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> For my wife and I we didn’t really want kids in he first place and we’re much better off for it. And that's the crux of the issue: Individuals in most wester
by chmod775 1y ago
> For my wife and I we didn’t really want kids in he first place and we’re much better off for it.
And that's the crux of the issue: Individuals in most western societies are currently better off not having children, while society as a whole absolutely needs individuals to have a certain amount of children or run into serious issues down the line.
Many societies (for example South Korea) are feeling this more and more. Way too many old people and not enough young to run the country and take care of the old. In those places not enough is being done supporting those who chose to have children for everyone's sake.
Foregoing children and having saved for retirement does not mean much if in 40 years you're competing for the now extremely limited basic services against people who are in the same boat. Worse, young people may now decide that they don't feel like feeding and providing for a large population of old people through sky-high taxes and being the victim of rent-seeking. They just might throw in the towel and leave for a more functional country, using their now higher income to support their own parents, but none of the others. Who now takes care of the childless?
It's going to be human misery on a scale you would expect to see in a modern society.
- chrsw 1y ago> In those places not enough is being done supporting those who chose to have children for everyone's sake. Who is going to pay for other people's kids?
- chmod775 1y agoYes, that's precisely the mindset that's going to bite them down the line - is already biting some.
- chrsw 1y agoFor many people it's not a question of mindset. There's simply no money to do that.
- ip26 1y agoAt a national level, it’s hard to see how (assuming the country grows enough food and has other basic necessities) it is possible for the country to be “unable to afford” children, Baumol be damned.
- chrsw 1y agoJust because we have more billionaires than ever doesn’t mean a lot people aren’t struggling. Back in the day, someone could pay for a mortgage, wife, and kids with one job without a college degree. Where I live, that’s not happening.
- chmod775 1y agoThere's never been a time in the history of mankind when there was greater abundance than now, but we suddenly cannot afford children anymore? Maybe we ought to task scientists with figuring out what precious secret to raising children mankind forgot when we were too preoccupied with discovering fire and electricity. Hopefully they left us some carving in a deer antler that will give us insight into their superior budgeting skills. I'm sorry, but that's absolute nonsense.
- mensetmanusman 1y agoA life contribution is on average $10,000,000 to the US economy. Opportunity cost of a kid for the parents is currently around $500,000. Subsidizing babies with three zeros has no effect.
- comrade1234 1y agoIt’s funny - I had lunch today with a woman from South Korea who has a phd in physics from Harvard (not MIT - confusing) and she said she “doesnt like babies” and will never have children. Most people I know with higher degrees don’t have children even though they have the means to support them.