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Not surprised by this: >” Childless adults as a group were more educated than parents.” A little surprised by this: >”Poverty rates are higher among childles

Not surprised by this: >” Childless adults as a group were more educated than parents.” A little surprised by this: >”Poverty rates are higher among childless older adults than they are among older parents.”

shakow 5y ago
> A little surprised by this It seems to me that not birthing children when one is not financially safe makes sense; having children is, in some ways, a luxury now that a two-incomes household is the norm.
- hn8788 5y ago
  It makes sense, but people have always had kids that they couldn't afford. The statistic matches up with what I've experienced at work and with friends, where older people without children aren't as concerned with being responsible with their money because nobody depends on them for support, while the older people with kids are much more diligent about monitoring the amount of money they spend.
  - klipt 5y ago
    Poor people with kids also qualify for a lot more government benefits than poor people without kids. Although a lot of those benefits punish the parents for being married, i.e. if you want to maximize benefits it's better to be unmarried and maybe also not living together.
dcolkitt 5y ago
Adult children of senior citizens can help with light care that might otherwise require very expensive home health aids or senior care facilities.
dec0dedab0de 5y ago
I don't think it's that surprising. I know that If I didn't have a kid I definitely wouldn't have focused as much on getting raises over the years. If no one depended on me, I would have quit a few jobs for petty reasons, or even just because I wanted a break for a few months.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rchaud 5y ago
Seems to me like they did the math when they were younger. If they were below the poverty line as young adults, having children would have pushed them down further.
iammisc 5y ago
> Poverty rates are higher among childless older adults than they are among older parent Not surprising... Children won't let their parents become destitute
neutronicus 5y ago
I see a lot of older homeless around, and they don't seem to have children in tow. You may be confusing "in poverty" with merely "poor."
- klipt 5y ago
  Women with children are highly prioritized for housing assistance. That's why most homeless are men without children.
  - 131012 5y ago
    It is more dangerous for women to be homeless. This is why most homeless women make a lot of efforts to not appear as such, which might distort our conception of who are homeless.
    - Beaver117 5y ago
      Source?
newbamboo 5y ago
To say nothing of regionally adjusted poverty rates. The Bay Area is filled with highly educated who live as paupers compared to those in less expensive housing markets. Economic insecurity is known to be the cause of declining birth rates. We are increasingly urban and educated population. One can sort of “do the math.” Hard to raise a family paying $3200 a month to rent a small studio in the “trendyloin.”
scarecrowbob 5y ago
I'm 43 and have children who are 23 and 20. Having had kids really early in life forced me into taking steadier work than I might otherwise have. While I am grateful for that-- it's both easier to make money by programing computers than by playing music as well as all the goodness of having adult children-- it certainly pushed me into different situations. I have a lot of friends in their late 20s and early 30s and they are in situations where they are, say, climbing rocks for 6 months at a time before settling briefly in a place. It's likely that they are going to have a much different professional situation when they are my age. That seems to be the case with the 50-year-old former ski bums I know, at least.
- toast0 5y ago
  I suspect this has a lot to do with it. If having kids got you on the steady job train, and you stick with it after they leave (at 55+, I assume most children are at least not counted in household size for poverty income levels), then continuing the job when they leave will probably have you above poverty income. Not in response to your post, but on the general topic, there is a persistent issue in US statistics of using income levels to declare wealthiness. To me, having poverty level income only implies poverty if the person also has no savings. If the person has a lot of savings/investments and can retire and live off return of capital from 55-70, that may look like 15+ years of poverty in an older adult to statisticians looking at income number, but could be a very nice early retirement. Income is an easy number to get, because of mandatory reporting in dollars, but a single annual value doesn't tell a complete story.
  - scarecrowbob 5y ago
    I agree that income is far from wealth. I make a good income doing what I do, but I have a six-figure student loan (which largely went to raising my step daughter and son). I don't expect any sympathy for that. Nor do I expect sympathy for living in small town with a crazy real-estate market. But between those, it's likely I'll never retire and will die in debt. But hey, I do plan to take up paragliding and climbing bigger mountains, so whatever. I guess. But hey, I also funnel a lot of cash to my kiddo who is getting all-As and is a Junior in a well-respected Mechanical Engineering program. These are generational problems. I suspect that regardless of how you slice it, that fact about student loans (or lack of professional options for unsettled late-millenials) and real-estate is closer to the truth for most of the people I know who didn't settle down in their 20s and have kids. My climbing partner, who just got priced out of this town, might look like he's living in poverty, as he's living in a car. But it's a lexus and he's climbing rocks full time... so maybe he's just "retired" temporarilly. Who knows. I can't tell the difference between hobos and kings anymore.
MandieD 5y ago
Combined with the higher education levels of the childless older adults, that’s even more surprising at first glance. But after a bit more thought, having someone 20-40 years younger than you who feels a strong obligation to you when you’re not quite as sharp as you used to be could make a lot of difference in your finances.

shakow 5y ago

> A little surprised by this It seems to me that not birthing children when one is not financially safe makes sense; having children is, in some ways, a luxury now that a two-incomes household is the norm.

hn8788 5y ago
It makes sense, but people have always had kids that they couldn't afford. The statistic matches up with what I've experienced at work and with friends, where older people without children aren't as concerned with being responsible with their money because nobody depends on them for support, while the older people with kids are much more diligent about monitoring the amount of money they spend.
- klipt 5y ago
  Poor people with kids also qualify for a lot more government benefits than poor people without kids. Although a lot of those benefits punish the parents for being married, i.e. if you want to maximize benefits it's better to be unmarried and maybe also not living together.

dcolkitt 5y ago

Adult children of senior citizens can help with light care that might otherwise require very expensive home health aids or senior care facilities.

dec0dedab0de 5y ago

I don't think it's that surprising. I know that If I didn't have a kid I definitely wouldn't have focused as much on getting raises over the years. If no one depended on me, I would have quit a few jobs for petty reasons, or even just because I wanted a break for a few months.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

rchaud 5y ago

Seems to me like they did the math when they were younger. If they were below the poverty line as young adults, having children would have pushed them down further.

iammisc 5y ago

> Poverty rates are higher among childless older adults than they are among older parent Not surprising... Children won't let their parents become destitute

neutronicus 5y ago

I see a lot of older homeless around, and they don't seem to have children in tow. You may be confusing "in poverty" with merely "poor."

klipt 5y ago
Women with children are highly prioritized for housing assistance. That's why most homeless are men without children.
- 131012 5y ago
  It is more dangerous for women to be homeless. This is why most homeless women make a lot of efforts to not appear as such, which might distort our conception of who are homeless.
  - Beaver117 5y ago
    Source?

newbamboo 5y ago

To say nothing of regionally adjusted poverty rates. The Bay Area is filled with highly educated who live as paupers compared to those in less expensive housing markets. Economic insecurity is known to be the cause of declining birth rates. We are increasingly urban and educated population. One can sort of “do the math.” Hard to raise a family paying $3200 a month to rent a small studio in the “trendyloin.”

scarecrowbob 5y ago

I'm 43 and have children who are 23 and 20. Having had kids really early in life forced me into taking steadier work than I might otherwise have. While I am grateful for that-- it's both easier to make money by programing computers than by playing music as well as all the goodness of having adult children-- it certainly pushed me into different situations. I have a lot of friends in their late 20s and early 30s and they are in situations where they are, say, climbing rocks for 6 months at a time before settling briefly in a place. It's likely that they are going to have a much different professional situation when they are my age. That seems to be the case with the 50-year-old former ski bums I know, at least.

toast0 5y ago
I suspect this has a lot to do with it. If having kids got you on the steady job train, and you stick with it after they leave (at 55+, I assume most children are at least not counted in household size for poverty income levels), then continuing the job when they leave will probably have you above poverty income. Not in response to your post, but on the general topic, there is a persistent issue in US statistics of using income levels to declare wealthiness. To me, having poverty level income only implies poverty if the person also has no savings. If the person has a lot of savings/investments and can retire and live off return of capital from 55-70, that may look like 15+ years of poverty in an older adult to statisticians looking at income number, but could be a very nice early retirement. Income is an easy number to get, because of mandatory reporting in dollars, but a single annual value doesn't tell a complete story.
- scarecrowbob 5y ago
  I agree that income is far from wealth. I make a good income doing what I do, but I have a six-figure student loan (which largely went to raising my step daughter and son). I don't expect any sympathy for that. Nor do I expect sympathy for living in small town with a crazy real-estate market. But between those, it's likely I'll never retire and will die in debt. But hey, I do plan to take up paragliding and climbing bigger mountains, so whatever. I guess. But hey, I also funnel a lot of cash to my kiddo who is getting all-As and is a Junior in a well-respected Mechanical Engineering program. These are generational problems. I suspect that regardless of how you slice it, that fact about student loans (or lack of professional options for unsettled late-millenials) and real-estate is closer to the truth for most of the people I know who didn't settle down in their 20s and have kids. My climbing partner, who just got priced out of this town, might look like he's living in poverty, as he's living in a car. But it's a lexus and he's climbing rocks full time... so maybe he's just "retired" temporarilly. Who knows. I can't tell the difference between hobos and kings anymore.

MandieD 5y ago

Combined with the higher education levels of the childless older adults, that’s even more surprising at first glance. But after a bit more thought, having someone 20-40 years younger than you who feels a strong obligation to you when you’re not quite as sharp as you used to be could make a lot of difference in your finances.