Kids are expensive + fear if you have complications in a state that will jail you if you have complications.
My job involves meeting with clients and whether or not they have kids comes into play. Now, there is a bit of self-selection against kids for the people I work with so I wouldn't use my numbers to mean anything, but it is surprising to me that only about 10% of them have or are planning to have kids. Most of my clients are couples, the average age is early 40s, and the vast majority can afford kids, so if they had any intention it'd probably have happened.
My partner and I aren't having kids, though we could, and neither are most of the couples I know.
No it's really not that simple.Less people are interested in getting married and having kids for a multitude of reasons.
Our entire economic and welfare system is based around having enough working young people to pay for the elderly who can no longer work. Free health care, retirement pensions, and other social welfare will collapse. Not to mention our entire economic system is based on growth.The world is incredibly overpopulated. I fail to see how it's a bad thing that we are below the replacement rate, frankly.
Thank you for always posting this in these threads.I like how these topics are always centered around the economy and how we need people who can get pregnant to give birth like we're fucking cattle or something to keep it going.
Instead of inventing incentives that can never makeup for the risk taken or invent desire where it doesn't exist, maybe we should reconsider infinite growth.
Just kidding that won't happen and in many countries they'll attack reproductive rights and go back to vilifying people who dare to not want to use their bodies for the sake of society. This forum skews so heavily male that I think the burden being asked here just doesn't click.
I agree it's much easier and that is certainly a significant factor.
It actually kind of is that simple. We've seen a steady rise of LARC bc, and a steady decline in unplanned pregnancies which at one point accounted for 51% of pregnancies in the country in the late 20th century. Access to abortion also allows for 40% of unplanned pregnancies to be terminated.
I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons why people do not want to be pregnant or plan to have children, but it's simply easier to plan to not have children than ever before (or well that's currently being eroded but it has been) no matter the reason why you want or don't want children.
I wonder if things get to dire in a sense that they would just make it easier to immigrate.
Whatever country will have to decide "We will just live with crisis until our people/civilization collapses or we can just tell immigrants to come over here and we will pay for your move and set you in housing until you get settled and have a job."
It actually kind of is that simple. We've seen a steady rise of LARC bc, and a steady decline in unplanned pregnancies which at one point accounted for 51% of pregnancies in the country in the late 20th century. Access to abortion also allows for 40% of unplanned pregnancies to be terminated.
I'm sure there are a multitude of reasons why people do not want to be pregnant or plan to have children, but it's simply easier to plan to not have children than ever before (or well that's currently being eroded but it has been) no matter the reason why you want or don't want children.
It's that hard? I'm not trying to put you down or maybe there's something I'm missing when I see posts like these on affordability. I had a 6yo and a newborn when we made a combined income of 80-90k and made it through. This is about an 45 mins outside the GTA.Me and my wife are late 20s / early 30s and make $150k+ between us, but can no way afford to have a kid right now. We definitely think we want them, but want to be making at least $200k+ to be more comfortable
It's that hard? I'm not trying to put you down or maybe there's something I'm missing when I see posts like these on affordability. I had a 6yo and a newborn when we made a combined income of 80-90k and made it through. This is about an 45 mins outside the GTA.
Me and my GF are DILDO's (Dual Income Little Dog Only) and we don't plan to change that ever.
That doesn't make sense, frankly. It's not a matter of blame or guilt. It's just the reality of civilization. We're either over the replacement line or we aren't. You always want to be over the line.
"Past increases" were what kept us over the line. If we didn't grow in the past, we wouldn't be here now.
I don't blame anyone for not having kids. I don't have them myself. But we have to understand the implications and put in work to try and reverse the trend. (If possible, it might not be) By "we" I mean government, not each of us individually.
Fundamentally USA is in very low fertility rate for 50 years straight, other developed countries are in a similar position. The only reason USA/Canada look so good in terms of population growth is the immigration. There is absolutely no reversal of this trend, women who receive education are infinitely less likely to have a lot of kids, if any, and to even discuss such a thing is reprehensible.
The solution at the government level is basically to attract foreigners and hoping that it will be enough. But the rest of the world is catching up in lowering the fertility, and who knows what's next after that.
For reference, the average daycare cost for one child (in Denver) is $1,500/mo. For daycare.
Who can afford that, and on top of everything else? Of course no one wants kids in this 2024 silent depression.
I'm in the younger millennial cohort at 33. I now have a 13 and 7 year old.There is a massive difference even within a generation. I saw a presentation recently that discussed how much more likely older millennials (38-43) vs younger millennials (28-33) were to having a "healthy" 401k, own property and have kids. Anecdotally, I find this true when comparing my college friends vs my brother's. Life has gotten a lot more expensive for the "younger" generation.
So as soon as I stop having kids the rates go down?
Time to go wake up the wife. We got work to do.
It's that hard? I'm not trying to put you down or maybe there's something I'm missing when I see posts like these on affordability. I had a 6yo and a newborn when we made a combined income of 80-90k and made it through. This is about an 45 mins outside the GTA.
I'm single and gay so I'm obviously not a metric here, but I can't imaging having a child right now if I were partnered up. Insurance goes up, groceries go up, cost of medicl care goes up, transportation goes up...wages, lol. Maybe some day these articles will be like "it's capitalism, actually."
Is there a comparison of trends for countries with robust safety nets and sane parental leave in comparison to the US?
This Malthusian nonsense again; the world is not overpopulated..please stop saying this..it is literal misinformation.The world is incredibly overpopulated. I fail to see how it's a bad thing that we are below the replacement rate, frankly.
The world is incredibly overpopulated. I fail to see how it's a bad thing that we are below the replacement rate, frankly.
This Malthusian nonsense again; the world is not overpopulated..please stop saying this..it is literal misinformation.
Among people I know this would still be considered young lol. Most are waiting until well into their 30s for even just one kid.
sadly true
the problem is with it not being a steady decline, if the population pyramid is too wieghted towards ""useless" (economiclly speaking) elderly, that would make all the set systmes for taking care of them fail, not enough doctors, not enough money for pensions, not enough care houses for the elderly.It may not be overpopulated, but it wouldn't hurt to have less population either.