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Gen Z and Millennials Views About Having Kids on Family

The presence of children in the family has become an exciting conversation on social media some time ago. Influencer Gita Savitri said not having children is natural anti-aging. Pros and cons regarding childfree also emerged. On the other hand, apart from the presence of children, the younger generation realizes that building a family is not easy.

Jakpat conducted a survey to find out how the younger generation views in preparing the household. The report, which involved 1,216 respondents, shows the considerations for stepping into a more serious level with their partner and the meaning of having kids in a family.

The survey result showed that 97% of single respondents, whether they have children or not, wanted or planned to get married. More than half of respondents said they wanted to get married because they wanted to have a mate (65%) and because of religious teachings (57%). In addition, 48% of them reasoned that they had found the right person, wanted to have children, and felt that getting married was indeed a phase of life that must be passed. As many as 52% of respondents targeted to get married at the age of 25-29 years.

“Among Gen Z and Millennials who are currently unmarried, they both want to get married in the future. The difference is Millennials want to get married in the near future, while Gen Z does not in the near future. This can be caused by the perception that the Millennials segment has now entered the upper limit of the ideal age in marriage,” said Head of Research Jakpat, Aska Primardi.

Meanwhile, the top three reasons respondents do not want to get married are not a priority, aware of being financially inadequate, and wanting to focus on a career with a percentage of 33% each.

What needs to be prepared in building a family?

Jakpat grouped six types of abilities that need to be prepared in a household. First, mental preparation, meaning adaptation to life in pairs and families. Followed by financial preparation (such as the cost of daily needs and the cost of raising children) and property (such as owning a place to live and/or a vehicle). Then, physical preparation (physically health) and emotional preparation (being able to control actions). The last one, intellectual preparation, which means finding information about marriage and family.

As many as 91% of respondents rated mental preparation as the main thing in marriage. Then followed by financial preparation (87%) and emotion (78%). However, on the other hand, they are also aware that mental preparation is also the most difficult preparation to achieve (43%).

Young people’s views on having children in a family 

More than half of the respondents, consisting of Gen Z and Millennials, rated the presence of children as very important. While 16% thought the presence of a baby is normal and less than 1% felt it is unimportant.

This certainly affects the decision of those who want to have children. As many as 67% of respondents wanted to have children as soon as possible after marriage. Meanwhile, 22% decided to postpone children after marriage and some others thought about adoption options.

Jakpat survey also shows that the group that wants to have children as soon as possible is dominated by the Millennial segment, while most Gen Z choose to postpone children after marriage.

“So although both of them wanted to get married, they had different plans about having children. When we explore the reason, we found that fewer Gen Z than Millennials agree with the opinion that “children are the door to sustenance” or “children who will take care of us in old age”. So it seems that there has been a shift in these values in the Gen Z segment,” said Aska.

This, he added, is in line with the projection data of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) which stated that the population of children under five years old (toddlers) will decrease, in line with the downward trend in the birth rate in Indonesia.

On the other hand, there are various reasons to have children in a household. A total of 75% of respondents admitted that they really wanted to have offspring. The presence of the baby is also considered as a complement (69%) and an enhancer of happiness (68%) in the family.