or something but I might hit the dog," "speed up so we might run over a child," etc.... disgusting.
"You will regret it later if you don't have kids." Well, maybe. But what is if I have kids and I regret that? I love kids and I love my niece and nephew. But I am also happy to leave them with their parents and being back in my childfree, quiet home.
I guess it all comes down to some people wanting kids and some not wanting kids. I praise the luck that let me be born in a time and in a society, where I could choose to not have any. I am 70 years and stille happy to know, that I didn't have any. But then I always thought, that if the meaning of life was to procreate, it didn't seem like much of a meaning or much of a life.
Yes, and we also have posts about dumb s**t that kids do or parenting memes every other day. I give those a miss, as you should have done with this post. Get over yourself and stop trying to police the Internet. That goes for you too, Nate the Happy Father - methinks you doth protest too much, mate.
Load More Replies...
Do you know how often childfree people get told they'll change their minds? Or that we are being selfish by not having children? Or who is going to take care of you when you're older? We get mean and condescending comments all the time. If you can't handle the childfree jokes don't look at them.
Load More Replies...
I (63F) have no regrets. And btw, none of my 3 sibs have kids either. After what we put our parents through why would we want to do that to ourselves?
its just personal opinions. i love children and babies, but i dont want any of my own. do what you want, thats all
I love a good non children joke even though I have them. However, I think threatening to to ‘throw rocks’ at a being making noise should be considered offensive. The ‘joke’ specifically singles out a being as less than another (‘I would throw rocks but I don’t want to hit the dog [who is also making noise]). This joke is currently #2 on the list so it’s a popular sentiment. Is it really okay to joke about child violence just because someone is ‘child free’? There can be some funny non children jokes - having more money, more sleep, etc. Even better if those telling the jokes understand those are just stereotypes. However, looking at the comments of these articles can be quite scary. The sentiment boils down to intolerance and even violence towards a subgroup of vulnerable people.
Load More Replies... I won’t be having kids when I get older (asexual), but I think at some point, when I’m really mature and have taken care of a dog, I’d like to adopt. Or foster kids. So I can give them a happy life for the time we have together
I agree I would love to give a kid a better life and I am asexual also so don't want my own
Load More Replies... I think it's the ones joking about harming OTHER PEOPLE'S children that cross the line. "I'd throw a rock or something but I might hit the dog," "speed up so we might run over a child," etc.... disgusting.
"You will regret it later if you don't have kids." Well, maybe. But what is if I have kids and I regret that? I love kids and I love my niece and nephew. But I am also happy to leave them with their parents and being back in my childfree, quiet home.
I guess it all comes down to some people wanting kids and some not wanting kids. I praise the luck that let me be born in a time and in a society, where I could choose to not have any. I am 70 years and stille happy to know, that I didn't have any. But then I always thought, that if the meaning of life was to procreate, it didn't seem like much of a meaning or much of a life.
Yes, and we also have posts about dumb s**t that kids do or parenting memes every other day. I give those a miss, as you should have done with this post. Get over yourself and stop trying to police the Internet. That goes for you too, Nate the Happy Father - methinks you doth protest too much, mate.
Load More Replies... Do you know how often childfree people get told they'll change their minds? Or that we are being selfish by not having children? Or who is going to take care of you when you're older? We get mean and condescending comments all the time. If you can't handle the childfree jokes don't look at them.
Load More Replies...