Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@lillyanne_/TikTok/@hillarybowles
Topics: Parenting, Sex and Relationships, Money
Joe Harker
Topics: Parenting, Sex and Relationships, Money
If you've been anywhere near TikTok recently, you'll be aware of the backlash against DINKs.
Some folks are not best pleased after DINK couples showing off their travel-heavy lifestyle on the social media platform became a decently strong trend.
Those taking aim at the DINKs - which stands for 'dual income no kids' if you're not up to speed - say that the seemingly material lifestyle the couples seem to be pursuing won't bring them long-term happiness like parenthood will.
After facing some criticism, there have been some DINKs who are trying to explain why they live their life their way, and some of them haven't ruled out having kids in the future.
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The DINK couples are people at a time of life where they'd be expected to have children but aren't, and are instead spending their money on themselves.
One of the reasons it's seen a surge in popularity in recent years is the crippling cost of living. Unless you're something like an arms dealer, it's difficult to pay your way through life by yourself.
A single income tackling the cost of living doesn't usually leave much disposable income left over, but teaming up with another person can be transformative.
DINKWAD Nicole Valdez told Business Insider: "Deciding not to have kids, and instead deciding to just focus on our interests and our desires and what we want out of life has just given us a little bit more freedom, essentially, to take advantage of the world now, versus having to wait until our kids are grown or until we retire — if we retire."
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Being in the prime of life they also have this notion that they should be making the most of their youth and travelling around to see the world while they can.
Delanie Fischer, who lives a DINK lifestyle with husband Cam Mulford, told PopSugar earlier this year: "When we got really honest about what our ideal life together looked like now and in the future, none of the things we excitedly brought up included having children.
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"Our biggest priority is each other's happiness, and neither of us are willing to sacrifice the intentional lifestyle we've cultivated."
While the key component of being a DINK is having no kids it's important to note that in this case 'no kids' doesn't mean 'never have kids'.
Many DINK couples plan to have kids at some point later on in their lives and are enjoying themselves now while they're still in the years where they can be young, dumb and full of disposable income.
Combine rising costs with people deciding to have children later on in life and you get the DINKs, people who have a few more years of youth to spend before getting kids, if they even want to have kids at all.
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It doesn't seem that far removed from the 'soft saving' trend, you can't take it with you so you might as well enjoy life now before it hurls another pandemic, financial crash or war our way which renders years of saving moot.