The rise of child-free advocates

Munoz argues that child-free millennials initially dragged their heels when it came to vocalizing and celebrating their decisions online, but that there has been “a big shift” in recent years for a generation that grew up sharing everything on social media. She contends that there has been a snowball effect, with more individuals beginning to feel at ease discussing their experiences as a result of witnessing “how open and vocal” other intentional non-parents.

She claims, “When I started my Instagram account, there were probably three or four other child-free Instagram accounts… Fast forward two years, and there are hundreds, hundreds, and hundreds of child-free Instagram accounts.” It is evident that there is a movement taking place right now.

On Instagram, the hashtag #childfree has gathered in excess of 311,000 presents on date. In addition, the hashtags #child-free and #childfreebychoice have exploded in popularity over the past few years on TikTok, where Munoz is also active, with 570 million and 391 million views for each tag, respectively. Although Munoz’s TikTok has a lighthearted and comedic tone, she claims that the topic still prompts numerous in-depth discussions about some of the pressures that people who do not have children face. For instance, despite the fact that some of her followers are aware that they do not wish to have children, they are of the opinion that if they make the decision not to have children, they run the risk of alienating friends and disappointing their own parents.