It's become less popular to have kids and more popular to have dogs.
Human fertility rates continue to fall in the U.S. (and elsewhere). Not only that, but the precursors to having kids - things like marriage - are also falling as more people choose to be single.
Millennials are saying they are less likely to have kids than prior generations. The reason they give is it's too hard in today's world to be good parents, have career success and personal freedom. Because of this, many are saying they aren't going to have kids so they can focus on the other two.
One of the reasons it's hard is the cost of raising a child. The Forbes article How to Manage Your Biggest Investment: Your Kids says a child born in 2012 will cost his/her parents $241,000 to raise.
This is for the average family. Higher income families, those making $105,000 or more, will spend $399,780 per child.
Add in all the noise around increased ADD and autism rates and other health and behavioral issues associated with raising kids, and you can see why perspective parents are choosing not to have them.
Meanwhile, dogs get great press. They don't cost nearly much as a kid, rarely have unfixable behavioral issues and almost always adore their owner - even during their doggie teen years.
Because of these advantages, there are now more U.S. households with dogs than kids and pet humanization - the trend towards treating pets as full fledged family members - continues to grow.
As both a parent and life long dog owner I see the advantages and disadvantages of both. But its clear kids are losing the PR war to dogs.
This has huge implications for society and business.
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