Which of the following best describes your current situation?

I have children (48%) – "Because I have children and I am very grateful for them. What people forget is that family is needed in the later stages of life. Elderly without children (even if the relationship is rocky) have a much more difficult time and end up spending a lot more money than elderly who do have children."

• "My husband and I have two kids and are still in prime childbearing years, but we are done. I tell people all the time when I'm asked that I would love to have a litter of kids if it wasn't so expensive to raise them. Childcare alone was absolutely crippling for us for a few years - it was the single largest line item on our budget, even above car payment, mortgage, and student loan payment. My husband and I both work and make pretty decent salaries, but it costs so much more to live now and we want to prioritize giving our kids a life where their needs are always covered and we can still have wiggle room for wants or vacations. Having any more kids would disrupt the vision we have for our family."

"I had children young because I thought that's what I wanted to do, as I have grown older I see now that I should have waited or not have had children at all. I am a single mom who has 100% financial responsibility of the children, I make too much for government assistance but I am still struggling, the summer months are hardest because school is out and I no longer have an inexpensive babysitter. I should have made better choices. But I didn't. I may not have broken some chains but I am working hard to break others! My children will not make the same mistakes I did."

• "We waited a long time to have children and I couldn't blame anyone with the current state of the country who didn't want to bring kids into this world."

"I have two kids. As adults they have chosen not to have kids and I understand why. It's too expensive and the world is full of hate and anger towards women, LGBTQ+, and families of any configuration. If today's world is what I was experiencing when I was younger, I wouldn't have had children either."

Don’t have kids, but want them (13%) – "Kids have always been i thing I've considered in my future when i'm in a financially stable place in life possibly with a partner."

• "I am young and society is dumb. I do want kids, but it will be a very long time before I consider actually having them. Bringing another human being into a world fraught by political, economic, and environmental disaster is a risky decision."

Don’t have kids, and don’t want them (39%) – "Pain and danger of child birth, body changes, prohibitive cost, never really wanted kids, no guarantees of partner support, generational trauma, and I want to work on myself and travel more."

• "Selfishly, I want to do the things I want to do, when I want to do them. I don't want to constantly have to worry about childcare or the burden of bringing a child with me everywhere I go. The thought of never having to sit through parent/teacher conferences, kid's birthday parties, etc brings me great peace."

"Why would anyone want to have children in a country that has the highest birth mortality rate, absolutely no benefits for child care and working mothers and one of the highest inflation rates and cost of living? We don't even get guaranteed maternity leave. America is genuinely one of the worst places to have and raise children from unhealthy chemical Laden food products and water sources to lack of any form of government support or regulation for working moms benefits. We can't even get doctors to trust us or treat us accurately for medical necessities and now if we have any form of complications and needed to have emergency care we can be criminalized and go to prison for it so why would anyone even risk that."

• "I anticipate World War III in my lifetime as we compete for resources and move away from globalization. I also expect that the damage from climate change will creep ever more into our lives and the future will be a bleaker place than the present. I've thought that for years, and the last few years haven't changed my mind. I don't want to bring kids into that."