Children are a gift from God
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So, why aren't we having them?
From The Atlantic... https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/the-real-reason-people-aren-t-having-kids/ar-BB1r1bvT
I have a few ideas of my own, at least for the U.S.
- Secularism. While America has always prided itself on freedom of religion, we have morphed into a country obsessed with freedom from religion. Religion gives people hope for a better future and most promote having a family and children. Too much secularism promotes an atmosphere of selfishness.
- Ripping traditional marriage apart. Sorry, but I have no problem engaging in discrimination for societal good. For the vast majority of people, marriage makes for more productive, happier lives. And children. I think anything that weakens traditional marriage is detrimental for society.
- Childcare. It's hideously expensive. When our economy morphed to where it took two jobs to support a middle-class lifestyle, it also took the mother out of the home, especially when her children were small. Lots to discuss here...Should we be happier with smaller homes, one vehicle and less consumer goods, but find our happiness in our families like the parents of the 1950's? Do we provide a childcare net like the Nirdic countries? Do we overhaul tax policy? Do we have an answer at all?
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Children are clumps of cells that act like parasites on their mothers’ bodies, even after birth. They are inconvenient, will make you be poor forever, but can be taken care of with a simple medical procedure. And hey, that way you can take on sex as a hobby with no responsibilities!
The Brad
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Cats are much better.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Children are clumps of cells that act like parasites on their mothers’ bodies, even after birth. They are inconvenient, will make you be poor forever, but can be taken care of with a simple medical procedure. And hey, that way you can take on sex as a hobby with no responsibilities!
@LuFins-Dad said in Children are a gift from God:
Children are clumps of cells that act like parasites on their mothers’ bodies, even after birth. They are inconvenient, will make you be poor forever, but can be taken care of with a simple medical procedure. And hey, that way you can take on sex as a hobby with no responsibilities!
I find it interesting that one of the big arguments against is "there go my hobbies," "my life would be over," etc.
Not having kids makes it difficult to have your personal interests mean anything. It's not impossible, but it is a challenge.
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@Mik said in Children are a gift from God:
AI might just fix #3. I doubt it, but if we're all put out of work...
I'd imagine eventually the government will extend "school" all the way to include age 0 and therefore daycare (and later preschool) will become a taxpayer-funded service, similar to public school today. On one hand, that would decrease the cost to parents and increase the pay for daycare and preschool teachers, on the other hand it'll further increase public reliance on the government to do everything.
BTW I think in addition or to repeat what you all have said, I think there are fewer kids because:
A) It's expensive
B) People, namely women, are much more career focused (and/or require dual incomes) so people are waiting longer and longer to get married and then longer and longer to have their first kid, which makes having a 2nd or 3rd that much more unlikely -
@Mik said in Children are a gift from God:
AI might just fix #3. I doubt it, but if we're all put out of work...
I'd imagine eventually the government will extend "school" all the way to include age 0 and therefore daycare (and later preschool) will become a taxpayer-funded service, similar to public school today. On one hand, that would decrease the cost to parents and increase the pay for daycare and preschool teachers, on the other hand it'll further increase public reliance on the government to do everything.
BTW I think in addition or to repeat what you all have said, I think there are fewer kids because:
A) It's expensive
B) People, namely women, are much more career focused (and/or require dual incomes) so people are waiting longer and longer to get married and then longer and longer to have their first kid, which makes having a 2nd or 3rd that much more unlikely@89th said in Children are a gift from God:
@Mik said in Children are a gift from God:
AI might just fix #3. I doubt it, but if we're all put out of work...
I'd imagine eventually the government will extend "school" all the way to include age 0 and therefore daycare (and later preschool) will become a taxpayer-funded service, similar to public school today. On one hand, that would decrease the cost to parents and increase the pay for daycare and preschool teachers, on the other hand it'll further increase public reliance on the government to do everything.
BTW I think in addition or to repeat what you all have said, I think there are fewer kids because:
A) It's expensive
B) People, namely women, are much more career focused (and/or require dual incomes) so people are waiting longer and longer to get married and then longer and longer to have their first kid, which makes having a 2nd or 3rd that much more unlikelyCase-in-point... FOX personality Kat Timpf graduated from Hillsdale, then almost went to Columbia...
She couldn't afford it . She did odds and ends, wrote for multiple websites (NRO, Washington Times,etc.), did some radio work and eventually climbed the ladder at FOX News.
She didn't marry until she was in her thirties and now she is pregnant with their first child at 35. Depending on how her pregnancy (and career) goes, how many children will she have? Maybe just this one.
I think this is a pretty common story nowadays.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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@89th said in Children are a gift from God:
@Mik said in Children are a gift from God:
AI might just fix #3. I doubt it, but if we're all put out of work...
I'd imagine eventually the government will extend "school" all the way to include age 0 and therefore daycare (and later preschool) will become a taxpayer-funded service, similar to public school today. On one hand, that would decrease the cost to parents and increase the pay for daycare and preschool teachers, on the other hand it'll further increase public reliance on the government to do everything.
BTW I think in addition or to repeat what you all have said, I think there are fewer kids because:
A) It's expensive
B) People, namely women, are much more career focused (and/or require dual incomes) so people are waiting longer and longer to get married and then longer and longer to have their first kid, which makes having a 2nd or 3rd that much more unlikelyCase-in-point... FOX personality Kat Timpf graduated from Hillsdale, then almost went to Columbia...
She couldn't afford it . She did odds and ends, wrote for multiple websites (NRO, Washington Times,etc.), did some radio work and eventually climbed the ladder at FOX News.
She didn't marry until she was in her thirties and now she is pregnant with their first child at 35. Depending on how her pregnancy (and career) goes, how many children will she have? Maybe just this one.
I think this is a pretty common story nowadays.
@Jolly said in Children are a gift from God:
@89th said in Children are a gift from God:
@Mik said in Children are a gift from God:
AI might just fix #3. I doubt it, but if we're all put out of work...
I'd imagine eventually the government will extend "school" all the way to include age 0 and therefore daycare (and later preschool) will become a taxpayer-funded service, similar to public school today. On one hand, that would decrease the cost to parents and increase the pay for daycare and preschool teachers, on the other hand it'll further increase public reliance on the government to do everything.
BTW I think in addition or to repeat what you all have said, I think there are fewer kids because:
A) It's expensive
B) People, namely women, are much more career focused (and/or require dual incomes) so people are waiting longer and longer to get married and then longer and longer to have their first kid, which makes having a 2nd or 3rd that much more unlikelyCase-in-point... FOX personality Kat Timpf graduated from Hillsdale, then almost went to Columbia...
She couldn't afford it . She did odds and ends, wrote for multiple websites (NRO, Washington Times,etc.), did some radio work and eventually climbed the ladder at FOX News.
She didn't marry until she was in her thirties and now she is pregnant with their first child at 35. Depending on how her pregnancy (and career) goes, how many children will she have? Maybe just this one.
I think this is a pretty common story nowadays.
More or less what my wife and I both did.
My parents like to spin a good yarn about how destitute they were starting out and "you don't know how good you have it." But they're looking at the quality of and affordability of televisions and microwaves, not modern employee expectations, housing, the job market, etc.
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Kids are inconvenient.
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@George-K said in Children are a gift from God:
@LuFins-Dad said in Children are a gift from God:
Cats are much better.Cheaper and friendlier too.
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Gotta be willing to put a child’s needs before your own. Having kids is very expensive.
Just speculating, but parent generations now might be experiencing a generation of grandparents who are too old to help raise the grandkids. They also have fewer siblings to help out as aunties or uncles. -
Gotta be willing to put a child’s needs before your own. Having kids is very expensive.
Just speculating, but parent generations now might be experiencing a generation of grandparents who are too old to help raise the grandkids. They also have fewer siblings to help out as aunties or uncles.@blondie said in Children are a gift from God:
a generation of grandparents who are too old to help raise the grandkids
G2 is 6, G3 is 2. Mrs. George and I are 74.
Three hours with them is exhausting.
That said, I was, for the most part, raised by my grandmother - both parents worked. I went to college when she was 71.
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Talking to some millennials in my city, they shout loudly they compete to get 600 sq ft rental units, stress over rent increases, don’t have vehicles, commute at all hours on a crappy transit system and/or do remote work from their bedrooms, struggle to find primary careers and their 2nd side jobs, then work just to be downsized/laid off. They are stressed and depressed. Many don’t date or socialize and say they can’t afford to (money & time wise). I get the feeling they have declining hope for their futures. I don’t hear any of them ponder having kids. Some dream of owning a condo but say it’s impossible. They are stuck in now mode and aren’t too future positive. They blame boomers, corporate greed, the government.
