Posted on 04/11/2014 7:51:03 PM PDT by ClaytonP
As birth rates among young women plummet, small dog ownership has risen rapidly in America’s urban centers.
America’s next generation of youngsters should be called “Generation Rex.”
If you’re wondering why playgrounds around the city are so quiet and dog runs are packed, a new report has an answer: More and more US women are forgoing motherhood and getting their maternal kicks by owning handbag-size canines.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that a big drop in the number of babies born to women ages 15 to 29 corresponds with a huge increase in the number of tiny pooches owned by young US women, reports the business-news site Quartz.
Dog-crazy New York ladies told The Post that they aren’t surprised by the findings — and that they happily gave up diaper changes, temper tantrums and college funds for the easy affection of their doggy “child.”
[...]
The federal data behind the report show that over the past seven years, the number of live births per 1,000 women between ages 15 and 29 in America has plunged 9 percent.
At the same time, research by the American Pet Products Association shows the number of small dogs — under 25 pounds — in the United States has skyrocketed, from 34. 1 million in 2008 to 40.8 million in 2012.
I can confirm that there are more dogs than children at urban parks. Every afternoon and weekend, people congregate with their dogs at a park down the street from me. There is a playground on one side of the park, and a dog area on the other. The dogs outnumber the children roughly four to one, and maybe more. I used to take my kids to the park on a regular basis, and my then two-year-old daughter was terrified of the dogs that careless, irresponsible owners allowed to run free. On a couple of occasions, I had some words with people about that, but their attitude was along the lines of “if your daughter is scared of dogs, maybe you shouldn’t take her to the park.”
So, there is at least one good thing about the small dog trend: the little dogs are less of a danger and less frightening to small children. I should admit that I’m not much of a dog person. I developed an antipathy toward dogs as a small child living on the fringes of a ghetto neighborhood. Back in the early 1980s, people didn’t think twice about keeping attack dogs, and many let their dogs run wild in the neighborhood. Some of those ghetto dogs were vicious beasts. I was convinced a rottweiler around the corner wanted to kill me, and I don’t think I was wrong. Every time I rode my bike past its house the monster would hurl itself full force against a rickety fence in a fury.
But those dogs served a different purpose from these little lapdogs. As much as I hated them, I have to admit that they performed some utilitarian function; it’s a lot harder to break into a house with a snarling rottweiler in its yard than one without.
Despite the fact that the small dogs are not as scary as the big ghetto dogs I knew as a child, both breeds say something unflattering about the neighborhood. In the past, the dogs suggested that there was a lot of crime in the ‘hood; today, the dogs suggest that children are an inconvenience. There’s no other conclusion to draw when one sees that dogs are dominant while children are few and outnumbered.
Do dogs really bring as much happiness to their female owners as children? Perhaps not, but if the women interviewed for the story are any indication, maybe they bring them enough happiness. The lapdog may be the most humane way to ease the white, urban SWPL’s headlong rush into demographic oblivion, which is all but a done deal. Without children and grandchildren, legions of small dogs will be needed to see them through what would otherwise be a lonely life. Perhaps some day in the future, when they are all gone, the people occupying what is currently the United States can erect a statue in their memory: a statue of a woman with an iphone, a purse and a tiny dog by her side, walking blithely into the great unknown.
It's a very sad situation when there's opposition between spouses on such a key issue.
Glad y’all are here! You have articulated why men and women must make their own reproductive decisions and butt out of everyone elses’ lives. (And they criticize the liberals who think they know what’s best for all of the unwashed masses.)
What I was getting at was that they could have dumped those guys while they still had all of their internal organs. They’re both very attractive and charismatic women. There must be some redeeming value in those two guys. It’s their business.
It’s one thing to affirm that people need to use their own judgment, and that individual decisions should enjoy (so to speak) a presumption of respect.
On the other hand, at the aggregate, societal level, the mass result of individual decisions not to have children is a below-replacement birthrate.
I don’t mind saying, “You have to make your own decisions.” However, I want to add, “But stop complaining about how awful Mexicans and their children are.” If you read any history, you’ll see that good real estate is in demand, and if one ethnic/national group doesn’t fill it, another will.
I agree, but I'm thinking about the pain. Since I walk around in public with a vanload of children, people talk to me about their reproductive decisions, unsolicited.
I get a lot of "My husband got fixed without telling me," and "My husband wouldn't have more," details unspecified, and an occasional (25%, maybe), "I wanted more but my wife wouldn't."
Spouses are hurting one another, and I feel bad for them, even if it's not my business to decide what was right for them.
I also hear from people who wanted children, or wanted more, and couldn't have them for medical reasons. I never cease to be grateful for my astoundingly good health!
Exactly! I love hearing about your beautiful, precious, fun family, and am so happy that you share these times with us! Whatever way the demographics go, they’ll go. This is without the scope of my control. I chose to have no more children than I could support. Then, the choice was removed. So be it. The Creator has guided me throughout my life; He won’t stop now. And, with that, I wish you good night and sweet dreams....
A couple of things jump out about our current demographic decline.
Marrying young and having children young is best for the genetic health of the children and for the health of the mother. Our society is at war with this for reasons other than the ideal for the children. Yes, economically speaking, waiting would provide more monetary stability. But, the waiting is really more for girls to go to college and then following through with the career to justify the expenditure.
In the meantime, young amorous males at the peak of their reproductive ability are out there horndogging around, picking up bad habits and worse. Presumptions of sexual equality demand that girls do the same. Not a good recipe for even a successful marriage at any point in life, let alone bringing children into it.
Males are severely disadvantaged both legally and economically by the courts in any divorce situation, which occurs what, about half the time? Bad odds, bad bet in general for men, and so marriage is declining.
Fatherhood regardless of marital status is severely disadvantaged legally and economically by the courts as well, so, yep, decline there too, among educated taxpaying males at least. Uneducated males on public assistance are another matter. They’re not held to the same standard and are not thrown into indentured servitude or what is tantamount to debtor’s prison for failing to provide draconian child support.
There are a lot of factors playing into this, self-centered lifestyle choices of women are only a part of it.
Indeed, in the big picture, what happens is what happens. I just hope our “Big Picture” doesn’t look like what’s happening in Ukraine. We’re fortunate that we don’t have a much more powerful contiguous neighbor.
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