4 ms·
| also faces the challenge of middle class couples not | wanting to have children because of, among other | things, the enormous costs of child care. I fee
by pyre 14y ago
| also faces the challenge of middle class couples not
| wanting to have children because of, among other
| things, the enormous costs of child care. I feel
| like one problem is a built in solution to the other
| problem.
This assumes that your parents are willing and capable of childcare.
| we either tax working people more so the elderly can maintain
| independent lifestyles, or we reduce benefits to older
| people and force them to depend more on their children.
You're assuming that everyone elderly has children. How do you factor in reducing benefits to someone with no relatives to turn to?
[Queue, "they made their bed, now they should lay in it!" responses by extreme libertarians.]
- MartinCron 14y agoAnnoying pedantic guy here, I think you meant "cue" instead of queue. Extreme libertarianism isn't about waiting in line. That's extreme socialism, Soviet-style.
- pyre 14y agoRight you are, but I was picturing them queueing up to post an angry reply, so that's probably where the brain fart came from. :P
- Evbn 14y agoChildless adults save a lot of expenses, that money should be invested in golden-years care, not squandered on fancy vacations followed by a demand for an extra share of handout.
- pyre 14y agoYou're assuming that everyone is making boat-loads of money. You're also assuming that people without enough money have 'squandered' it on 'fancy vacations.'
- rayiner 14y agoI'm talking about broad demographic trends. The cohort of women who were near the end of their reproductive years in 1992 are the ones who are just starting to retire now. Among that demographic, about 85% had kids at some point: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/06/25/childlessness-up-among-all-women-down-among-women-with-advanced-degrees http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/06/25/childlessness-up-a.... Obviously relying on kids isn't an option for everyone, but I think it's a mutually beneficial option for a larger group of people than seriously consider it.
- pyre 14y agoI agree, but talking about things like removing supports to encourage others to rely on their children affects everyone. Even among those that had families, what if they had special needs children, or if the parents out-live the children, etc.