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Why Young Adults Aren’t Having Children
For those who said they didn’t want children or weren’t sure, here’s the share that cited each of these reasons as a factor.
Want leisure time - 36%
Haven't found partner -34%
Can't afford child care - 31%
No desire for children - 30%
Can't afford a house - 24%
Not sure I'd be a good parent -24%
Worried about the economy. - 23%
Worried about global instability. -18%
Career is a greater priority. -18%
Work too much -14%
Worried about population growth. -14%
Too much student debt. -13%
Still in school. -13%
Not enough paid family leave -13%[/i][/color]
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So, to be clear, you consider desiring to have some leisure time of your own and not having found a suitable partner - the top reasons on that list - "selfish?" What about not being able to afford child care? Is that also "selfish?" Wouldn't it be MORE selfish to have kids with unsuitable partners and then dump them off on their grandparents to raise them?
Oh, if only kids these days would just do the smart thing their parents did! Get hitched to some random person, have a few kids, go crazy with the responsibilities, get divorced, and end up poor, bitter, and posting on internet forums about how awful it is the next generation isn't making the same mistake?!
Ugh! It's like listening to an old friend of mine at work. He keeps nagging me to "Find some woman to have kids with" while at the same time telling me the stories of his two bitter divorces and how he had to pay for 3 kids college educations AND his grandson because his son-in-law (the kid's father) was some worthless drug addict. Oh, and he's basically given up on women for those reasons?! Oh, yeah! Real inspirational story! Maybe if I play my cards right, I can be just like him!
Why Young Adults Aren’t Having Children
For those who said they didn’t want children or weren’t sure, here’s the share that cited each of these reasons as a factor.
Want leisure time - 36%
Haven't found partner -34%
Can't afford child care - 31%
No desire for children - 30%
Can't afford a house - 24%
Not sure I'd be a good parent -24%
Worried about the economy. - 23%
Worried about global instability. -18%
Career is a greater priority. -18%
Work too much -14%
Worried about population growth. -14%
Too much student debt. -13%
Still in school. -13%
Not enough paid family leave -13%[/i][/color]
Money certainly factors in, but these kiddos are still too ME-ME-ME to consider putting a child into the equation. On the UP side, they would make lousy parents and a good quarter of them appear to understand that. They asked more questions from those who already have children, most questions were in the same charts - for some reason they didn't list this one for those who don't have children and don't want children.
Worried about domestic politics - 36%. That's an amazing reason for not having children - POLITICS.
This may well be a lost generation.
Imagine people thinking about themselves when making decisions that effect them. The gall!!!
Also where did the 36% concerned about politics number come from? It's not in what you quoted
Scooby gave you his/her/it's interpretation of why young people have no interest in having children.
A lot of the poll sounds like this group (age 20-45) are indoctrinated by Media reports and/or their parents. The Obama Era was rough on all of them - rougher on this age group than any other. I have 2 children in this age group - both in their 40's. One of them was making more than his Dad within 12 years of graduating college & has 3 kids. The other will never make as much as her Dad, but doesn't bother her. She has no children and never will have any - not for any of the reasons listed that she would ever admit to.
In the Morning Consult and Times survey, more than half of the 1,858 respondents — a nationally representative sample of men and women ages 20 to 45 — said they planned to have fewer children than their parents. About half were already parents. Of those who weren’t, 42 percent said they wanted children, 24 percent said they did not and 34 percent said they weren’t sure.
Why Young Adults Aren’t Having Children
For those who said they didn’t want children or weren’t sure, here’s the share that cited each of these reasons as a factor.
Want leisure time - 36%
Haven't found partner -34%
Can't afford child care - 31%
No desire for children - 30%
Can't afford a house - 24%
Not sure I'd be a good parent -24%
Worried about the economy. - 23%
Worried about global instability. -18%
Career is a greater priority. -18%
Work too much -14%
Worried about population growth. -14%
Too much student debt. -13%
Still in school. -13%
Not enough paid family leave -13%
Money certainly factors in, but these kiddos are still too ME-ME-ME to consider putting a child into the equation. On the UP side, they would make lousy parents and a good quarter of them appear to understand that. They asked more questions from those who already have children, most questions were in the same charts - for some reason they didn't list this one for those who don't have children and don't want children.
Worried about domestic politics - 36%. That's an amazing reason for not having children - POLITICS.
This may well be a lost generation.
I don't see it that way. Most of these points strike me as a responsible approach to the decision. Not having a partner? Inadequate housing? Not sure I would be a good parent? Still in school?
Would you prefer that people just throw caution to the wind and go ahead and do it anyway? I would not.
I find it ironic that we see many posts attack millennials for bad ecomom is decisions, yet we lampoons them for making one about not having children. I guess it is because they aren't doing what they should do...
Exactly. "Kids these days are all lazy and stupid with no money!"
*Kids with no money decide not to have kids of their own for obvious reasons*
"Ah! Kids these days are horrible because they aren't having kids they can't afford!" Right...
Nah, it's just people HATE it when you challenge the social norms. Everyone is supposed to: have kids, get married, go to church every Sunday, hate the same things and people their parents hated, live a dull, soul-sucking existence until the kids are on their own, and then complain all day when their own kids aren't repeating the cycle. It angers people when you dare step outside the norms, such as by not having kids. So, they make up every insane excuse in the book to go after you, such as the "kids are actually very cheap" lunacy we've seen on this thread. Same with the "people are selfish for not having kids they can't afford with partners they can't trust" madness. Just excuses because they hate you for challenging their norms.
I don't see it that way. Most of these points strike me as a responsible approach to the decision. Not having a partner? Inadequate housing? Not sure I would be a good parent? Still in school?
Would you prefer that people just throw caution to the wind and go ahead and do it anyway? I would not.
No, but then we'd have countless stupid posts on this forum about how horrible is Millennials are having too many kids, and how they should save their money, and how back in my day, you did blah-blah-blah, and so on. This whole topic is as much generational bashing - everything "kids these days are doing is wrong" - as it is anger at people who are challenging social norms by not just having a bunch of kids because "that's what people do."
Yep, but if you believe some of the absurdity on this thread, that's just "stuff we don't need." Just move into a $10,000 1 bathroom house (that we're going to pretend is in good condition and exists in a livable place with jobs), toss the kids out back to drink creek water so they are healthy for life, and when they become adults, send them down to the Old Steel Mill where they can get a job that pays great for life without anything more than a firm handshake! Oh, and marry your daughters off to guys in the Old Steel Mill, so they are set for life!
See? Obviously all the people who have come to the conclusion kids are expensive must be wrong! They just need some homespun wisdom that hasn't applied to reality in 30 to 60+ years!
That is a lot of sarcastic hyperbole right there.
This dramatic and stubborn attitude is why we can't help some of the young people even when we want to. I threw many ideas (which other people were already doing and succeeding) and actually got them interviews, produced resumes, etc. to help them but they did what you are doing- making up things and reasons to fail. Some people want it and some want to complain.
Except your argument falls apart because people can adopt.
The feminist bashing also falls apart because of the sheer idiocy of recommending women have kids FIRST and THEN worry about a career. Um, kids COST MONEY. You don't get the debt BEFORE you can pay for it. Heavens... imagine people saying you should buy a huge house or expensive car first and THEN worry about your career. Oh, brilliant!
Look, maybe "back in the day" when we all lived on farms and were basically married for life, having kids before career made sense for women - well, and they didn't really have career options then. But these days, there are no guarantees when comes to other people paying your bills, so if you want to be able to pay for them, you need to worry about your career FIRST. It's not like your husband is forced to be with you forever and will have a job to support the kids forever. Only after your career is in good shape and you're making steady money can you worry about "luxury expenses," which is what kids are, quite frankly.
Exactly. "Kids these days are all lazy and stupid with no money!"
*Kids with no money decide not to have kids of their own for obvious reasons*
"Ah! Kids these days are horrible because they aren't having kids they can't afford!" Right...
Nah, it's just people HATE it when you challenge the social norms. Everyone is supposed to: have kids, get married, go to church every Sunday, hate the same things and people their parents hated, live a dull, soul-sucking existence until the kids are on their own, and then complain all day when their own kids aren't repeating the cycle. It angers people when you dare step outside the norms, such as by not having kids. So, they make up every insane excuse in the book to go after you, such as the "kids are actually very cheap" lunacy we've seen on this thread. Same with the "people are selfish for not having kids they can't afford with partners they can't trust" madness. Just excuses because they hate you for challenging their norms.
You're awfully defensive. If you were 100% secure in your decision to be the perpetual bachelor with no kids, focusing on yourself, I don't think you'd be so viscerally offended by people who see having kids as a virtue.
I didn't want kids when I was younger. At around 30 I looked around and started to see the lameness of my peer group who were still acting like they were 20... pajama parties, extended adolescence.... and don't get me started about the 40s-50s guys you'd see in the club clinging to youth.
Now mid-30s, I have a 1 year old son and look forward to showing him the world and raising a productive adult.
Americans are so lazy they even have to outsource childbirth to the third world.... despite all the safety net available to people who *truly* can't afford to raise kids - such as WIC, state Medicaid, foodstamps, childcare tax credits, etc.
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