For some Americans, the traditional family budget is getting rewritten: no diapers, no daycare, no college fund.
A growing number, 57% of adults under age 50 who say they’re unlikely to have kids, say the major reason is that they simply don’t want to, according to Pew Research Center.
They’re known as "DINKS" (dual-income, no kids) and "SINKS" (single-income, no kids). They are changing the way Americans spend and how businesses market to them.
“We want more flexibility with our time and finances,” Miguel Rivera said.
For Rivera and his wife, Bea San Jose, being "DINKS" means more financial freedom. The couple from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, stopped in Arizona after a trip to Las Vegas, making the most of life without parenting responsibilities.
“We love going to festivals,” San Jose said. “We’re both nurses, so we love spending our free time with activities.”
Pew Research Center finds the number of "DINK" married couples in their 30s and 40s grew from 8% in 2013 to 12% in 2023.
Fertility rates in the United States are also dropping to historic lows, year after year. The latest CDC data shows the general fertility rate decreased by another 1% from 2024 to 2025. Long-term, the rate has decreased 23% since its peak in 2007.
It means shifting financial priorities for childless families.
“We love to travel, so that's where most of our money is going,” San Jose said.
“A quarter of our budget we put in savings or investments as well,” Rivera added. “We don't have extra expenses or any surprise expenses. Everything we account for in our budget.”
There’s one more priority, too.
“We did get a puppy,” Rivera said. “Especially now, like a lot of people prefer just having a dog than kids.”
The addition of golden retriever Bonnie makes them "DINKWADS" (dual income, no kids, with a dog).
“Millennials, they are transforming this trend,” Julie Lejeune with Datcha.Dog said. “Really, this booming of 'DINKWAD' and 'SINKWAD' is not a trend, because demographically it's becoming more and more tangible.”
An industry expert, and also a "DINKWAD" with pup Datcha, Lejeune says some countries are now selling more strollers for pets than babies — Italy, South Korea, and Japan among them.
“For Americans, it's around $2,500 per year they're spending on their dog, like an average household, and when it comes to the luxury segment, it's more than $10,000 per year,” Lejeune said.
“There is this kind of conversation that people are having with their friends, saying, 'we are leaving the big city to live in the countryside for the dog,'” Lejeune added. “For a long time, it was for kids. Which says a lot about how the dog transforms the lifestyle of those people.”
As more adults center their finances around their pets, Lejeune says hotels, restaurants, and travel companies are being pushed to adapt and consider these consumers with more discretionary income, but different priorities.
“It's becoming very challenging for the hospitality industry to understand those typologies of people, their expectations, their needs, and to actually adapt,” Lejeune said. “The ones that will seize the opportunity…will win the game.”
It’s a shift that Lejeune says the hospitality industry went through a decade ago when it came to accommodating kids.
Datcha.Dog data shows dog owners who feel welcome at hotels stay 20% longer, spend 30% more on related services, and come back 75% more often.
“The loyalty part is 75%, which is huge,” Lejeune said. “Because you know that once your dog is welcome, and everyone around is super happy that you are here with your dog, you keep coming back.”
It's one example of an opportunity, Lejeune says, for industries to avoid revenue leakage and tap into a demographic with big spending power.
“The surprise is that despite all the financial pressures the last few years, of high inflation, high interest rates, people are still spending aggressively on travel, dining, concerts, sporting events,” Ted Rossman, Bankrate Principal Analyst, said. “I do think that meshes nicely with this trend we're talking about, about the 'SINKS' and the 'DINKS.'”
Yet flexibility doesn’t always mean financial security.
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Rossman says consumers with fewer family expenses should take advantage of compounding to build long-term wealth.
“Especially when you're younger, the biggest asset you have, financially speaking, is time,” Rossman said. “The fact that every dollar you invest in your twenties could be $30 or $40 by the time you retire, just because of the magic of compounding.”
His advice: “Just being intentional about where your money is going."
Rossman says some steps to success include building an emergency fund, paying down high-interest debt, and increasing retirement contributions. Also, budget for fun, without falling victim to lifestyle creep, or letting those activities crowd out the future.
“If you start saving when you're young, you're going to end up with more money than someone who sets more money aside, but they didn't start until they were 35 or 40,” Rossman said. “Use that time to your advantage.”
For Rivera and San Jose, it’s about finding balance.
“For me, it's very important, because I like to be very organized, and I like to be careful with my money,” Rivera said.
“We have more time, more money to spend on ourselves,” San Jose said. “We want to build financial stability, work, while we enjoy traveling.”
It's all about embracing life now, while building the future they want.