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Governments around the world need to make it easy to have kids. Not sure about Britan, but here in the USA it's prohibitively expensive to have a child let alon
by websap 5y ago
Governments around the world need to make it easy to have kids. Not sure about Britan, but here in the USA it's prohibitively expensive to have a child let alone 2. Couples of have to make tough decisions like quitting their job as they can't afford child care. Public schools are on average bad and gentrification keeps pricing people out. College costs are out of control.
- crate_barre 5y agoPeople can barely get the house to put the kid in. That’s the first milestone and if you can’t do that, you pretty much back off from all other shit. Oh, and dating in the west is a complete game. The East usually go by family connections, but in the West it’s a game and the game got super harder with social media and unrealistic expectations. So that’s a barrier too. I dunno, nothing feels normal anymore. Personal anecdote - I want to do all these things, but holy shit did it get harder and weirder.
- sokoloff 5y agoI did my dating before social media really took off, but my intuitive sense is that, for people who want to eventually settle down with a partner, the game will settle out on pretty close to “an ass for every saddle” just like it always has and that people complained it was hard N*10 years ago for every value of N. It’s hard because it takes a lot of your mental energy and feels very high-stakes. In the worst of the pandemic, I’ll adopt that it probably got legitimately harder, but that’s easing quickly now.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago> People can barely get the house to put the kid in. That’s the first milestone and if you can’t do that, you pretty much back off from all other shit. If you think buying a house is a prerequisite to having children, you don't know much about any past or current society.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- SCUSKU 5y agoIsn't the correct response to high costs of living to have fewer or no children? And if one willingly has children knowing full well they cannot provide, isn't that wrong? With reports like these, I feel that it makes sense that population growth is slowing considering homelessness and the like are rampant. Genuinely curious about your point of view.
- Swizec 5y ago> Isn't the correct response to high costs of living to have fewer or no children? The rational response for an individual or a couple is to not have kids. That's why we're seeing so many articles about "omg the birthrate!". People aren't having kids, it's too hard. From a nation perspective, however, you will die out as a people if you have negative population growth. Immigration can boost the numbers for a while, but not forever. Especially not if you're also trying to keep the immigrants out as many conservative policies are. So what is there to do? Governments need to make having children easier, if they want more children. If they do not in fact want more children, then all is good. However the current economic policy is based on infinite growth. How are you going to infinitely grow an economy if you aren't producing more consumers?
- tehjoker 5y agoThe high costs of living don't come from legitimate sources. High education prices, housing, etc are all assaults by the upper classes that now own the vast majority of the wealth of the country. The proper response to a biologically insufficient distribution of resources is to take from those that have more rather than make do with less.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago> Isn't the correct response to high costs of living to have fewer or no children? And if one willingly has children knowing full well they cannot provide, isn't that wrong? No one in a Western country is unable to afford children. What's happening is that they believe they can't afford children, but they are wrong.
- pyuser583 5y agoTheres a good book called “Selfish Reasons to have more kids.” It relies on happiness studies and “regrets” survivors to argue that childlessness/few children is irrational. People are happier and more content when they have more children. And the numbers, in terms of reported and assessed contentment are massive. A lot of the “is it rational to have more kids” thinking relies on narrow versions of happiness and self-interest, rather than the broader definitions of happiness which people actually experience. Regarding the issue of “whether you can provide” … it’s common for people to come to America from foreign countries with very large families. And they provide for their kids. And the kids often do quite well.
- lowbloodsugar 5y agoAre you mental? Governments around the world need to make it extremely hard to have kids. It won't happen of course, because the entire capitalist system relies on increased consumption. So we, as a species, will just keep fucking until societal and species collapse. Go us. I think what you mean is "I want to have kids and other US Tax Payers should pay for me to have them." You get that college costs are out of control simply because there are too many people, right? There's too many people of college age. There's too many people for the jobs that don't need a degree, so now you need a degree, so now even more people need to go. And hey, the government passed a law so that you could borrow easily (so, hey, they are helping you out!), but that just means that more people can compete for places, driving prices up! Or did you want the government to just help you and your kids out? Not sure what you're asking for here.
- elzbardico 5y agoMake sure you die before old age so our kids don't have to work caring for old you
- lowbloodsugar 5y agoLol, you think that's how it works? You think the USA takes care of its old people? Or are you pointing out that social security, despite supposedly being a fund that I pay into to fund my retirement, is actually just a giant pyramid scheme. And if you know its a giant ponzi scheme, then you are on the side of "everyone keep fucking to keep the ponzi rolling". When the oil runs out, and the phosphate is gone, just remember that a few billion more kids and we'll be fine, right? Just keep fucking.
- Texaner 5y agoIt's even harder in Europe in some ways. Housing is expensive there too and while you got free education and Healthcare, the salaries are much lower than the US. Source: look at the birth rates in Europe vs US.