Many of those children are determined to never subject children of their own to such dysfunction and mental illness.
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.
Why?
Petco etc.
Pretty interesting until the last paragraph.
Our stacks of Benjamins will take care of us in our ‘dotage’, so please don’t worry. It’s been great, with absolutely no regrets from either of us, to remain kid-less; we are financially very stress-free, time-wise totally free (could focus on our business, which succeeded beyond our wildest dreams, which we can and do run from any continent), and we both love a quiet house. Look at what kids become; every day I am very glad I don’t have to bother with any of the strife they bring. I doubt very much either of us will suddenly ‘regret’ anything. By the way, where are your kids? Do you really know what they’re up to? Bet you don’t.
As you do, I also prefer to speak English.
Many young people have been complaining that older people are being “selfish” for not selling their homes. I disagree.
Also, I don’t think the article is criticizing young couples specifically. It gave an example of a couple aged 60 and 49.
It’s a personal decision. If a couple doesn’t want children, then, as long as they avoid pregnancy, they shouldn’t have children.
As to your last post, what would you say older people should have done about “illegals taking up housing”?
P.S. (I see you’re pretty new here. Welcome aboard.)
Many of those children are determined to never subject children of their own to such dysfunction and mental illness.
“As to your last post, what would you say older people should have done about “illegals taking up housing”?”
Kicked them out of the country by force for starters
Respectfully disagree. Any inheritance I got from my folks I’d gladly give back to have another day with them.
“You think people who live in houses should be blamed because the prices have gone up?”
Maybe they should stop demanding the government intervene and artificially keep housing prices high, every house in the USA is at minimum 75% higher than it should be
Rather be locked in a room with a puppy who’s got diarrhea for a month than try to raise kids.
not to mention it’s hard to convince young women to have kids when every example they see nowadays is screaming brats because the current parents plop them down in front of ipads when they exit the birth canal
Yeah and it hurts real bad. I’m staying single and flying my planes. When I retire I’ll get a cat or two and a border collie to herd them to keep them in line.
So those old people should demand something of our government? Have you noticed the government doesn’t give a damn what the citizens want? And they don’t give a damn about what citizens are guaranteed under our Constitution.
You nailed it.
I’ve heard that half of all marriages end in divorce. No doubt a substantial number of the rest will end in widowhood, prior to age of, say, 50 or 60.
So I would say that many people don’t want children because they don’t want to matter much to anyone when they’re older.
Scene from an old flick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hta0ndC7Dqw
“Childless you are...”
Unfortunately you are correct and right on the money. I am already beyond that stage in my life but if I be younger with the state of the economy and the world situation what it is I would give it a second thought before starting a family. Before long starting a family may become the privilege of a few with sufficient means.
I wish I could have had children. Medical conditions that were discovered in my mid-teens resulted in a tubal ligation and eventual partial hysterectomy by 27.
Adoption is off the table, too. There’s no way an agency will look at our finances and living situation and say, “Take your pick!”
It’s one thing if a couple genuinely cannot afford to have children and are avoiding it. I’d hate to bring a child into abject poverty, especially in this economy. Resources are growing more scarce as more people fall into poverty and lose their homes thanks to the erosion of purchasing power.
I also didn’t want to be passing on my illness-ridden genes. I don’t want kids enduring what I went through.
Nailed it.
Many of us tried. Even in California, six million of us voted for Proposition 187 to deny benefits to illegals. One judge overturned it. Americans made it abundantly clear, again and again, that we didn't want illegal immigration. It was forced on us. I guess we should have shot illegals, or suspected illegals, on the streets? Escorted them to the border and pushed them over? What?
The years I raised my children were the best years of my life, all the way through their teen years. If I could choose to relive a period of time, I would pick those years.
Pushes my buttons when I hear this. I bought my first house when I was a teen, single. It was a FSBO in a good neighborhood and I paid it off in a few years with no help from anyone. It wasn't 50 years ago, more like 10. It wasn't Pac Heights or the Upper East Side, but it wasn't the hind end of Buffalo either. There are plenty of places in the US where you can find an affordable home.
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