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> Having a kid in the US is retirement-suicide at best, if you're not rich. Not having kids will create other problems for retirees. Retirement is fundamentall
by dmm 4y ago
> Having a kid in the US is retirement-suicide at best, if you're not rich.
Not having kids will create other problems for retirees. Retirement is fundamentally the working supporting the retired. In 1940 there were 42 workers for every retiree in the US. Today there are three and by 2030 there will be two. Three to two may not sound like a lot but that's a 50% increase.
Retirement is going to be way, way more expensive in the future.
> so a good social safety net can't be all of the solution
Total fertility(# of kids per woman) is falling basically everywhere and nobody has found a way to increase it once it starts falling.
That doesn't mean a better social safety net is a bad idea but I don't think increasing fertility is great argument for it.
- tcmart14 4y agoI agree that increasing number of kids isn't the bullet proof argument for better safety nets especially because there are many factors. There are parts of this where it is true for my wife and I. Maybe if child care for a single kid wasn't consistently eating up large chunks of my paycheck for the past 4 years, I would have been less inclined to get a vasectomy after our 2nd. There is also the cultural aspect of, my Wife wants to be both a mother and have career. It is possible, but some fields or companies seem to disincentivize this. And there are many reasons for her to have both. First, she won't be a raising kids forever. Second, if our marriage falls apart or something happens to me, we both believe she should be able to be financially independent.
- NullPrefix 4y agoDon't understand why are you worried about # of kids per woman. Africa currently has a rate of over 4 kids per woman and I doubt the ~1% yearly decline in that rate is of any significance.