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People keep pointing to how "expensive" it is to have kids, however I see rich, well off people having fewer and fewer kids. I really think deep down the reaso
by sarimkx 2y ago
People keep pointing to how "expensive" it is to have kids, however I see rich, well off people having fewer and fewer kids.
I really think deep down the reasons are social and societal. The decline of the family system, religion, and traditional values have all led to this.
Look around. People just don't want kids (no matter the money). They don't like to admit this but they find it burdensome. They want "freedom". At least this is my observation.
I find this to be more common in America than in other western countries.
As one American friend put it: "Americans love their granite counter tops more than they love their children".
- OkayPhysicist 2y agoIf you look at the actual numbers, it's not the rich having fewer children over time. The people with (some) money (defined here as 2x the poverty rate) have fewer children, period, but they're not causing the DECREASE in birthrate, because they've always had fewer children, and that hasn't changed much. The birthrate among poor people, though, has plummeted since 2008. It absolutely is an economic issue, and you get what you pay for. If people are not secure in their current status, they're not going to risk poverty to have kids. Children need to be cared for, and that means either professional childcare (which is expensive, since the professional needs to make enough to survive off of a handful of kids) or giving up half of a household's income.
- medvezhenok 2y agoThe other factor is the drop in teen pregnancy. I think the birth rate for 26-35 hasn’t changed as much as the teen birth rate has dropped (which is correlated with poverty)