Reliable international research has shown that dog ownership in the United States has increased by 35 million since 1996, surpassing the number of children in homes. More U.S. households are now homes to dogs than children.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the population of pet dogs in the US moved from an estimated 52.9 million in 1996 to 87.3 million in 2025. A Harris Poll also found that 43% of Americans would prefer to have pets over children in the future, and the top reasons for Gen Zers and millennials were that pets are easier to take care of and are less of a financial strain than children.
Parenting a pooch is a growing trend, not only in the United States but also in Jamaica. Many young women are opting to become dog mums. rather than bearing children. But while dogs are increasingly being used to fill a void, the fall in fertility rates globally has become a cause for concern.
Marriage advocate and attorney-at-law Philippa Davies says there has been a growing disinterest in marriage and motherhood starting from the 1960s, as a result of the sexual revolution and the introduction of contraceptives. However, the reality is that human beings are made in the image of God, and therefore there is an innate desire for relationships.
“Women are by design inclined to nurture. Women want to care for somebody else. They want to be invested in the life of someone else,” she said.
“One of the results of denying [God’s] design and the suppression of natural instinct is loneliness… If they are not choosing marriage and motherhood, some of them are now looking to pets, to animals, but it is still really reflecting this innate desire to be in a relationship, to have relationships, to give love, receive love and to nurture,” said Davies, who is the founder of #MarriageMattersJamaica.
Increasingly, women are referring to their dog as their “fur baby”. Some promote themselves as a “dog mum” or “pet parent”. As dog ownership rises globally, fertility rates have remained stable or even decreased.
A study out of Hungary showed that 19% of childless dog owners and 10% of owners with children considered their dog more important than any human life. In an article published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, Professor Enikő Kubinyi from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary found that there is actually a link between increased dog ownership and declining birth rates. She found that declining fertility rates are contributing to increased dog ownership and their growing role in people’s lives as modern culture gets more isolating.
“The changing role of dog ownership suggests that people in Western societies experience a significant lack of caregiving and social support — and they try to compensate for this, at least in part, with dogs and likely cats as well,” Kubinyi said.
Animals cannot replace people
As women’s economic opportunities improve, making it easier for them to support themselves, there has been less desire to marry and have children. Amidst the increase in the cost of living and a growing emphasis on individualistic values, pets have become replacements for children. Policymakers have warned, however, that childlessness would contribute to a “demographic winter”.
In Jamaica, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has been among those appealing for professional women to have children.
Jamaica’s total fertility rate (TFR) has declined significantly from 4.5 births per female between 1973 and 1975 to 1.9 in 2021, contributing to a decrease in the country’s population estimate.
“Age-specific fertility rates fell in all age groups except 25-29 years and probably reflects a delayed start to childbearing into their late 20s, while women completed their education,” said Sexual and Reproductive Health and Epidemiology Expert, Professor Affette McCaw-Binns, during last year’s presentation of the findings of the 2021 Reproductive Health Survey Jamaica (RHS).
A fertility rate of 1.9 is below the replacement level of 2.1, which is the average number of children that a woman would need to produce to keep the population constant. Dr Tufton has warned that declining fertility rates will eventually have an adverse impact on various areas of the country’s development.
Marriage advocate and attorney-at-law, Phillippa Davies encourages women to reflect on the fact that being a mother is a public good.
“Having children is a good [thing]. Ask grandparents who have experienced two generations of child-rearing. Children are a blessing,” she said.
“Let us remember that God made man in his image, in his likeness; he said he made them male and female. That is us, human beings, the highest of God’s creation. The animals are not equal to humans. Animals are animals, and you can have an animal as a pet, but an animal is not a human being,” she asserted.