Regular readers know that two of our favorite topics here at Small Business Labs are new buzzwords and pet trends.
So we had to cover DINKWADs, a new to us buzzword.
It stands for "dual income, no kids, with a dog."
DINKs is an old buzzword. It was coined when yuppies (a 1980s buzzword for young urban professionals) started pairing up.
DINKWADs adds, "with a dog."
The Insider's Meet the DINKWADs: The TikTok legion making everyone jealous with their double incomes, no kids, and a dog covers this new acronym and trend. Key quote:
"The allure of the DINKWAD lifestyle is solely based on financial and personal freedom from any responsibility," Ahmed said. Instead, Benfield and Ahmed love to travel and are both passionate about not having children. They have a beloved rescue mutt named Yvie instead."
The same type of quote appeared in the old DINK stories, but without the mention of dogs.
But since the acronym DINK was coined, the trend toward pet humanization has dramatically accelerated.
And now, pets - and especially dogs - have become viewed as family members and kid substitutes.
And you can pridefully show you're a DINKWAD by wearing a DINKWAD t-shirt (available from Etsy).
We cover trends like this because declining birthrates have significant, long-term economic and social impacts.
Key quote from our article U.S. Birthrate Hits Another All-time Low:
"Declining fertility and birth rates have enormous social and economic implications. They lead to reduced economic growth, make it harder to pay for social programs (especially social security and Medicare) and cause economic dislocations due to changing demand patterns."
See our Demographics and Pet Trends sections for more on this topic.