Most Americans Are Delaying Parenthood Over Fear of Losing Their Homes

A majority of Americans are delaying having children over fears of losing their homes to rising costs, according to a new survey run by the social service marketplace ReloShare.

The company, which describes itself as the world’s first hotel live-booking and live-sourcing marketplace for social services, surveyed 2,001 U.S. voters between September 19 and 21, asking them how the housing affordability crisis had affected their lives and choices.

It found that 67 percent of those surveyed were afraid of losing their homes because of rising prices, with 64 percent delaying becoming parents out of fear that they would not be able to provide stable housing to their children. Of those surveyed, 58 percent were afraid of losing their houses from living paycheck to paycheck, and 42 percent said they would endure mental or physical abuse to keep their children from being homeless.

Keeping Up With the Rising Costs of Housing

Between 2019 and 2024, median single-family home prices surged by 48 percent, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, at more than twice the rate of median income (22 percent) in the same time frame. 

Rent prices also skyrocketed during the pandemic. While they have stabilized in the past few years, they remain much higher than they were before 2020, and their growth is still outpacing inflation. In August, the typical asking rent was $2,007, according to Bankrate, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier.

Despite a slowdown of the U.S. housing market over the past few months, due mainly to the fact that homebuying has become unaffordable for millions of Americans, home prices are still rising. In August, according to Redfin data, the median sale price of a home was $439,198, up 1.5 percent from a year earlier. 

In the same month, wages fell nationwide, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.1 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted. Year over year, however, real average hourly earnings for all employees increased 0.7 percent, seasonally adjusted.

The concerns uncovered by the ReloShare survey are not unjustified. According to a 2024 report by the National Institute of Health, 17 percent of children and 46 percent of households in the U.S. experienced some form of housing instability in 2022, whether that came in the form of frequent moves, burdening costs or evictions.

Giving Up on Children, Pets and (Sometimes) Divorce

Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel said housing affordability clearly shapes household formation.

“Owning a home often alters the economics and logistics of starting a family and having kids. Homeownership offers housing stability, predictable living expenses, forced savings, and typically more usable space. It also helps explain fertility patterns in periods of rising prices,” he told Newsweek. 

“Research shows higher house prices affect families differently depending on tenure: For owners, rising equity makes them more likely to have kids, while for renters, higher prices put ownership further out of reach, lowering the odds of family formation.”

Recent data shows that the U.S. housing affordability crisis, which has been ongoing for years, is having an effect on Americans.

A recent survey by Redfin found that 44.4 percent of homeowners and renters in the U.S. struggled to afford their regular rent or mortgage payments. Of these, 4 percent have decided against or delayed having a child to afford housing costs, 4.4 percent gave up or reduced college savings for their children, and 3 percent enrolled their kids in a low-rated school. 

Among those struggling with their monthly housing payments, 4.6 percent said they had to give up their pets to afford housing.

In addition to keeping Americans from having children, the U.S. housing affordability crisis keeps or pushes together couples who would have otherwise split or continued living apart. According to the Redfin survey, 5.3 percent of Americans who struggled with monthly payments said they moved in with a romantic partner to afford them, while 2.8 percent postponed getting a divorce or separation.