Mandi Stiles homeschooling two of her children | Photo by Lauryn Lovett
Story by Lauryn Lovett
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It’s becoming more common for young couples to opt not to have kids. A Pew Research survey found almost half of respondents said they weren’t likely to have children. And one of the big reasons is finances.
Mandi Stiles has been homeschooling her children since her oldest was in third grade.
NAT: “It’s simpler to say, one half than two fourths. Does that make sense to you?”
Mandi Stiles, Homeschooling Mom
“Homeschooling is parenting on steroids.”
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She says she started homeschooling when her son wasn’t getting the attention he needed in school.
Mandi Stiles, Homeschooling Mom
“My oldest is neurodivergent and we like many in the secular world, choose to homeschool because of neurodivergency or some reason traditional schooling isn’t working.”
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Her children getting a quality education was the biggest factor in her decision…but she said money was important too.
Mandi Stiles, Homeschooling Mom
“At that time probably more than half of my salary was going toward just his daycare and his daycare was being subsidized by my work as well. So yeah, it’s a lot.”
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Finances play a big role in many people’s decision to have kids. Karen Guzzo, the director of the Carolina Population Center, says many women are holding off having children because they don’t think it’s the right time.
Karen Guzzo, Director of the Carolina Population Center
“People are looking at the future and they’re like, okay, so I will never pay off my student loan debt and I will never have the kind of job that, you know, allows me to pay off my student loan debt, and that is a good job. And i’m never going to be able to afford to buy a house. How am I supposed to have a kid on top of this?”
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These reasons hit home for many women, such as Darith Klibanow.
Darith Klibanow, Dual-Income-No-Kids
“More and more young people are leaning towards that feeling of like I need more reasons to want to have kids, because I already have plenty of reasons. I don’t want to have kids.”
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She says her decision not to have kids is because she can’t commit 100 percent to the idea. She says she and her partner are very stable financially right now and having a child could change that.
Darith Klibanow, Dual-Income-No-Kids
“If I wanted to continue to enjoy my lifestyle of not being at home consistently, and traveling and experiencing different things, that’s like an additional financial and emotional load. If you factor children into it because you go. Okay. Are the children coming with us? Are they staying home? Do they need childcare?”
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And besides the cost of childcare which has increased by over a thousand dollars since 2018 in all but one age range…Klibanow says smaller things build up and strain finances.
Darith Klibanow, Dual-Income-No-Kids
“I looked at the price of a diaper box the other day. It’s insane, and you know.”
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back with the stiles’
NAT: “Yeah, you got it. Good job. All right.”
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Mandi loves homeschooling but understands the difficult choice younger couples are having to make.
Mandi Stiles, Homeschooling Mom
take sot “Do I have kids, or do I continue to save my house? You know, that’s kind of what I’m thinking a lot of young couples are probably faced with.”
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While many young adults are still deciding, Director Guzzo says they have a window before it’s too late. In Chapel Hill…Lauryn Lovett reporting.
TRT: 2:54
