In our minds, Golden Globe winner Tracee Ellis Ross is our best friend. The actress who plays ‘Bow’ on Blackish, recently gave a speech at Glamour’s 2017 Women of The Year summit, where she pondered why in spite of all that she’s achieved, the world around her is fixated on the fact that she is unmarried and does not have kids.
Quite rightly, Tracee rejects these outdated notions and instead says she is perfectly fine being single at 45 and after a lifetime of trying to conform, now subscribes to the view that “My life is mine.” She went on to give a pretty darn inspirational speech and we marvelled at a Society that could reduce all her accomplishments, extremely successful career, clothing line with popular brand to a lack of being married with kids.
Thankfully, we are no longer living in the dark ages and the modern woman can choose whatever lifestyle she wishes, be married or not, have children (through whatever means) or not. There are huge benefits in each camp. A recent survey showed that a large number of people are opting to not have children and still consider themselves to have an excellent lifestyle, where, as you would imagine there is a lot more disposable income.
The research, which was commissioned by New Covent Garden Soup Co., surveyed Double Income, No Kids, euphemistically called (DINK) households and found that on average, they earn more than £47,000 a year, consider themselves to be ‘foodies’ and enjoy two holidays a year.
When there are no children to ferry around various activities and pay for child care, DINKS spend an average of four hours a week socialising with friends and a whopping 12 hours in front of the television!
What’s more, of their £47,000 annual income around £12,000 of that is ‘disposable’.
As you would expect, 41 per cent said their partner was the main focus of their life, and one in five have built their lifestyle around their chosen career. Other interesting stats from the study shows that there is a lot more time to focus on their health with 37 per cent dedicated to keeping fit and one in four taking on an exercise session four times a week or more.
A spokesperson for the survey said: “Participants in this survey report many opportunities to do things that contribute to positive mental health, such as exercise or spending time with their partners, as well as having time and energy for their own pursuits.”
Children are a blessing, but the choice to procreate is a personal one. The default reaction to a woman choosing not to have children should not be pity or seen as a lack in any way. As Tracee said: “The Brave Me reminds me that I am complete just as me. Not in relation to anyone or anything else, just wholly, fully me.”
