Are you a PANK--Professional Aunt No Kids?
Filed under: Kids and Money, Shopping
Retailers are glomming onto a new category of spender, the woman who hasn't had kids yet, but dotes on her nieces, nephews, godkids or any special kid in her life. They call us PANKs, Professional Aunt No Kids. I've been in this demographic for a while and at first I wasn't sure how I felt about my new name.
Surely I fit the bill. I love having my seven nieces and nephews visit me and finding presents for them. But they're heading off to college now. So, I made myself the unofficial godmother of a friend's wonderful (but godparentless) middle school daughter, hoping to extend my reign as the cool aunt.
The Charlotte Observer reports that because women are increasingly putting off having kids and while they don't have any of their own, they do have money to spend on other people's kids. A Census report on fertility shows that 20% of women aged 40 to 44 don't have any kids, up from 10% 30 years ago. More than a quarter of women aged 30-34 have no kids.
"People are just starting to realize how huge this segment is," Melanie Notkin, founder of SavvyAuntie.com, told the Observer. "We're talking about all the cool aunts, all the great-aunts, godmothers and women who have special children in their lives, but who may not be part of the Mommy Club." Ok, if you put it like that, I guess I'm a PANK.
Surely I fit the bill. I love having my seven nieces and nephews visit me and finding presents for them. But they're heading off to college now. So, I made myself the unofficial godmother of a friend's wonderful (but godparentless) middle school daughter, hoping to extend my reign as the cool aunt.
The Charlotte Observer reports that because women are increasingly putting off having kids and while they don't have any of their own, they do have money to spend on other people's kids. A Census report on fertility shows that 20% of women aged 40 to 44 don't have any kids, up from 10% 30 years ago. More than a quarter of women aged 30-34 have no kids.
"People are just starting to realize how huge this segment is," Melanie Notkin, founder of SavvyAuntie.com, told the Observer. "We're talking about all the cool aunts, all the great-aunts, godmothers and women who have special children in their lives, but who may not be part of the Mommy Club." Ok, if you put it like that, I guess I'm a PANK.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-04-2008 @ 1:28PM
Stephen said...
What about PUNK? Professional Uncle No kids!? that's me. Love to spend money on my nephew!
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 2:14PM
chris said...
We have friends who are DINKS Double Income No Kids. They even named their boat dinks.
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 3:12PM
kellyguard said...
Hurrah for slang/nicknames that isn't offensive to those of us who refuse to give in to what society says we should do before 30: HAVE KIDS. I refuse to, my boyfriend LOVES the fact that we won't have them after we get married, and I don't have time...yet everywhere I go people look at me like I'm a "spinster" or "ball-busting career woman". nope...I'm a PANK....and proud of it.
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 3:46PM
SparklsPd said...
Hey, be as proud as you want of being a PANK. We all were too, before we had kids. But don't kid yourself that "society" says you have to have your kids before age 30. That's your body talking. Women who think they can have a baby whenever they feel like it are sadly surprised when faced with infertility. Your body, not society, says you should have children during your bioligical childbearing years.
9-05-2008 @ 3:18PM
Paul said...
I'm a single professional adult, no kids. Does that make me a SPANK?
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 3:18PM
Mike Hunt said...
I KNOW SOME SKANKS !
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 4:48PM
Tiffany said...
I like that!! I realized that I am a SKANK - Single Kidlike Adult No Kids. I am enjoying my "second childhood" while my friends are starting in on having second children, buying houses, etc. So I buy the kids souvenirs when I'm traveling or clothes when I'm shopping.
9-05-2008 @ 3:25PM
Tonya said...
We use to be a DINK. Just recently I decided to take a break from the "rat race". So when I introduce myself as a "housewife"..I'm always asked how may children I have. You would think I sprouted two heads when I say none. And then say I probably won't have any, any time soon. I love being a PANK. And so do my friends. It takes some of the guilt off of them for not being able to spend as much time or money on their kids.
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 3:33PM
Butterfly Moon said...
I finally have a title! At last count, 34 "kids" (1 to 42 years old) call me "Aunt Pauler". I'm best known for "Homework Helper Hotline" during the school year. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
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9-05-2008 @ 4:31PM
Sue said...
Who makes up these stupid terms?
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 5:21PM
bill said...
I guess this makes my wife and I TOF's. (Tired old Fa#ts) since all our kids are grown and we're happy to be DONE.
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 5:32PM
Rhys said...
I'm pretty sure "pank" is also a term used for female anatomy. At least, my boyfriend has porn with "pank" right there in the title. Not very flattering! Thanks
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 7:42PM
Auntief said...
AuntieF and UncleD are the biggest PANK & PUNK around. We love doting and spending on our twin nieces. Sometimes we are even Auntie & Uncle Sucker! Anything the girls want, all they have to do is ask! Suddenly, as if by magic, the request is granted! We love our roles in the girls lives!
Reply
9-05-2008 @ 8:07PM
Michele said...
How unfortunate for those wonderful Uncles (my brother) who are professional uncles no kids. They deserve a better acronym that PUNK.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 12:24PM
E.A. said...
my brother is a former punk (blue mohawk) and a current PUNK.
9-06-2008 @ 6:44AM
RatMan said...
Hey, I don't mind being called a PUNK! I love to spend my money on my nieces and nephews. I'm also their backup when Mom and Dad lose their cool with the kids.
I was there for each one's birth and I helped raise Mom when she was born!
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 8:38AM
TEE JAY said...
WHAT KIDS THESE DAYS IS MORE S P A N K S.........AND LESS P A N K S......HEY PARENTS....PARENT.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 8:47AM
Marie said...
I don't have kids and I don't enjoy overspending on other people's kids, relatives not withstanding. Poor me, I have no acronynm.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 8:55AM
dog said...
42 and made it,, no kids... Thank goodness. It was a rough ride but I pulled it off. LOL But I am a DONK dog owner no kids. I will buy anything for someones dog,,, but I am not spending a dime on a snot nose kid. YUCK.
Reply
9-06-2008 @ 9:13AM
Veronica said...
The more kids you have, the less TIME, ENERGY and MONEY you have for those kids. Some people have kids like obtaining a spouse, house, car, kid, kid, kid, kid......oh, I have 7 kids! I think to myself "what a jerk." For a year, my neighbor would interject into every conversation, "I don't have the time for this, I have 3 kids!!" as if she were the only person on Earth with more than 2 kids! Absurd. I was a PANK for many years, too and loved it. It helped prepare me for my own kids when I had them, too. Unfortunately all my nieces and nephews were grown and gone by the time I had mine, but that's a story for another time! thanks for letting me ramble!
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