By Laurient Yves Caisip

DINK, “Double Income No Kids,” is a life choice fast emerging in every country. But what has contributed to this new lifestyle? What are its long-term effects?

This word started in the ’80s as a result of the rising cost of child care, the lack of free good quality basic education, the inconvenient lifestyle of having to raise children, the corresponding sacrifices that came along with raising kids, and its long-term expenses.

The recent re-emergence of DINK society still is due to the same reasons best summed up in two words—economic relief. Childless couples have been found to have the most savings, and the highest median and disposal income. DINK couples have shifted resources to their high-fashion lifestyle instead of the basic needs of the children they choose not to have. They have the highest contribution to the economy. They can live freely without the worry of leaving behind someone helpless while they splurge their hard-earned money.

Millennials and Gen Zs spend most on travel and leisure, which they could not have pursued as much, if they had children. Gone are the days couples who do not have children are pitied or pressured. Nowadays, having no children is being celebrated as a wise choice.

Gender equality may also have contributed to this new lifestyle. More than ever, this era has given women the opportunity to create a lifestyle they want for themselves. Women have the opportunity to hold stable careers and leadership and decision-making positions, have equal pay and no strings attached in their relationships. This newfound freedom for some women would have been put into an abrupt halt had there been a child in the picture.

Basically, DINK is an economic choice. It is a financially intelligent decision. Millennials and Gen Zs are cash-strapped. They prioritize a comfortable lifestyle, even if it means living a lifestyle beyond their means. This choice also allows some of them not to leave and cleave upon getting married, and not to have to devote their own income and earning to raising a family of their own.

DINK, in fact, emerged on account of the desire not to have children. It has given birth to other new terms like DINKWAD (Double Income No Kids With A Dog), DINKWAC (Double Income No Kids With A Cat), or DINKWAP (Double Income No Kids With A Pet).

But the DINK lifestyle doesn’t come without a drawback.

Governments do not like it. Twenty years down the line, the DINK society is seen to result in a manpower shortage, with fewer people to fuel the economy, with fewer taxes to collect, with fewer goods consumed. On a personal level, being DINK means less tax exemptions, especially in countries with efficient tax collection, and decreased ROI on the DINK couples’ social benefits from their tax payment during their economically productive years.

The question is: Who will take care of them when loneliness creeps in in their sunset years? What about the fulfilment beyond accumulating wealth and experiences?

Surely, life is more than just comfort and convenience. Cultivating lifelong permanent relationships is one way to make life worth living. Having children gives a relationship the 
highest chance to survive a lifetime. Not even marriage can guarantee as much. Even the happiest, most financially stable couple cannot guarantee that they can emotionally rely on each other to the end of their lives. For now, the emotional benefits of having children are the least of the DINK concerns. The DINK society does not even want them.

But that is their choice, to each his own.

At the end of the day, it’s about creating a family that works for your choice of lifestyle.

As Millennials and Gen Zs say...You do you.