Dual-Income, No Kids: Description of, and Resources for, DINKS

Dink can refer to any couple that has two incomes and no children. Either one partner has two incomes, or they both have a single income. From a financial perspective, marketers look at dinks as consumers that have readily available expendable income since they have no children to spend their income on. According to investopedia.com dinks are often the target of marketing efforts for luxury items.

My husband and I are among a small, growing, group of people who have decided not to have children. We are young, in our late twenties and my husband will be having a vasectomy when he turns 30. We feel that most physicians will not be willing to provide one any sooner and that as responsible adults we should allow ourselves the time to reach 30 before permanently altering our bodies to prevent us from reproducing. It is a big decision and not one that is made lightly by anyone who has made the choice. I was very amused when I discovered that as a couple we had a "name". But as it turns out there a few names for those who remain child free (CF) and dink is just one of a few.

DINKY (dual-income, no kids yet) is more commonly used in India, China, and in the UK but DINK is more popular in the United States (wikipedia.com). The term arose sometime in the 80's when the term "yuppie" was more common.

There are a number of DINKS out there and the numbers are growing slowly though data is hard to collect. There are also a number of DINK or CF resources available to you. When you do not want children sometimes you feel like you are the only one but rest assured your not the only one. Everyone around you is having or wants children and sometimes it feels like you are the only one in the world who doesn't have a desire for a few little ones of your own. I know I certainly never thought to reach out and find an on-line community of other CF adults and I just happened upon a few of them which brought me a lot of relief and understanding.

Check out www.bellaonline.com/site/marriednokids for some interesting articles and a forum where you can discuss your decision or even seek out advise as to making a decision on this very important and very permanent topic. You can also see if there is a chapter in your area dedicated to couples without children:
http://www.nokidding.net/.

The most important thing to take away here is that if you do not want children, you are not alone in your decision and that there are resources out there for you if you ever feel the need to reach out and join in a community that understands all the questions that have been thrown your way. Check back as future articles will discuss more on living as a dink.