Why Childfree Living May Become the Rational Choice in an Era of Economic Instability, Overpopulation, and AI‑Driven Job Insecurity

The conditions of the world seem to have gotten much worse, and I am talking about e.g. insecure jobs due to e.g. AI and other reasons, housing unaffordability and other cost of living issues, rising aggression and polarisation, etc. So even if we ignore morality, not having children directly addresses all those problems e.g. if you don't have children then you only have one mouth to feed (your own), which is much better if your boss fires you. If you have no kids, you don't need to worry as much about housing unaffordability because you do not need a huge house. You can live in a sharehouse, a small microapartment, live with your parents, live in a car, etc. By not having a child, you can work more, and by not having a baby, your expenses go down so you can save and invest more. 

Looking at it purely from a practical, monetary perspective, having no children wins. And this I think is a strong contributor to the current TFR decline trend we are seeing worldwide e.g. recent news highlights that birth rates are collapsing in India and Phillipines. There seems to be opt-out cultures emerging everywhere eg NGSB/NBSB in Phillipines, solo-maxxing in the West, Tang Ping and Bai Lan in China, Sampo in South Korea, and Herbivore/Satori in Japan. 

These trends should be accelerated. Purely from a biophysical or environmental perspective, we have severe overpopulation. The carrying capacity of the planet is 2.5 billion and the only reason why we have 8 billion now is due to fossil fuel. As fossil fuels quickly deplete and EROI rises due to shale oil depleting as well as peak phosphorus, this will create a huge increase in cost of living which I am sure will price people out of procreation and birth rate will collapse even faster. This is when antinatalism will be more and more important and movements that provide a ideological basis and identity for low-throughput and frugal living will be necessary because the old life script of buying a McMansion, SUV, and having multiple kids will simply be too expensive and risky. The material conditions for 2026 do not support a 1950s lifestyle, so we need to evolve. We need to become frugal and hyperautonomous, flexible, and mobile. We need to do these if we are to survival and thrive in the near future when cost of living rises and jobs become more and more precarious due to AI.

Stop Having Kids Billboard in El Paso, Texas

It is really positive seeing videos of the Stop Having Kids billboard in El Paso, Texas. Hopefully those who drive by will be reminded of antinatalism and the benefits of not having kids. This was something that I contributed to and I hope to contribute financially to more initiatives like this.

Financial Independence via a Childfree Lifestyle

Something I find unusual is that many people are horrified by the idea of achieving financial independence by not having kids, even though not having a child will save you hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars over your life.

Instead, when most people give financial advice, they focus on little expenses such as skipping Starbucks, Netflix, or avocado toast. Anyone who drinks lattes, plays video games, etc are usually accused of wasting money on these activities. However, if someone doesn't have kids, they are spending significantly more money, yet such activities are not deemed wasteful.

My Experience with a Vasectomy

About a week ago, I had a vasectomy, and I am very glad I have done this. I want to share my experience with others as it may help others out there thinking of getting a vasectomy.

Find a reputable doctor

Before getting a vasectomy, ask others who have had a vasectomy which doctors they recommend. Look for a reputable doctor. In Australia, I recommend Dr Snip, but if you are elsewhere in the world, check out the Childfree Friendly Doctors List. 

Shaving your balls

The first difficulty of vasectomy is shaving your balls and penis. Basically when you get a vasectomy, the doctor needs to be able to see what they are doing, so they will normally ask you to shave your balls and penis beforehand. When I learned about this, it turned me off getting a vasectomy or at least it provided me with an excuse to delay it. I had a lot of public hair on my balls, so the thought of shaving it filled me with fear. It didn't want to cut myself down there.

Before booking the vasectomy appointment, over many months, I practised shaving my balls in the shower. Over time, I got used to shaving my balls after so much practice. My balls became quite smooth over time as was my penis. The key to shaving your private parts is to use a shaver with many blades on it and to also do it in the shower when the surface of the scrotum is slightly wet but not too wet. A bit of moisture helps make shaving your balls much easier. Also you start from the base of the penis and work your way down the balls. This makes it easier to shave.

Book the vasectomy and distract yourself

After you are confident with how to shave your balls, book the vasectomy and then don't think too much about it. Once it is booked, then the hard decision of whether to do it or not is gone. You are just following a process now. You are no longer proactive but reactive.

On the day of my vasectomy, I took the entire day off from work because I didn't want the hassle of juggling work and vasectomy. I wanted to keep the day as free from stress as possible.

After the shower, I had some brunch. To distract myself, I watched a lot of Netflix throughout the day. Before I knew it, it was time for my vasectomy, so had a shower, got dressed and drove to the medical centre. 

Was the vasectomy painful?

The procedure was not too bad. There is a little bit of pain at the start when they inject the anaesthetic. There is about ten seconds of pain as the anaesthetic goes in, but after that it was fine. It reminds me of when I got my wisdom teeth removed back when I was a teenager. The only pain was when the orthodontist injects the anaesthetic into your gums, but after that there is no pain, but there is a weird feeling because you are awake and see the orthodontist drilling and pulling things out of your teeth, so it is scary. With a vasectomy, it is similar. You don't feel much but you know that they are working on your privates, and there is something unsettling about that.

I was able to drive back home. The doctor told me to take ibuprofen for the pain and if that doesn't work to also take paracetamol.

Recovering after a vasectomy

My balls felt quite sore and sensitive right after the vasectomy, so I was sure to take my ibuprofen and paracetamol. Over time, this soreness started to wane. After one week later, the soreness was almost gone and I was confident enough to masturbate again.

Generally speaking, right after the vasectomy, you should take it easy. Don't do any strenuous exercise. Also consider sleeping on your back for a few nights as sleeping on your sides means that your balls are pressed in between your legs. In my opinion, if you're not used to sleeping on your back, sleep with two pillows. Put one pillow under your head and the other on one of the sides of your head, right up to your ear. Usually when you're used to sleeping on your side, you're used to having a pillow on your ear.

Why get a vasectomy?

A vasectomy is a relatively simple and cheap way for a man to sterilise himself so that he cannot have a baby. There is a little bit of pain involved in getting a vasectomy, but it is quite small compared to other operations. 

The cost of a vasectomy varies by cities and countries, but after government subsidies, I paid about 500 AUD (about 373 USD). This is a small price to pay compared to the cost of raising a child, which by some estimates is as much as $1 million.

Many of those who get vasectomies already have children and do not want anymore. Perhaps they realise how difficult it is to have kids and don't want anymore. If a heterosexual couple does not want kids, a vasectomy makes sense. Female sterilisation (aka the tubal ligation) is a much more complicated and invasive procedure. Condoms do work, but they are not foolproof. All it takes is a condom bursting and you suddenly have a baby.

There are also many single and childfree men who are deciding to have vasectomies e.g. they are concerned about climate change and burdening the planet with more babies. Some men are wealthy and are worried that their sperm may be stolen by women who are hungry for child support payments from them.

For me, it is a combination of all these arguments. I am less worried about the cost of children because I am in my mid-thirties and have a net worth of about $1.9 million now, so I think I can afford a child or two. I do worry sometimes about being targeted by women wanting child support payments, but I think this is a lower risk because even though I am almost a multimillionaire, most of the wealth is in intangible and invisible assets e.g. ETFs and cryptocurrency. I don't own any mansions or luxury cars, so I don't look rich. My main motivation for getting a vasectomy relates to the environment and animal welfare.

Humans cause a lot of destruction on the planet, polluting the oceans with plastic and filling the air with carbon dioxide. Furthermore, one billion animals are slaughtered every week just to feed humanity. 

Not having kids has an exponential effect. If I don't have a child, not only does my child not pollute the earth or cause thousands of animals to be slaughtered, but so too my grandchild cannot pollute or slaughter others. My grandchild is likely to have kids as well, so my great-grandchildren also cannot harm others because they won't exist. If you get a vasectomy, the impact will be exponential. 

Many people will claim that there is no such thing as morality or right or wrong in this world and therefore they are free to do as they please whether it is killing animals or polluting the planet or, if we take their logic a further step, rape children.

However, this lack of justice or morality in the world is another strong argument for not having children. Without any objective morality, there is no accountability on anyone to do anything right. As such, people engage in behaviour that cause others to suffer. As a result, new life created is at risk of suffering or is at risk of causing suffering. If we dislike suffering (which I do) then it makes no sense to have kids.

My life after a vasectomy

Getting a vasectomy has taken a huge weight off my shoulders. All the harm that my descendants would have caused has been prevented. I am also much more financially secure and can afford a higher standard of living in the future. I can also have sex with women without any fear of pregnancy. It has been a week since I've gotten my vasectomy, but I haven't told too many people. In fact, I haven't told any of my family members as they are somewhat conservative and may disapprove, but I do plan on bringing up the topic at some point. I am going to make an effort to talk to as many people as possible about the vasectomy so that I can possibly encourage others to also get vasectomies. I will try to encourage other men to get vasectomies, and I will also try to encourage women to encourage their husbands or boyfriends into getting vasectomies.

Living with Parents for Financial Success

I will admit that I have a personal bias with this blog post because I do indeed live with my parents in order to save money. I pay my parents approximately $300 per month. I consider this to be a win-win situation as my parents get some money to help pay the bills while I get a roof over my head for very little cost. This allows me to invest more money into shares, ETFs, property, etc.

In my opinion, living with your parents helps considerably with financial success. Many people focus on small expenses when trying to live frugally e.g. they will stop buying $5 coffee each day, which will save $1300 per year. But if you don't move out of the family home, you will save about $25,000 per year (whether you rent or buy your own place).

In the Economic Explained video below on YouTube where there is a discussion about a K-shaped COVID-19 recovery, the economic benefits of living with your parents is highlighted towards the end of the video (starts at 15:20):

    

This video is interesting because it discusses lifestyle inflation, but it also discusses how most people in Western culture aspire to a three bedroom house, two cars, and travelling every year. Basically Western culture aspires to a nuclear family lifestyle. 

The nuclear family is the ultimate consumerist status symbol. 

The nuclear family is much more expensive and wasteful than most other consumerist status symbols that are demonised e.g. the $5 per day coffee or even Ferraris. Moving out of home costs about $25k per year, but you can rent or buy a Ferrari on finance for less than this.

Most people say that moving out from the family home is natural and that everyone does it, but the video highlights this is not true. Cultures in China, Korea, and Singapore live in multigenerational family arrnagement and have the highest savings rates in the world. Adults live with grandparents and their kids. There is division of labour and in-built childcare, which allows for fast wealth building.

Living with your family does not need to be a parasitic relationship but one where you contribute to the family. You can help to pay your parents' bills so that you have a win-win arrangement.

Cultural bias against living with parents

Within Western culture there is a considerable bias for the nuclear family arrangement and against a multigenerational or extended family arrangement. Anyone over 25 (especially men) who still live with their parents are considered losers, but this in my opinion, is an unfair assumption that goes against economic logic. 

An example of this cultural bias against the extended family can be seen with "household wealth" calculation. Western culture views a nuclear family to be a proper household but multigeneral households are not. For example, I live with my parents, but if someone asked me for my net worth, people would not expect me to aggregate my net worth with my parents' net worth as well. However, when someone is living with his spouse, they often aggregate not just their own wealth but the wealth of their spouse as well. 

The benefit of living with your parents is that you can split costs e.g. heating costs. You can benefit from splitting costs living in a nuclear family as well, but the gains will not be as great because you are splitting costs with only one other person (assuming they work and are not staying at home doing domestic duties). Another problem with the nuclear family is the threat of divorce. If you live with a spouse, even if you're not married (due to common law marriage), there is a risk of divorce. There is a probability of about 40% that you will be divorced. However, if you live with your parents, there is zero probability of divorce and having your assets seized by the courts.

Multigenerational and childfree living

To conclude, living with parents in multigenerational living arrnagements is a great way to get ahead financially. You are able to build wealth up faster by lowering expenses. In my opinion, living with your parents is not enough. To really build your wealth, you should not just live with your parents but also not have children i.e. become childfree. The benefit of the multigenerational household is being able to split costs e.g. the cost of heating is divided by everyone in the household. However, not everyone in the household may contribute. If you have a baby, the baby will not obviously not contribute to the cost of the household. As such, it is best to not have any children and live childfree. This is not a problem for me because I am an antinatalist and believe that is immoral to have children because it increases suffering. However, regardless of my philosophical views, economically it makes sense to not just live with parents but also live childfree.

Do Women or Men Have More Impact on Fertility Rate?

I am a man in my thirties. I've decided I never want children. Whenever I go on dates I am keen to bring this up. The reason why I will not have children is because I am an antinatalist and believe more population growth increases suffering, not only because new life can suffer but also because new life causes suffering on other living beings. Something I've always wondered is whether a man who does not have children, ie a childfree man, makes any difference to the total fertility rate or whether it is women deciding to have no children or fewer children that is the primary cause of global drop in fertility rate.

Imagine a room with two men and two women. If all two women refuse to have children, fertility rate is zero. There can be no children without women. However, you might think that a woman needs a man in order to have children, but with fertility technology nowadays women can use sperm donors. There is an excess supply of sperm, virtually infinite. In this hypothetical room, even if all men refused to have children, both women could still access sperm and have babies on their own. However, women need jobs in order to raise babies because they need money. The division of labour in a nuclear family helps with this, assigning one person as the child rearer and the other as the breadwinner. If a woman decides to raise a baby on her own, she faces the struggle of being both breadwinner and child rearer. She arguably needs a man to be a breadwinner assuming she wants to be childrearer. If this is the case then men who would otherwise be good breadwinners, if they refuse to have children, can help reduce fertility rate.

If I am a man who wants to have as much impact on reducing fertility rate as possible, what should I do? I was thinking of early retirement in my thirties or forties so I can engage in full-time advocacy of antinatalism but if this means my job is taken up by a man who needs the job to have more children, I've effectively contributed to increasing birthrate. Perhaps it is best if I stay employed and deny a job for a potential male breadwinner who would otherwise take my job. However, a woman could do my job, so if I deny a woman my job, I may have denied a job for a career woman who ends up being a stay at home mother instead.

The Greatest Argument Against Having Children: Human Corruption

I am definitely more liberal than conservative. I generally find conservatives nowadays to be very hateful, e.g. Trump supporters (and other conservatives) seem to mostly be Nazis who view non-whites as inferior, and many of them are sexists as well who subcribe to men's rights activist (MRA) or manospherean beliefs believing that women should be subordinate to men. Many of these MRA manospherean conservatives (e.g. Roosh Valizadeh) actually believe that on private property women should be allowed to be raped. I have heard that in schools nowadays many young boys who are influenced by conversatives values are literally grabbing young schoolgirls by the pussy and sexually harrassing them thinking this is normal traditional masculine behaviour, which is a sad state of affairs. Men in power should set a standard of proper gentlemanly behaviour for other men to emulate. I personally think we should all be treated fairly and with dignity regardless of your skin colour or your gender. I think that the divisiveness that in politics nowadays is not going to help the world in the future, which will be plunged into war, chaos, environmental disaster, and this is the main reason why I don't want to ever have any children. If I go have a child, not only is it expensive to have children (one child costs US$1.1 million over your lifetime) but my child will grow up in a world filled with racism, sexism, religious extremism, division, hatred, and environmental degradation. With the way international politics is going, there will likely be a future nuclear war that destroys all of humanity. If my child doesn't suffer, chances are the generation after that will suffer or be eradicated, so to bring an innocent child into such a corrupt world is tantamount to child abuse, so it is better to never have children, which will save me and my future wife millions of dollars, which will allow us to live life to the fullest, to travel the entire world and see unique cultures and natural beauty while it lasts because the way the world is going now, it is clear that humanity is nearing its end. We must live our lives to the fullest while we can and bow out before humanity self-destructs and implodes due to excessive greed, ego, and aggression.

Humanity Deserves Extinction and the Connection between Antinatalism and Financial Independence

Look around at everyone around you. They are mindless drones trying to do everything they can to keep their credit score healthy so that they can one day get a mortgage and car loan so that they can drown in debt.

My advice to everyone is to forget about your credit score. It should be called "slavery score" to reflect what it actually is. It is a signal to slave owners of how good of a debt slave you are. Debt is slavery.

What do you do instead of becoming a debt slave like everyone else? Don't succumb to consumerism, never have children, invest in shares and crypto, and live off dividends.

Of course, most people agree that too much debt is horrible and having children is wonderful. But the two are related. A child is a huge liability. Debt is characterised by an obligation to pay. Children are no different.

Living off passive income is great because you get an income and don't need to work. If you have debt, it is the opposite, that is, you have to work and someone else gets income for doing nothing.

Having children and living off passive income are related. How do you get the money in the first place to buy the financial assets to give you financial independence?

The answer is that you don't have children. Children are extremely expensive. The decision to never have children will save you approximately $1.1 million across your lifetime.

Of course, isn't living a childfree life for the sake of money selfish? Yes it is, but it is also highly selfless and altruistic. Breeding is the number one contributor to climate change. More people in the world means more pollution, more carbon emissions. Furthermore, as humanity grows in size, there are more meat eaters (assuming no vegans) contributing not only to climate change but also animal abuse as the need to feed more and more humans means slaughter of animals needs to occur much faster, which leads to industrial scale mass slaughter that currently kills one billion animals per week in a process so evil that it puts the holocaust to shame. This process will need to scale up much more to meet the demands of 10 billion people on the earth by 2050, and scaling up the factory farms will lead to unimaginable animal suffering.

As the apex predator, as the most dominant and intelligent and arguably most moral species, we humans have a moral obligation to impose a moral order on all animals below us, to protect the weak and vulnerable.

Instead we have completely failed. We exploit, oppress and torture the animals and destroy the earth. We have failed the world and we deserve nothing but extinction via antinatalism.

Human Extinction is the Final Atrocity

Having a child is a vote of confidence in society. If you have optimism in society and think humanity is inherently good, your child will grow up and be raised within a beautiful world.

But if we look at the state of the world today, it is hard to justify optimism in society and humanity. You only need to read the news and talk to work colleagues and family to conclude that humanity is inherently corrupt, vulgar, and utterly depraved. Society is slowly rotting under the weight of racism, sexism, corruption, slavery, torture, and greed. 

If you give birth and bring a child into this world, such an act is tantamount to child abuse. You are exposing an innocent creature to a world that is so vile and evil, and if this child has her own children, that creates more lives exposed to suffering and exploitation.

The best way to reduce suffering is to slow population growth, which means we all have a moral duty to go on a birthstrike.

Not having children not only reduces suffering but is also good for the environment. You help the forests, the mountains, the air, the ocean, the trees, the rivers, and the animals. Mother Nature is an innocent being, and she suffers at the hands of humanity, which grows like a cancer engulfing the world.

Not only is childlessness good for humanity and for the environment, but it is also good for your personal finances. This is the principle of prosperity antinatalism. By refusing to breed, not only are you engaging in a selfless act that helps the animals and the planet but you are also saving yourself hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars. The cost of having a child is immense. By having a child, you are effectively consigning yourself to a lifetime of wage slavery. However, if you are childfree, Mother Nature rewards you financially for your selfless behavior.

When humans have freedom, they use their freedom to commit gross atrocities against the environment and the animals. However, an atrocity against humanity is an attack on the freedom humans have to commit atrocities on Mother Nature.

Human extinction is the final atrocity, the atrocity that ends all atrocity.

Freedom Entails Freedom to Commit Atrocity

My brother is a right wing nutcase and I keep telling him that the environment is being destroyed by humanity, but he claims that he has freedom and can do what he wants and can eat meat and kill animals, etc. I find this frustrating because it is true that he can do what he wants and this pretty much allows people to just get away with any atrocity be it environmental degradation, animal abuse, rape and torture and anything.

However, lately I have been talking about antinatalism and how I am never ever breeding and will advocate to others never to breed, and my brother seems worried by this. Being a conservative he is concerned about the low birthrate and the death of marriage, and he is a married man with many children, and I think he is angry at me for being childfree and therefore wealthy as I have zero debt and lots of investments in shares and crypto that enables me to live off passive income and take it easy in life, not stress out at work, etc whereas he is a slave to the banks constantly working paycheck to paycheck to pay the mortgage, stay-at-home wife, and multiple children. I think he is envious of me and he is frustrated because deep down he cannot do anything because he acknowledges that I too have freedom and, as is the case with him, that freedom entails freedom to commit atrocities against Natalism.

This is one of the good points about antinatalism, that you are not dependent on the benevolence of others. You control your own life so you can go ahead and refuse to breed or get a vasectomy. You can spread the message of antinatalism to others, and when you spread the message to others many of them will follow you thereby creating an army of antinatalists who will drop the birthrate.

Antinatalism is not like e.g. environmentalism or veganism that requires other people to not pollute or eat animal products. Other humans can exercise their freedom to commit atrocities on the environment or on animals. However, an atrocity against humanity is an attack on the freedom humans have to commit atrocities on Mother Nature. As such, the atrocity against humanity is the final atrocity, the atrocity that ends all atrocity.

Another good point about antinatalism is that it is profitable. By not breeding you save yourself hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. The cost of having a child is immense. Have a child and you pretty much consign yourself to a lifetime of dull and cruel wage slavery. If you are an antinatalist, Mother Nature rewards you financially for your selfless behavior.

Humans are corrupt and will always rationalize the oppression of those below them (while complaining of the oppression they receive from those above them) so the only solution is to destroy humanity.

The Argument for Childlessness

Having children is a vote of confidence in society. If you have optimism in society and think humanity is all peace and roses, then why not have a child. That child will grow up and then face a beautiful world.

But who are we kidding? You'd have to be a dumbass to not see the corruption and rot in society. If you bring a child into this world, it is tantamount to child abuse. You are exposing an innocent child to a world so evil and depraved that another lifetime of suffering is guaranteed.

The best way to reduce suffering is to slow population growth, which means you do not have children.

Not having children not only reduces suffering but is also good for the environment. You help the forests, the mountains, the air, the ocean, the trees, the rivers, and the animals. Nature is innocent, and she suffers due to the virus of humanity.

Not only is childlessness good for humanity and for the environment, but it is also good for your personal finances, so by not having children, you are not only engaging in a selfless act but you are also engaging in a selfish act. It is both selfless and selfish. You are doing something morally right and getting rewarded with hard cash and freedom for it!

Right makes might.

How Much Money Will You Save If You Don't Have Children?

Choosing to not have children was not a hard decision for me. It is good for the world and for the planet. Lower population growth fixes many problems in the world, which has now become overpopulated. Here are the wise words of MTGOStark:

The earth has a limited amount of space, limited amount of resources. If we consume more than the earth can regenerate in a given period of time, then we are on a finite timescale. Earth can possibly last for as much as billions more years with sustainable human activity, as little as a few hundred with unsustainable. 

Something like nuclear [power] would help in the medium-term, but it doesn't help the social problems that come with overpopulation, such as dissatisfaction and social strife that we are experiencing now. 

Overpopulation is relevant even if you are a nihilist or a loner, because a) with our current technology growth you might actually live to see the end of fossil fuels, and b) overpopulation affects the world you're already living in, not just the future. 

We are currently on track to use up all our oil and natural gas by the year 2200. Estimates like that are usually off, but even if we are generous and tack on a few hundred more years, it's still not very much. If we want humanity to survive until the next millennium and beyond, we need to consume less, and the easiest way to do that would be to curb population growth.

But I want to talk about the personal benefits of not having children. Not having babies gives you immense wealth and freedom, so it's good for society and good for you personally as well.

I know of a man in his 40s who is in middle management who is single, never married, and childless, and he drives a Lamborghini Huracan and always wears luxury clothes. He has zero debt. Meanwhile, his peers with similar modest incomes are all married but are drowning in debt, always stressed, wear cheap and tattered clothes, and drive old bombs. They talk about how they are frugal and minimalists, but it's obvious they say that because they blew all their money on a wife and kids so they have nothing leftover for themselves, so glorifying poverty makes them feel better that their resources have been plundered.