Pets, Pets and More Pets

The Turner College's Butler Center for Research and Economic Development was recently contacted by Cameron Sanders of WRBL-News3 concerning the growing trend of choosing pet ownership over parenthood in the U.S. and the economic factors contributing to delayed parenthood among younger generations. Sanders noted that according to a Harris poll survey in 2014, 43% of Gen Z and Millennials prefer having pets over children. The Director of the Butler Center, and the Sarah T. Butler Professor of Economics, Fady Mansour, indicated that much of this trend is due to the cost of child rearing in the U.S. After reviewing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on how much Americans spend on pets, Mansour state, “We spend a lot, like $180 billion a year on pets, but still it’s cheaper than education and kids and all that.” Sanders adds that while some would say raising a child is a priceless experience, some Millennials are putting a halt to the process. “Honestly, for people who know that they’re not ready for that responsibility to have a child, that it is better for the child’s case or, you know, the child that’s not being had, to have a pet instead of, you know, growing up in an unfortunate family situation,” said Turner College marketing major Jordan Mills, an Economic Research Assistant in the Butler Center. One CSU student who works at a grocery store described to Sanders how the price of providing has become overwhelming. “I’m able to see the prices changing, and they’re not getting any lower for baby food,” said CSU freshman Jeremiah Joliff. “All the stuff that you need to take care of a baby, to feed the baby, to make sure that the baby is getting everything it needs, it’s steadily increasing.” However, even with rising costs, Mansour emphasizes that pets aren’t the answer to the rising cost of living. “There is a correlation, but I don’t think this is a valid answer for this question, or to why people should not replace children with pets,” Mansour said. “I think my advice in this situation is to keep having children. And you can still have pets, you know, it’s a good thing. But that shouldn’t be a substitute.” Sanders concludes by pointing out that along with the economic factors and the decision to delay parenthood, some experts also say the Covid experience left Millennials and Gen Z feeling alone and they use pets to fill that loneliness.

A LinkedIn post created just yesterday by Turner College graduate Blake Edwards, known on social media as The Quiet Wealth Dad, relates to the Butler Center's reaction to the trend of pet ownership over child rearing in the U.S. Edwards' post begins by asking why anyone would want a pet, given that "they're terrible investments, they depreciate quickly, they smell, they cost money, they shed everywhere, they limit travel, they're loud, and they leave us way too soon." The last point here is the key to Edward's transition to the reasons to have a pet, which include the fact that "they greet you at the door, they sit in your lap, they make you laugh, they cheer you up on bad days, they're loyal, they're loving, and they remind you to slow down." Blake and his wife Chelsea, also a CSU grad, have children together. So, for them pets aren't a substitute. They have pets as well, leading to Edwards' last sentiment. "Some returns of investment [i.e., pets] can't be measured in dollars."

It's interesting with all of this talk about pets that the American Journal of Economics and Sociology published a special issue titled Animals and Humans in September 2025. One study therein by Richard Cebula of the University of Tennessee, a long-time colleague of Turner College economist Frank Mixon, provides an exploration of the factors that influence interstate differentials in the percentage of families that provide a home for one or more dogs. Based on data for the contiguous 48 states over the period 2008–2016, Cebula and his coauthors, Gigi Alexander of Spirit of the Paws and Richard Hollingsworth of the University of West Georgia, report that the percentage of family units with one or more dogs is an increasing function of the percentage of the population that owns its own home, that lives in a warmer climate, and the percent of the population without a high school diploma. In addition, the percentage of family units consisting of one or more dogs is a decreasing function of the overall cost of living, the unemployment rate, and population density.

All of this discussion takes us back to Mixon, who, in 1996, published a study in the Atlantic Economic Journal on the consumption of pet companionship and the allocation of time. In the study, Mixon and his coauthor Rand Ressler of the University of Louisiana, construct a mathematical model of the in-home "production" of pet companionship using market goods (e.g., food, vet care) and time as inputs into that process. This approach allows for the isolation of the time costs of pet companionship, which is beneficial in explaining why Americans were, from 1983-1991, substituting cat ownership, with its relatively low time cost, for dog ownership, with its relatively high time cost.