Married Couples With Double Incomes And No Kids Reveal How Their Lives Are Going

The term DINK stands for "Double Income, No Kids." It refers to a growing number couples choosing not to have kids while both partners work full-time. DINKS cite financial concerns, increasing costs of raising children, and the desire for personal freedom.

Two incomes with no children provides more disposable income for travel, hobbies, and investments. DINKs generally have a higher net worth compared to people with kids and can focus on career development.

The narrative that the epitome of every person's life was getting married and having kids has been waning as both marriage and birth rates drop. Some now believe that not having kids leads to a higher overall quality of life and financial flexibility.

Reddit user Fit-Distribution677 asked:

"Married people who are DINKS (Double Income, No Kids) how’s life?"

Existential Dread

"Got a new bigger apartment, so that’s good."

"Hit with a tidal wave of existential dread, so that’s bad."

~ albinorhino215

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Exhausted

"I’m exhausted all the time."

"I have absolutely zero concept of how people could ever do this AND be parents."

~ MartyCH85

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Sleeping In

"It's fine."

"I like sleeping in on weekends and going places with my wife."

~ OldStDick

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Vet Bills

"Good."

"Very good."

"Vet bills are expensive tho."

~ LittleOrphanAnavar

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Thanks

"I mean minus the world outside.... our lives are great."

"Very happy and fulfilled."

"Very weird times. Like my personal life is great currently. I have a career I love. We are doing well financially. Marriage is great. Friendships are great. I am genuinely the happiest I've been in my entire life with where my life is."

"But I am just filled with a constant feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop with everything else going on in the world."

Thanks for asking."

~ Throw_Me_Away8834

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Rent & Work

"I give thanks every Saturday that I can sleep in."

I honestly don't know how you parents do it. We are basically not saving any money, and while we do have some luxuries, I can't fathom being able to afford kids."

"I'm very anxious about our lives as we get older. It looks very much like we'll rent and work until we die."

~ Existing-Parsnip1596

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Unaffordable

"Whenever we got asked when we were having kids and responded with the fact that kids are too expensive, we always get told that you just figure out how to afford them."

"Like what? We grew up being told to not have them if you can’t afford them, now the same people are like just figure it out."

"Nah, we don’t want to work 3 jobs just so a quarter of our income can go to childcare."

~ AgentInkling99

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Doggo

"Pretty nice man. Chillin' with my dog."

"Just bought a pool."

"I am absolutely burned out on 'what’s for dinner?' I can’t imagine having kids and dealing with that non stop every day."

~ WinterFamiliar9199

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Awesome!

"Honestly it is awesome. We have no kids and no pets with pretty good pto so we can go anywhere and do pretty much anything we want."

"We went on a 2 week last minute trip to Mexico and there was very little planning necessary. It took like an hour to book the flight and schedule pto and that was it."

"We do little weekend trips on the fly, but most of all it is so peaceful."

"If I want to sleep in on the weekends I can. We openly leave hazards out. I like to make stuff and I can leave paint thinner, tools etc... out and it is no big deal."

"We got mice a few winters ago and we put poison absolutely everywhere because there are no pets or kids to worry about."

"Life is just much much easier. We can both change our work schedule on the fly if necessary."

~ Mean-Impress2103

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Safe Space

"We became the safe place for our family to land when things come up. That’s a good feeling coming from an unstable childhood."

"But yeah, vet bills are expensive."

~ ceramia

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Reaffirmed

"I want kids less and less every year."

"We just got back from Portola music festival and had such a blast."

"And it was great to have a few days to recover without having to do childcare."

~'pumpkin_pasties

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Solid

"My wife and I are both in Tech, working at Microsoft. No kids, just a cat."

"Things are pretty solid... No debt, nice cars, big house, no financial worries. Any time we want to do something (within reason) we can."

"Any time we want to buy something (within reason) we can. We can experiment with hobbies without worry. Even relatively expensive ones."

"We don't waste money, we invest a ton, but it's a massive change since we both grew up lower middle class."

~ CyberBill

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Fab

"So good."

"Except for the fear of doing the age 80-90 decade alone. I say this because I very much hope I die at 90."

"Other than that, FAB."

~ No_Summer1874

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Back to Bed

"It’s great. My husband woke up and went to the driving range."

"I woke up and fed the cats, then went back to bed."

~ spocket602

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What Have We Learned?

"Key takeaways of this thread:

"• Life as a DINK is great"

"• They travel a lot"

"• 90% have cats"

~ shakazoulu

"hey, some of us have cats AND dogs"

~ UnsharpenedSwan

"I also really want a horse, but that's further down the line."

~ helpyobrothaout

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Whether life is better without kids depends on the individual.

People who want children should have them; people who don't shouldn't be pressured to. That's probably the best outcome for everyone.