Posted on 07/27/2024 6:01:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
For years now, we've been analyzing the alarming drop in birth rates in the United States and most of the Western world. This situation is no longer hypothetical in terms of being a potential crisis. The United States has already fallen below the minimum reproductive replacement rate (an average of 2.1 children per adult woman) for multiple years in a row. Somewhat ironically, it's only the massive influx of illegal migrants that is keeping our heads above water at the moment. While there is clearly a valid question to be asked as to whether a population that is increasingly comprised of illegal aliens is worth saving, it's still an issue of great concern. USA Today gathered a group of "experts" in this field who surveyed childless American women and couples to try to figure out why so few people are choosing to bear children today. The answers probably won't be all that shocking to most of you, but they also don't point to any quick or easy solutions.
Lisa and Michael Harris decided early in their relationship that children weren't likely in their future.
The Alexandria, Virginia-based couple married in 2019, when Michael was 60 and Lisa 49. While Lisa made clear during one of their first dates that she "reserved the right to adopt," the couple said there was little discussion of having kids after that. Instead, the Harrises have poured their time and resources into their social life, careers and travel. Both work in cybersecurity, and Lisa said getting her two master's degrees would have been more difficult with children.
"I never felt the need," Lisa said. "I felt a-okay to take care of myself, put food on my own table, get myself out the door in the morning. But the thought of dragging some innocent by standard into that? Not so sure."
People without children offered a variety of reasons for being childless. But despite concerns about rising rates of infertility globally, only a relatively small number of Americans cited that as the problem. Just 13% of younger couples and 15% of older (age 49 and above) couples cited an inability to conceive as the reason. The modern advent of medical technology including IVF and fertility drugs is credited with that statistic being as low as it is.
Among younger adults, the primary reasons given for not having children were as follows:
For all of the talk we hear about climate change, relatively few younger people are offering that as a reason not to bring children into the world. This is either a sign of selfishness or a clue that most of them don't really believe it's that big of a deal. Concerns over the cost of raising children are certainly valid. Raising kids is expensive. Studies show that the average parent will pay nearly a quarter million dollars to raise a child to the age of 18. But the government already offers substantial tax breaks to families with children and numerous child care and welfare programs exist to provide help to those in need. You don't have to be born into the families of Silicon Valley tech barons to be able to start a family.
I think most of us can relate to the concerns of those who are so concerned about the current state of the world that they are avoiding procreation. The world is currently a mess and there is little reason to deny that. Who wants to bring children into a world that appears to be going up in flames? Of course, it's a mess of our own making, particularly these days. It should be fixable if we were united in a desire to do so, yet we seem to be stuck in a doom loop at this point.
That brings us to the most commonly cited reason: a desire to "focus on other things." At least to me, this seems like selfish, short-sighted thinking. The "DINKs," as they are known ("double income, no kids") may have extra money available to go out partying or even save toward retirement, but the day will come when they look around their otherwise empty homes and realize that something fundamentally vital has been missing for all of their adult lives together. And as the specter of old age looms, they will be left wondering who will care for them in their dotage. If nothing else, they are living in denial of what is one of the fundamental, defining characteristics of all living creatures: the drive to reproduce and continue the species. If we have managed to evolve our way past that naturally inherent characteristic, we may as well throw in the towel because the game is essentially over.
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PREFER BEING SINGLE
Might it be from 24/7 propaganda saying, basically that:
“Dude, like, if you, like, have, like, a kid or something, your life is, like, totally over and stuff. And, like, you won’t be able to, like, use your degree and, like, have career and stuff. (For women) You can like freeze your eggs and stuff, and wait until later or something. Because, like, having, like, kids and stuff is like, totally bad for the environment and stuff (this only applies to white people).
Just one cat, and he is awful.
“Because that’s what the culture sells.“
Exactly. Ultimately it is women that decide whether or not have bear children. These days the culture - social media, peer pressure, family pressure - is selling them on careers not families.
And also from what I see the natural maternal instinct of today’s women is increasingly directed toward their pets instead of children. Dog worship has become a mass psychosis in modern society as we are literally replacing human children with dogs.
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Ironic hearing boomers of all people call young people selfish when it’s the boomers who keep demanding that their houses keep going up in value so no young people can afford to buy any homes
Ultimately, this is self correcting. The people and cultures who want an value children will replace those who do not.
Did you even read the quote you posted? God was talking to Noah and his sons
I find it interesting conservatives, who should be the ones who understand the necessity of keeping the line going, are the ones not having kids.
Here are the reasons I think:
Many women are brainwashed into believing they shouldn’t start a family until their 30’s or later.
A vast majority of women are obese and no one wants them.
The few who are not obese either fall into the first category and are waiting or impossible for any man to deal with.
When someone prioritizes his career over his family. A career is to support the family, not to be one's primary focus.
They have blinders on and don’t realize the most basic thing about children. The children you raise are the caregivers you receive when you need them at the end of life.
good luck getting them to come wipe your butt when you get to that point, because most of them will be there also
if they sell the house they will have to pay taxes on most of the amount, they will lose their senior tax breaks they might have that locked in their property tax rates decades ago.
In addition to that if they hold the house until they die, the basis resets and their heirs can sell it and pay no taxes.
Look at photos of high school kids in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Most of them are string beans. Now drive by a high school and have a look -- holy cow! The operative word being "cow".
Yup. From what I’ve seen, it comes down to wanting stuff and experiences (e.g., elaborate vacations). Children get in the way of that. Though a lot of the childless don’t realize that being a parent is perhaps the most important, meaningful and defining experience in a human being’s life.
exactly!
IMO this is one of the main reasons Viagra is so in demand!
You actually need medical help to get aroused when the women looks like a pregnant hog.
I can guarantee you 90% of men who have erection issues, would have no issue if a super model was naked in front of them.
we?
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