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I think it's two sides of the same coin - what was the cause of the breakdown? Either way, we're at a point where a lot of people are having kinds that they ha

I think it's two sides of the same coin - what was the cause of the breakdown? Either way, we're at a point where a lot of people are having kinds that they hadn't really planned for, or might not have wanted, or can't afford, or otherwise aren't able to give proper care to.

ashtonkem 6y ago
Arguably the latter is happening at the lowest rate in history, and for the first time we’re seeing the opposite. The average number of children that a woman wants in the western world is now about 1-1.5 higher than she will have on average, which means that women want more kids and choose not to for other reasons.
- orestarod 6y ago
  Proper care does not -only- mean adequate food. Indeed more children are properly fed than ever. There are various other aspects though. Your parents feeling you should be eternally enslaved to their desires for your whole life just because they made you, for example, is the norm, and as stated above, is an abomination. It creates enormous psychological stress and leads to - surprise! - broken families. Becoming materially independent from your parents is inevitable - and that's when what bonds really formed shows.
- resu_nimda 6y ago
  I do agree that things are getting better, but still: - In 2011, 45% of pregnancies in the US were unintended (as you note this is down from 54% in 2008, though it generally hovers around 50%) [1] - About half of the unintended pregnancies come from women that were attempting to use contraception. [2] - In 2001, 44% of US unintended pregnancies resulted in births. - It is estimated that more than half of US women have had an unintended pregnancy by age 45 This still seems like a huge drain on society. And, of course, this doesn't even begin to consider the eastern and developing worlds that are much farther behind. Also, this is not to argue that every unplanned pregnancy becomes an unmitigated disaster, I know there are many wonderful people that came from accidents. But I still think it would be a great milestone for humanity to reach a point where by default these things generally didn't happen. [1] https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-united-states https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-u... [2] http://shriverreport.org/why-are-50-percent-of-pregnancies-in-the-us-unplanned-adrienne-d-bonham/ http://shriverreport.org/why-are-50-percent-of-pregnancies-i... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_pregnancy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_pregnancy

ashtonkem 6y ago

Arguably the latter is happening at the lowest rate in history, and for the first time we’re seeing the opposite. The average number of children that a woman wants in the western world is now about 1-1.5 higher than she will have on average, which means that women want more kids and choose not to for other reasons.

orestarod 6y ago
Proper care does not -only- mean adequate food. Indeed more children are properly fed than ever. There are various other aspects though. Your parents feeling you should be eternally enslaved to their desires for your whole life just because they made you, for example, is the norm, and as stated above, is an abomination. It creates enormous psychological stress and leads to - surprise! - broken families. Becoming materially independent from your parents is inevitable - and that's when what bonds really formed shows.
resu_nimda 6y ago
I do agree that things are getting better, but still: - In 2011, 45% of pregnancies in the US were unintended (as you note this is down from 54% in 2008, though it generally hovers around 50%) [1] - About half of the unintended pregnancies come from women that were attempting to use contraception. [2] - In 2001, 44% of US unintended pregnancies resulted in births. - It is estimated that more than half of US women have had an unintended pregnancy by age 45 This still seems like a huge drain on society. And, of course, this doesn't even begin to consider the eastern and developing worlds that are much farther behind. Also, this is not to argue that every unplanned pregnancy becomes an unmitigated disaster, I know there are many wonderful people that came from accidents. But I still think it would be a great milestone for humanity to reach a point where by default these things generally didn't happen. [1] https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-united-states https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-u... [2] http://shriverreport.org/why-are-50-percent-of-pregnancies-in-the-us-unplanned-adrienne-d-bonham/ http://shriverreport.org/why-are-50-percent-of-pregnancies-i... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_pregnancy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_pregnancy