27 ms·

You act like Millenials don't already have children, when the oldest members of that cohort are 37.

brightball 8y ago
That's because it's a known trend: https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephcoughlin/2018/06/11/millennials-arent-having-kids-heres-why-thats-a-problem-for-baby-boomer-real-estate-retirement/#14aafc7a2058 https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephcoughlin/2018/06/11/mille... https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/singletons/201804/should-we-worry-about-millennials-not-having-babies https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/singletons/201804/sh... https://www.parents.com/parents-magazine/parents-perspective/millennials-arent-planning-on-having-children-should-we-worry/ https://www.parents.com/parents-magazine/parents-perspective... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/upshot/americans-are-having-fewer-babies-they-told-us-why.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/upshot/americans-are-havi...
- village-idiot 8y ago
  Yeah, so that reinforces my point. Millenials aren't going to buy up those suburban homes.
  - brightball 8y ago
    Because they aren't having kids... Not because there's a problem with the homes or the locations. It's because somehow, an entire generation has grown up with the idea that the one biologically necessary act to further the survival of the species...is not a good idea. Maybe it's marketing, maybe it's the message, maybe it's the intensity of school causing people to believe that workaholism is necessary, maybe it's pride that working for somebody else is more important to people than raising a family and maybe it's student loan debt making the idea of the costs of raising kids difficult to bear, maybe it's culture that has changed the relationships between potential parents enough to make them incompatible. Whatever it is, something serious has happened to cause that many people to go against biology.
    - WoahNow 8y ago
      Or maybe people realize the raising kids is an enormous cost from both money and time. Maybe it's selfish, but myself and many of my millennial friends would rather spend their prime earning and health years doing what they want rather than what they "have to" do for kids.
      - toasterlovin 8y ago
        Just do yourself a favor and think long and hard about whether or not that's going to sustain you for the remainder of your 70-80 years on this planet.
        chc 8y ago
        Maybe not, but having kids doesn't seem particularly more likely to sustain them, does it?
        toasterlovin 8y ago
        Kids are the easiest, most straightforward way to give purpose to your life. You can find purpose in other ways, but kids are pretty much a sure bet. If you're not going to have kids, you should have at least given some thought to what else is going to keep you moored. That's all I'm advocating for.
      - borkt 8y ago
        Yeah, also costs are rising at an insane rate. Health care and college are both an order of magnitude higher than they were when millenials were children, and even then many of us saw our parents work hard and still not build any savings until their kids were on their own. I haven't bothered looking for it but it would be interesting to see the difference in cost of raising a child over the past century
    - village-idiot 8y ago
      Shaming people for intensely personal choices is rude. Cut it out. Your argument basically presupposes that there’s something desirable about suburban homes, and that people not buying them is abnormal. I find this both unconvincing and historically incoherent.
toomuchtodo 8y ago
Anecdote of one. 36, wife and two kids. Have a quarter acre of land, a pool, and a 2600 sq ft house in a Tier 2 city for ~$200k. Why would I ever choose higher density and city living? I would not pay more for a lower quality of life (and distance means little to me, as I work from home and my kids don't go to school). I happily bought my suburban home instead of living close to others in a condo or a townhouse.
- village-idiot 8y ago
  Buying suburban for me would replace my 30m walking commute for a 1.5h driving commute, all for a yard I wouldn't have time to use with my commute. Not a good trade for me. I also don't have any kids and won't be having them.
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Fair points. My commute is 20 minutes (long enough for one NPR podcast and a Dunkin Dounts coffee on the way), and I only go into the office a few days each month. My employer even installed an EV charger for me!
    - village-idiot 8y ago
      That sounds about perfect for a driving commute.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
  - chrissnell 8y ago
    How old are you? I was quite sure that I wouldn't have kids, either, but I randomly met a nice girl who lived in the (urban) apartment upstairs from me and next thing I knew, I was 38, married, and watching my son being born. It comes at you fast and unexpected and it wasn't at all the life-ruining thing that I was sure it was when I was 28. Here in my early 40s, my only regret is not doing it earlier.

That's because it's a known trend: https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephcoughlin/2018/06/11/millennials-arent-having-kids-heres-why-thats-a-problem-for-baby-boomer-real-estate-retirement/#14aafc7a2058 https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephcoughlin/2018/06/11/mille... https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/singletons/201804/should-we-worry-about-millennials-not-having-babies https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/singletons/201804/sh... https://www.parents.com/parents-magazine/parents-perspective/millennials-arent-planning-on-having-children-should-we-worry/ https://www.parents.com/parents-magazine/parents-perspective... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/upshot/americans-are-having-fewer-babies-they-told-us-why.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/upshot/americans-are-havi...

village-idiot 8y ago
Yeah, so that reinforces my point. Millenials aren't going to buy up those suburban homes.
- brightball 8y ago
  Because they aren't having kids... Not because there's a problem with the homes or the locations. It's because somehow, an entire generation has grown up with the idea that the one biologically necessary act to further the survival of the species...is not a good idea. Maybe it's marketing, maybe it's the message, maybe it's the intensity of school causing people to believe that workaholism is necessary, maybe it's pride that working for somebody else is more important to people than raising a family and maybe it's student loan debt making the idea of the costs of raising kids difficult to bear, maybe it's culture that has changed the relationships between potential parents enough to make them incompatible. Whatever it is, something serious has happened to cause that many people to go against biology.
  - WoahNow 8y ago
    Or maybe people realize the raising kids is an enormous cost from both money and time. Maybe it's selfish, but myself and many of my millennial friends would rather spend their prime earning and health years doing what they want rather than what they "have to" do for kids.
    - toasterlovin 8y ago
      Just do yourself a favor and think long and hard about whether or not that's going to sustain you for the remainder of your 70-80 years on this planet.
      - chc 8y ago
        Maybe not, but having kids doesn't seem particularly more likely to sustain them, does it?
        toasterlovin 8y ago
        Kids are the easiest, most straightforward way to give purpose to your life. You can find purpose in other ways, but kids are pretty much a sure bet. If you're not going to have kids, you should have at least given some thought to what else is going to keep you moored. That's all I'm advocating for.
    - borkt 8y ago
      Yeah, also costs are rising at an insane rate. Health care and college are both an order of magnitude higher than they were when millenials were children, and even then many of us saw our parents work hard and still not build any savings until their kids were on their own. I haven't bothered looking for it but it would be interesting to see the difference in cost of raising a child over the past century
  - village-idiot 8y ago
    Shaming people for intensely personal choices is rude. Cut it out. Your argument basically presupposes that there’s something desirable about suburban homes, and that people not buying them is abnormal. I find this both unconvincing and historically incoherent.

toomuchtodo 8y ago

Anecdote of one. 36, wife and two kids. Have a quarter acre of land, a pool, and a 2600 sq ft house in a Tier 2 city for ~$200k. Why would I ever choose higher density and city living? I would not pay more for a lower quality of life (and distance means little to me, as I work from home and my kids don't go to school). I happily bought my suburban home instead of living close to others in a condo or a townhouse.

village-idiot 8y ago
Buying suburban for me would replace my 30m walking commute for a 1.5h driving commute, all for a yard I wouldn't have time to use with my commute. Not a good trade for me. I also don't have any kids and won't be having them.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Fair points. My commute is 20 minutes (long enough for one NPR podcast and a Dunkin Dounts coffee on the way), and I only go into the office a few days each month. My employer even installed an EV charger for me!
  - village-idiot 8y ago
    That sounds about perfect for a driving commute.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
- chrissnell 8y ago
  How old are you? I was quite sure that I wouldn't have kids, either, but I randomly met a nice girl who lived in the (urban) apartment upstairs from me and next thing I knew, I was 38, married, and watching my son being born. It comes at you fast and unexpected and it wasn't at all the life-ruining thing that I was sure it was when I was 28. Here in my early 40s, my only regret is not doing it earlier.