We're barely surviving ourselves. We can't afford kids if we do want them.
this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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I never wanted kids, they just don't interest me and the cost is exorbitant. Spoke to a refugee lady at vwork and she had kids whilst on the run from government gumen. Oh you just have them and worry about it later.. it's a totally different attitude. In the west you need 3 jobs and a paid off home plus a nutritionist to consider it, in other places it just happens and noone questions your eating habits under fire. I think i agree with the non westerners on this, have them or don't, just stop making it a rigmarole.
The privileged are blessed/cursed with the breathing space for foresight, anticipating and trying to avoid all the pitfalls and problems that they can foresee... which are endless. People in survival mode are living day-to-day, hand-to-mouth, and have no time to consider their long game.
I wonder how many are white people with a decent income who have two dogs, want to travel and to play Elden ring.
Only one dog and only little interest in travel, but correct otherwise. More of a spa person.
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its almost always the one thing that is a problem in most low-birth rate countries, that the govt ignores. HCOL, raising a child is very expensive+ political instability, causing deaths and misery.
I'd really like to see the evidence for this statement, since it really seems like this trend is just an extension of the phenomenon we see in poorer countries: when you give women education, opportunities, and birth control, fewer of them will have children. It stands to reason that the more education, the more opportunities available, and the more freely accessible birth control is, the fewer women will have children.
In poor countries, children are a long-term economic asset. They will eventually be able to work and contribute to the family's income and can take care of their parents when they're older.
In developed countries, children are an economic liability.
There is also that sure but biologically people want to have kids, the extreme cost of living experienced by many prevents them from having kids
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People without financial security: "kids are too expensive and I would be exhausted trying to provide for them"
People with financial security: "I'm having a good time, adding a kid to this mix would really require a step back in my lifestyle."
The key to making this a lesser issue when it comes to keeping birth rates high is, in my opinion, a solid foundation of community trust and communal childcare.
The phrase "it takes a village" didn't just spawn out of nowhere, after all. When communities can share the responsibilities of raising children, not only does it lead to a better quality of life for the kids because they tend to get more social interaction time in and better access to their community's resources, but it also takes the burden off a lot of parents since it stops being a 24/7 job, and more of a shared, common duty to their community that is only sometimes needed, and is flexible in the case of them needing a break.
Of course, to get something like this, you need to fix the fact that we live in a very low trust society, and that is extremely difficult to do.
And yet the people most concerned about birth rates fight the hardest against anything that would make people have more kids
The irony is palpable. Bernie Sanders in 2015/2016 had the most pro-child campaign since Obama first ran, and Sanders never even mentioned "birth rates".
There's also the moral question of "do I want to add a living person to the world I wish I didn't exist in?"
Even if money weren't an issue for me, I'd be worried my pessimistic outlook on life would crush my potential child's spirit.
If you are person number 2 and thus having good time you probably would want to share the good time
If I am seen as person number 2 and not just a human being that exists and has autonomy and feelings
Then I am probably not having a good time
Bizarre comment
So is calling someone person number 2.
That's why I think if I'm gonna have a kid some day it will be via adoption.
I want kids, but the government is doing their damndest to make it as difficult as possible for us by crashing the economy, cutting all federal programs, staffing agencies with NPCs, etc. Give generous paternity leave stipulations, tax credits, legalize surrogacy, and give credits for AI (artificial insemination) and surrogacy. Not to mention universal healthcare and child care credits.
Make it easy for us to have kids, and we will, lol. Quit cockblocking us.
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