Forget children, we want fur babies.
New research from Compare the Market has revealed more people are opting for pets over children, with Gen Z and Baby Boomers in particular being more likely to say their fur babies are of greater importance.
According to the data, more than half the Australian population do or would consider pets as equally important as children, with as many as one in 20 people considering fur babies to be more important.
Many Gen Zs — people born between 1996-2012 — said cost-of-living pressures and lack of flexible child care options were a key factor of this thinking.
“With cost of living it’s just so much easier at the moment to have a pet than a child,” Eaton resident Mel Birch said.
“The resources required both financially and mentally make a pet seem like a more reasonable option.”
“The resources required both financially and mentally make a pet seem like a more reasonable option.”
Recently married James Brown said he and his wife were happy with their family of two dogs, regarding them as their kids.
He said the emphasis on work was a big factor into opting for fur babies over human ones.
“There’s just not the support needed to have children without having a parent sacrifice their career,” he said.
“It’s much easier to raise pets without the loss of income and career.”
The older generations are also seeing a stronger family connection with their pets as their families get older.
Wendy Worthington-Eyres of Withers said her two dogs Boya and Meela were integral to her family.
“My grand kids have all gotten older, so these two are my whole world, I’d be lost without my dogs,” she said.
Astoundingly, the WA population aren’t even the most pet-obsessed nationwide.
According to the data, Victorians are the most likely to go above and beyond for their fur-babies.
