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Gen Zers and millennials are choosing pets over parenthood. These 20-to-30-year-olds are embracing pet parenthood as a meaningful lifestyle and both pets and pet parents are benefiting from it.
But what has changed? According to TimesLife, this new generation of young adults is writing a new script on how they view life and lifestyles. This includes wagging tails and soft purrs instead of pacifiers.
Pets as Partners in Life
For this generation that is dealing with loneliness and economic uncertainty, pets have become emotional anchors. They are nonjudgmental, comforting, and offer unconditional love. Pets are also very good for your health and mental well-being. That’s why pets aren’t just pets anymore.
For Gen Zers and millennials, pets have become children. They have birthdays, adoption days (it’s always best to adopt a fur baby to give it a forever home and family), wardrobes, customized food bowls, and even their own social media pages.
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If you ask a co-worker about their pittie or shih tzu, they will talk to you about their baby and not their dog. This shows a redefining of what it means to be a family today.
Talker Research Survey
A survey that was conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Vetster showed that different generations approach pet parenthood in different ways. While older generations see pets as companions or support systems, over half of American Gen Zers consider themselves pet parents, reported The New York Post.
Gen Zers are more likely to go into debt for vet bills and to pay more for premium dog foods and beds. Many of the respondents work from home or bring their pets to work. They look for pet friendly eateries and take pet friendly vacations.
“It isn’t just the younger generations who are looking to bring their pet into the human world: If given the opportunity, 58 percent of all respondents would love to bring their pet on vacation with them and 37 percent would like to bring them to work or their job or even the grocery store, Mark Bordo, CEO of Vetster told The New York Post.
The Price of Parenthood
The price of parenthood today is out of reach for many with the cost of raising a child in the US is over $300,000 not including college, according to TimesLife. Raising a dog is around $15,000–$25,000 over their lifetime. Add to that student debt, low wages, and high housing prices. In uncertain times, this can be terrifying.
Some people are making ethical choices not to have children and are scared to bring new life into a world where climate change is making the future uncertain.
It’s not that millennials and Gen Zers hate children; some may have children later. But these young adults are redefining parenthood and family in a way that makes sense to them.
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