Millennials are forking out more on cars than childcare, an exclusive Newsweek survey has revealed.
The poll, conducted by Talker Research between January 15 and 20, 2025, asked 1,000 employed U.S. adults to share what percentage of their monthly salary they put towards the following categories: rent/mortgage, car payments, savings, debt payments and childcare. “Other” was also an option.
The research showed that a higher percentage of millennials’ income is going towards car payments than childcare on average.
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Millennials (those who are about 28 to 43 years old) are allocating an average of 11.7% of their monthly income to car payments, compared to just 7.3% for childcare.
Furthermore, 56% of millennials report spending nothing on childcare and only 38% spend nothing on car payments.
Generation X respondents (those who are roughly 44 to 59 years old) allocated less of their monthly pay towards childcare, at 3.5% on average, while budgeting 8.1% of their salary to car payments.
Baby boomers (those who are about 60 to 78 years old) followed suit, spending just 0.9% of their monthly income on childcare on average and 5.1% on cars.
For the latest generation of Gen Z parents—those aged between 18 and 27—they put an average of 7% towards childcare and 12.5% towards car payments.
Natalia Morales, a licensed marriage and family therapist at Tres Vistas Recovery, told Newsweek the modern economy is driving the trend.
“The reality is that financial pressures will always shape our life decisions somehow,” she said. “When childcare consumes around 25% of monthly income, it’s not hard to see why many millennials make practical choices about delaying or foregoing parenthood altogether.”
Striving for the perfect work-life balance is another big factor behind this financial decision, Morales noted.
“Most of our daylight hours are spent working, so fitting parenthood in this modern lifestyle is an overwhelming concept. Car ownership is a manageable step toward independence while parenthood can be viewed as the opposite—it’s an added responsibility that doesn’t really come with much freedom,” she said.
The cost of cars and child care are continuing to rise. As Gen X and baby boomers transition towards the latter stages of parenting, spending habits shift towards savings.
“Until childcare becomes more affordable, we’ll likely see this generation continue prioritizing more manageable investments that bring them joy, like cars,” Morales said.
This random double-opt-in survey of 1,000 general population Americans was commissioned by Newsweek between January 15 and January 20, 2025. It was conducted by market research company Talker Research, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).
