Posted on 07/05/2018 2:53:18 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Jessica Boer, 26, kissing her cat Kip at her home in Portage, Mich. Like an increasing number of people in her generation, she does not plan to have children. “Now we know we have a choice,” she said.
Wanting more leisure time and personal freedom; not having a partner yet; not being able to afford child-care — these were the top reasons young adults gave for not being sure they wanted children, reports a new survey conducted by Morning Consult for the NYT.
About a quarter said they expected to have fewer than they wanted. The largest shares said they delayed or stopped having children because of concerns about having enough time or money.
It is partly about greater gender equality. Women have more agency over their lives; motherhood has become more of a choice.
But it’s also a story of economic insecurity. Young people have record student debt, many graduated in a recession and can’t afford homes — all as parenthood has become more expensive.
[humungous snip]
David Carlson, 29, graduated from college in 2010, when the job market was still rough. He and his wife had $100,000 in undergraduate debt between them. They both work full time — he in corporate finance and she in counseling — but they don’t yet feel they can take time away from their careers.
He said they’d consider adoption if they decided to have children but had waited too long. Another option for having children later in life is egg freezing. Only 1 percent of female survey respondents said they had frozen their eggs — but almost half said they would if not for the cost.
Whether the young generation will catch up later is not certain, but will depend on their capacity to combine work and family.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It’s materialism. People claim to need two incomes to live in the nice suburb. Truth is they could live in cheaper housing but they don’t want to.
I’ve actually sat beside a dating couple where the guy was explaining that only rich people could afford stay at home wives.
Really?
People die? I didnt know that
Consider this. This generation is having a non replacement level amount of kids
Who is going to pay taxes to take care of them when they are old. Who is going to keep the economy going at such a rate as to not only counteract obama’s additional 10 trillion to the prior 10 trillion, but to keep an IRA and a 401 K afloat?
Money doesnt grow on trees. Theres an old one for ya
these kids were trained in school not to have children. They carried beeping eggs and bags of rice to ostensibly teach them the heavy burdens of parenthood.
The kids at work tell me about what they thought about the whole exercise. I point out it worked. Not a baby among them.
they will be slaves for all of their lives.
I certainly know that children are not reliable. However they can be your best bet.
that is why it is smart to have a brood. Usually one or two turn out ok.
NO
....AND MORE!
Honestly, somebody worked out the whole list showing that, on average, many young married working women with a child or children are clearing almost NOTHING once their extra expenses (including taxes) are taken into account.
I think La Leche League published a couple of books showing how, with a little planning, you can stay home and have kids (and nurse your babies) and actually end up with more disposable income, more time for your spouse, more personal satisfaction, and more LIFE.
Bottom line: quit your job, save a TON of money, and have the time and energy to actually have a family life.
What a concept, eh?
Everyone loves to play out their own pet political and social issues against these statistics but the trend has been going on so long it defies any political explanation.
In part, because those households in which both husband and wife work generally have a higher combined income than many or most single worker households - and this purchasing power drives up prices. There was an article last week discussing how $117,000/year was the cut-off for ‘low income’ in the San Francisco area.
Personally, I find it all very sad, as there is no bigger gift in life than to have a child and be a parent. Careers come and go, and ultimately many of the people you work with could care less what happens to you, particularly if it means you are out of their way for a promotion or larger salary. I think our priorities are generally all screwed up.
Women have been socially re-engineered to kill their own and not reproduce. It is rather shocking if one really looks at it. The good news is that those who choose not to reproduce will go extinct (most are liberal). The bad news is that we are importing a massive amount of people who hate America and reproduce 7 to 1.
Good point.
That bears repeating.
Amen to that.
I have a big F.U. to the face of anyone who even thinks it their business to comment on my wife and I being childfree.
Kids aren’t for everybody. Any A-hole who wants to call that ‘selfish’ can go and screw themselves, and yes, I’ll say that right to their face, in public.
Some people should have kids, some shouldn’t.
I’m not one of those histrionic handwringers who think the world is a worse place than it was (such idiot whiners have been with us since writing was invented, if not before), or getting worse; as I’d gladly go into stasis to see what the world will be like in 50 or 100 years; although I kind of understand (even if only to have contempt) for those who think it’s all getting worse- nope, not for that reason, but for reasons that simply are not the damned business of anyone and I have relished the chance to put it right in people’s faces who thought it in any way their business to comment.
Our centrally-planned, printed monetary system, enslaving Americans in turn with debt and inflation, like all centralized systems, gives large, asymmetric benefits to insiders and first-handlers (ie. cronies)
Slaves
The texhnical nurses i work with go to school, have one or two kids no husband. The kids have no fathers. Theyre in day care. These nurses were raised in faimilies with no fathers in day care etc. they have no role modeling for healthy family life.
Its the progressive’s utopia. Destruction of family
Dependence on the state
Like all stupid philosophies, theres poor planning. No one will be there feeding the economy when tgey are old. The state will fail. Then the invasion from countries with no birth control will make sense. But it will ruin the country
So...
I disagree. Family interdependence is not selfish. It is mutual, natural and universal.
“I’ve actually sat beside a dating couple where the guy was explaining that only rich people could afford stay at home wives.”
He’s right.
When we got married, I worked, she stayed home with the kids, and our standard of living was determined by what I made. She learned to be a good cook and we didn't eat out that much. We deferred buying a house until my career had advanced to the point of affording it, which happened to be after the birth of our second child.
The use of the word "afford" defines the speakers priority scale. Saying "I can't afford X" really means "I have other things that are more important to me than X, and those things consume all my available time and money".
Let’s not forget the punishing “family” court and divorce industry that makes most (Caucasian) middle class men think twice before reproducing. Wifey can just dump your arse, take half of what you have, leave you with all the marital debt to pay off, take away your kids (by trash talking dad) then take from 17 to 33% (and more) of your salary for the next 18-26 years.
And it’s God’s plan, which is not mentioned in any of this. It is ignored. Which is always poor planning leading to bad results
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