Millennials who don’t want kids explain their choice to be child-free, prioritize travel, and pursue their ‘dream life’

The Canadian couple are not the only people in their generation eschewing parenthood.

As BI reported in July, an HSBC global economist estimated that birth rates in the US are steadily dropping each year, which could have negative repercussions for the economy. The estimates are in line with how, in 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the national birth rate had plunged 53% from its 1960 level.

For young professionals like Hynes and Amormino, taking kids out of the equation sets them “up to have a life that continues to involve a lot of travel” without sacrifice.

As Hynes put it, it’s their “dream life.”

Not having kids has allowed the couple to travel freely

Hynes described the first half of 2024 as a fever dream. After quitting their jobs in December 2023, which earned them a combined salary of 196,000 Canadian dollars, or around $143,800, they spent months traveling through Tanzania, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan, Georgia, and Italy.

In the spring, realizing their savings for the trip were running low, they started applying for jobs and eventually landed new roles they started in July.

Now that they’re home, the couple is already planning new adventures, which Hynes said wouldn’t be as straightforward if they had kids.

“We both have our moments or days where one of us is feeling more down about it than the other,” Hynes said. So, she added, they’ve done what “every seasoned traveler does” and booked another trip to combat the blues — this time to Iceland.

In the future, Hynes said they plan to find ways to travel and work simultaneously.

“We’re actually talking more about doing a remote working trip where we settle down in one place for a month at a time and continue working,” she said, adding that the strategy means they’ll get to explore “while also earning an income and being able to save at the same time.”