Young Americans Are Having Fewer Children - So Researchers Asked Them Why (unemployment, salary)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Didn't California just reduce the penalty for knowingly spreading AIDS?
Yes. It's no longer a felony, which makes no sense whatsoever. It's an incurable disease with sometimes fatal consequences. At the very least, it's expensive to treat, medically.
I'm not surprised. Neither of my kids, both college educated professionals with no student loan debt, plan on having children. Their reason isn't financial security, though. That isn't even an issue for them. They just think our society has become way too polarized and as such it's no longer a viable environment in which to introduce and raise new lives.
Millennials got absolutely annhilated the hardest by the 2008 downturn more than any other group. Our incomes still haven't recovered and many of us were left mentally scarred for life with the amount of unemployment and debt that got racked up while trying to survive during that period of time. I can't imagine how stressful it would have been if there had been kids around during that period of time and you still had to put food on the table. No thanks. Many in younger generations are still trying to pay off their student loans a decade out of college. Homes in many areas with the most job opportunities cost way more than what boomers had to pay. A simple small starter home costs $300-400k+ in many areas now. Child care costs are insane. Child care can cost more than the entire salary some people make in year, so couples have to decide whether one of them should just quit their jobs altogether because it'd be cheaper. The costs for everything are basically much more now than they were in the 70s, 80s and 90s. A friggin steak is now like $20. Not that I hate kids, if you can afford them more power to you, but in many regards, having children is one of the worst financial decisions you could possibly make. As soon as you're done paying off your college loans you're going to have to start paying for little Timmy' and Sally's tuitions for college. We are DINKS with professional jobs. I don't think we will have kids. Lost my job once already and was unemployed for over a year in 2009. I am not going through that stress again *with kids* to feed.
Of course economic reasons would cause responsible young people to wait or reconsider having kids at all.
Kids are not cheap and they are a huge commitment.
There is a growing segment in our society that has no concerns about where their next paycheck is coming from and if they have another baby they know the state will help them care and pay for it.
I'm not surprised. Neither of my kids, both college educated professionals with no student loan debt, plan on having children. Their reason isn't financial security, though. That isn't even an issue for them. They just think our society has become way too polarized and as such it's no longer a viable environment in which to introduce and raise new lives.
This is the norm in the entire Western world as well as Japan and South Korea. OTOH, people in the third world have a lot of kids. In some instances Muslim men have four kids with each of his four wives.
Within 200 years Western Civilization will end and the world will enter a Dark Age. Paradoxically people with wealth and education should have a lot of kids whereas the poor should have less.
Back in my day we had to walk through snow to buy a $700,000 shack.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.