DINKY

DINKY is an acronym and can stand for any of the following:

• Dual (or double) income, no kids.
• Dual (or double) income, no kids yet.
• Dual (or double) income, no kids yuppie.

DINKY is occasionally used (in the UK, Canada, India, and China) to describe a high-earning couple who choose not to have children and are therefore able to afford a more expensive consumer lifestyle than those with families. The term was coined during the 1980s, at the height of "yuppie" culture. The post-2000 economic crises have made this social pattern more permanent.^[1]

A version of the acronym, DINK, is still used in the United States, South Korea, and Japan; especially for a subset of yuppies. DINK is sometimes used in reference to gay and lesbian couples who are childless.^[2] This may also be a more appropriate term for heterosexual couples who prefer not to have children and consider themselves childfree.

Another version of the acronym, DINKER, can stand for "dual income, no kids, early retirement".

Some marketers have proposed yappie as a term to describe similar couples who do have children.^[3]

An "opposite" term, mainly intended as a joke, is SITCOM: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wouter van Gils/Gerbert Kraaykamp, The Emergence of Dual-Earner Couples. A Longitudinal Study of the Netherlands, in: International Sociology, Jg. 23, 2008, p. 345-366
2. ^ Cf. Chasin, A., Selling Out: The Gay and Lesbian Movement Goes to Market, New York: Palgrave, 2000; Fejes, F., “Advertising and the Political Economy of Lesbian/Gay Identity”, in E. R. Meehan and E. Riordan (eds.), Sex & Money: Feminism and Political Economy in the Media, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.
3. ^ http://www.cim.co.uk/cim/ser/html/infQuiGlo.cfm?letter=Y
4. ^ http://www.jokebuddha.com/joke/Fun_with_words_1

See also

• Dinky (disambiguation)
• Pink dollar
• Childfree