Tonight’s CBS Evening News gave viewers something beyond the normal network fare: garden-variety Malthusianism couched in equal parts brave self-determination and concern for others. And it was quite disconcerting to view.
Watch as our interview subjects host a party for their fellow childless, and weep for the future:
FRIEND: Was it financial, was it not finding the right -- the right-the body style…
BATTISTE: When Tiana's friends began having kids, she started organizing occasional get-togethers for others who want to be child-free.
FRIEND: Just seems like every time you turn on the news, something bad is happening. Just not the world I would want to raise a kid in.
FRIEND: Can’t control climate change. I think everything else is fixable. But that, I’m not so sure.
Far from striding into the future, these people seem to want to avoid it- a sort of bizarre Peter Pan-ism. These people have been spooked by network news to such a degree that they refuse to even consider the idea of having a baby.
The juxtaposition between the featured Florida couple and the Ghosts of Childlessness Future, if you will, also looked bleak. And also, incredibly selfish.
A small amount of credit is due for mentioning that the birth rate has plummeted in the United States. It has, due to a large number of factors. This is true for most of the West. The remedy is for governments to encourage, rather than discourage, increased childbirth. And to develop pro-family policies. Even if the media seem to want to go in the opposite direction.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on the CBS Evening News on Thursday, May 1st, 2025:
MAURICE DuBOIS: As the oldest of the Baby Boomers, including President Trump, turn 80 next year, and the youngest become eligible for Social Security, he is pushing for a second baby boom, With the U.S. birth rate declining, Mr. Trump is considering incentives for having kids, including a $5,000 bonus. But for many young couples, there is no amount of money. Nikki Battiste has tonight's "Eye on America" from just west of Mar-a-Lago.
TIANNA MORALES: You everything that I...
NIKKI BATTISTE: Tianna and PJ Morales said their I do’s seven years ago.
PJ MORALES: I'm super excited to take the next step in our life.
BATTISTE: As newlyweds,s they traveled the war world and before too long, they say, family would ask if they plan to have children. But the Florida couple says they are not having kids. Not now, not ever.
When you have told people you are child free, what have their reactions been?
PJ: Why?
TIANNA: Yeah, I’ll get typically a blank stare or, "Oh, really?"
BATTISTE: Like pity?
TIANNA: Yeah, pity. Like, "You don't want a mini you running around?"
BATTISTE: Tiana, now 37, says when she was younger she assumed she would be a mom but after spending her early 20s as a nanny caring for four kids at once, that assumption change.
TIANNA:It just dawned on me as this what I want to do every single day peered.
BATTISTE: The U.S. fertility rate has plummeted in the last two decades and now sits near record lows according to CDC data released last week. Some young adults say high costs are holding them back. Others fear climate change or are putting their careers first. But many say they simply don't want kids.
AMY BLACKSTONE: We are raised to believe that it is our destiny to become parents.
BATTISTE: Amy Blackstone and her husband, Lance, decided years ago to be a family of just two. Blackstone, a University of Maine sociology professor, has published a number of studies on those who call themselves child-free by choice.
BLACKSTONE: A child-free person will say “I valued my relationship with my partner so much that I didn't want another party changing that relationship.” A parent will say “the imagined relationship with a child is so important to me that I want that relationship.”
FRIEND: Was it financial, was it not finding the right -- the right-the body style…
BATTISTE: When Tiana's friends began having kids, she started organizing occasional get-togethers for others who want to be child-free.
FRIEND: It just seems like every time you turn on the news, something bad is happening. And it’s just not the world I would want to raise a kid in.
FRIEND: Can’t control climate change. I think everything else is fixable. But that, I’m not so sure.
BATTISTE: On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you on your decision?
TIANNA: I’d say a 9.5.
BATTISTE: What's that half point?
TIANNA: I grew up in a big family and holidays were always surrounded by a large family. It's fun. And so, as I age, what will holidays look like? Will they be just as fun? I don't know.
BATTISTE: A choice, theirs and only theirs, made with careful thought. For "Eye on America," I'm Nikki Battiste in West Palm Beach, Florida.
DuBOIS: A study found that over five years, the share of childless adults under 50 who don't plan to have kids rose ten points, to 47%. And about that $5,000 baby bonus: estimates of the cost of raising a child out to the age of 18 are in the hundreds of thousands.
