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I like the idea of raising a family, but I feel like modern America isn't the place to do it. Between rising cost of living, increasingly crappier schools, a scam of a legal system, social divisiveness that is bordering on a race war, and increasing competitiveness to get into good colleges and get good jobs, I don't think I'm up to the task of having kids and setting them up for a prosperous life in this country. I guess the welfare bums, who don't care about all the aforementioned problems, will keep up the population. I'm going to stay single and portable (apartment, liquid assets, etc.).
Just because someone is on welfare doesn't mean they should be excluded from having the same rights as everyone else and that includes having children. Having financial stability does not guarantee your child won't turn out to be a worthless POS, there is just a lot more to it than finances.
The social economic state of america is always going to change. trying to base long term life decissions off a short period of time is kind of funny. When I had my son my industry was on its way down, today its booming, its only been 12 years. I assume it will likely change once again before he is a stable adult. Its best not to be so short sighted.
It's always going to be an uncertain time to have children. I found out I was pregnant with my first child a few days after 9-11. I had my second baby right before the recession started.
Kids don't always fit the mold of your fantasy child either. Maybe you've got plans for them to go to a great school and be wildly successful in life, and they have a disability that makes that dream impossible. Maybe you've got plans for them to be a very successful athlete, and genetics or a lack of coordination makes that impossible. A good parent adapts to love their child no matter whether the child grows up to fulfill the parent's dream.
So, if you only want to have a kid who's guaranteed a wonderful future in a peaceful, happy country, then it's probably better that you don't want to.
We fool ourselves into thinking kids need so much. They thrive on the basics. Food, play, love, space, and some boundaries. We've lost sight of the basics.
And sorry but life is always up, downs, and everything in between. There are varying definitions of 'prosperous'.
We fool ourselves into thinking kids need so much. They thrive on the basics. Food, play, love, space, and some boundaries. We've lost sight of the basics.
And sorry but life is always up, downs, and everything in between. There are varying definitions of 'prosperous'.
Yes, and that is precisely the reason for much of America's socioeconomic woes: chasing after more and more crap.
There are large regions of the world that have always been, and will probably always be poorer than the US. And in those regions people still manage to have children and raise happy, strong, self-sufficient individuals.
I have always been a life-long low wage worker. Part of that is due to choice, another part is for other reasons. It would be very irresponsible for me to try to support a kid on my low salary which is hard enough supporting myself on. Also, I have never had much of a parental instinct or a desire to want kids in the first place.
It's usually never a convenient time to have children. If you can afford it fine, if not, please use birth control. We don't need unwanted children from families that can't give these kids the love and attention they need.
I'd venture to say the 1930's and early 40's was probably a worse time to be alive, but people kept having babies and the world kept on going.
If you don't want to have kids, then don't. Justify it any way you want, but you and you alone are the one that has to live with that decision. Doesn't affect me really.
I'd venture to say the 1930's and early 40's was probably a worse time to be alive, but people kept having babies and the world kept on going.
If you don't want to have kids, then don't. Justify it any way you want, but you and you alone are the one that has to live with that decision. Doesn't affect me really.
There was no such thing as birth control pills during the Great Depression. People have always had sex. It wasn't until the 1960's that women actually had much control over the decision about becoming pregnant.
The birth rate dropped considerably during the Great Recession. Hardly surprising. The socioeconomic top half of the population in the United States has a birth rate comparable to most of Europe and Asia. It's nowhere near replacement rate. Our population growth is all among immigrants and the lower socioeconomic tiers. About 1/3 of the households in the country make at least 2x median household income and that percentage has more than doubled since 1980. The top third of the country is doing just fine but they have a very low birth rate.
I like the idea of raising a family, but I feel like modern America isn't the place to do it. Between rising cost of living, increasingly crappier schools, a scam of a legal system, social divisiveness that is bordering on a race war, and increasing competitiveness to get into good colleges and get good jobs, I don't think I'm up to the task of having kids and setting them up for a prosperous life in this country. I guess the welfare bums, who don't care about all the aforementioned problems, will keep up the population. I'm going to stay single and portable (apartment, liquid assets, etc.).
If i were thinking of starting a family in this present day, I would not have them. It's bad enough my kids are adults now and I worry about them all the time.
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