It’s no secret that populations across the world are seeing a decline — reflected in part in the growing number of nuclear households opting not to bear children. A flip side of this global phenomenon is the rate at which a child’s place in the family is being taken up by pet animals.
Families or couples with pets are now referred to as ‘pet parents’ rather than ‘owners’, and why not? The luxuries and pampering reserved for the children of the household are meted out in equal measure to the family pet.
Pets as Practice Runs
Measures to curb populations as well as factors like cost of education and living has resulted in more and more adults choosing not to have children. Young couples, particularly millennials and Gen Z-ers are opting to raise pets instead of children. As the rate of childbirth decreases in societies, the rate of dog ownership has increased alongside.
Seeing a dog peeking out of a baby stroller being pushed by the owner is not an uncommon sight these days.
A study published under the Social Sciences Research Network analysed fertility rates, childbirth, pet registries and ownership in Taiwan, and found that rather than being an attempt to replace children, citizens are using animals as a kind of practice run, before the commitment of an actual child.
Similar practices have been growing across the UK, USA and parts of Europe as well.
Aside from new and innovative products for pet grooming constantly being introduced in the market, high fashion brands like Gucci, Prada, Versace, Hermes and Louis Vuitton also have widely renowned ‘pet collections’, launched soon after the pandemic in 2022, when parenting of pets started to become a legitimate lifestyle choice for people.
Scientific Attachment Similarities
A 2025 study in European Psychology showed that dogs have similar attachment styles to babies, and can be just as meaningful for a parent to raise, as it would be for children.
The study also showed that parenting styles are not that much different when it comes to pet parents — they tend to treat their dog and cat babies with the same level of affection and attention typically seen in a parent-child relationship.
Pet dogs and cats have been referred to as ‘surrogate children’, offering an opportunity to fulfill a nurturing drive, or a motherly or fatherly instinct, without taking on the responsibility of a child.
Such is the popularity and acceptance of pets as family that in a celebration in Tokyo recently, pets received blessings along with children in an adaptation of a Japanese tradition for newborn babies.
The Miyamairi is a tradition wherein a newborn baby is taken for a blessing ceremony to a Shinto shrine a month after his or her birth — it is the Japanese way of thanking the deities for the baby’s safe arrival into the world.
This ceremony has now become pet-friendly in many city temples, where pet parents can bring their animals in to seek blessings as well. A recent event saw 350 dogs dressed in kimonos receive blessings, and only 50 children.
As cats and dogs are replacing the baby in the cradle, scratch towers and chew toys are more commonly spotted in family living rooms, and the trusty baby formula has been traded in for dog food and kibble.
As the phenomenon of pet parenting balloons, the importance and role of the pet in the household has also achieved a higher status. Pet parents are typically extremely protective of their furry babies, and concerned about their health.
Much like new parents, new pet parents will have their phone galleries bursting with pictures of their darling pets, will take every opportunity to share endearing stories, and will invest both emotionally and financially into four legged additions to their families — be it for toys and entertainment, or even for their medical needs.
Emotional and Biological Bonds
Earlier considered a joke, now “my dog/cat is sick” is a perfectly legitimate reason to stay home from work or cancel plans, just like it used to be when a parent struggled with leaving a sick child at home.
Several scientific studies, including imaging of the brain, have shown that the parent’s brain responds similarly for both — in response to their child, as well as to their pets/dogs.
From veterinarian visits and vaccinations, to salon appointments, supervised physical activity, birthday parties, variety in meals and professional grooming — all leisures and services enjoyed by pet dogs and cats. Pet parents create routines, set up boundaries, and just like parents, make an effort to decipher their newborn child’s babbling, diligently figuring out communication patterns of their pets.
While many postpone parenthood in favour of becoming pet parents to test their ability to shoulder the responsibilities of a child, others tend to settle for being pet parents exclusively, due to a number of reasons. Cost of living has increased and with it disposable income.
However, quality of life has not improved at the same rate. Climate change, rising costs of higher education, joblessness and other factors are increasingly detering young couples from parenthood.
The lifestyle choice especially picked up during the pandemic, as bringing home a pet was a way to find some joy and entertainment in our extremely sheltered realities.
At the time, pets were being adopted and abandoned at high rates as well, with animal shelters complaining that adopting and raising an animal should not be taken lightly, and cannot be treated as a solution to boredom, depression, or isolation. Post-pandemic, the incidence of couples preferring to be pet parents has evidently sustained and even increased.
