Real reasons people do not have the number of children they want revealed in new report

a year ago by SleafordMod to c/unitedkingdom

As right-wing governments seek to blame a rejection of parenthood, a survey reveals a lack of choice, not desire, stops people having the families they want

This article notes that "right-wing governments, including the US and Hungary, are increasingly blaming falling fertility rates on a rejection of parenthood", as if today's young adults just don't want children.

But the author suggests that actually people do want children, and one of the main reasons they're having fewer children is because they can't afford many children.

Thoughts?

Kyrgizion 41 points a year ago

TL;DR: money. It's always just money. They want us to breed more slaves but they're not willing to put up any collateral.

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Redacted 28 points a year ago

Also, civilsation is going to be brought to its knees by climate change in the coming decades.

Feels somewhat immoral to put someone you love through that.

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Photuris 5 points a year ago
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rumschlumpel 7 points a year ago

I think "money" falls short as an explanation (though it's certainly part of it). Some countries like Sweden have substantially better state support for parents that the standard and the Swedish population isn't exactly poor in general, either, yet they aren't really getting that many more children than poorer countries with less support for parents.

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Eyekaytee 1 point a year ago

Maybe so much money you can get other people to raise your kids for you, that kinda money 😎

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HumanPenguin 34 points a year ago

Raising children requires hope for he future.

Of course the first post ww2 generation to see lower prospects then their parents. Will hesitate to bring children into that future.

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WolfmanEightySix 19 points a year ago

This is one of my main reasons for not wanting kids…why would I want to bring a child into a world where I couldn’t guarantee them a decent standard of upbringing and think that the world is only going to get worse over the next 20 years anyway?

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Blackmist 30 points a year ago

Falling birthrates are not a problem for humanity.

They're a problem for capitalism which can't rely on that for nebulous "growth" figures.

But if capitalists really want a solution, then a home for two adults and two children should be affordable on one average wage, not two. Build more and make them cheaper. If you can't do that then you don't care about the problem enough.

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rumschlumpel 2 points a year ago

It might not be a problem in itself, but it's certainly a symptom.

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shani66 1 point a year ago

A plateauing population is a good thing! Growth is not a good thing! I don't get how people don't understand this. If something is going up forever it will eventually collapse spectacularly, if it's stable instead it'll stay stable.

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Diplomjodler3 20 points a year ago

The people who do all the handwringing about falling birth rates are the same people who bring them about by their shitty policies.

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Luouth 10 points a year ago
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Eyekaytee 2 points a year ago

This makes no sense

Millions of people are prevented from having the number of children they want by a toxic mix of economic barriers and sexism, a new UN report has warned.

How does that gel with the poorest countries in the world with societies that treat women like shit having the highest birth rate?

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filtoid 6 points a year ago

There's a difference between Women harming their careers by having children, and not being able to a career other than SAHM because you aren't able to get a career job in the first place. Both are sexist, and while it would work to increase the birth rate to remove women's rights, it is morally reprehensible, and yes looks sternly at the US, we see what you are doing!

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sunzu2 3 points a year ago
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filtoid 1 point a year ago

Honestly can't tell if you're trolling with this.

Any job that would give you an advantage when applying for a new job (ie. Prior experience) is part of a career. For more formal careers like Medicine and Law they are an absolute necessity and often formally defined, for careers like Bartender, the requirements are more fluid, but experience (and particularly unbroken experience) is very important when applying for jobs.

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sunzu2 2 points a year ago
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HumanPenguin 1 point a year ago

Any job that would give you an advantage when applying for a new job

Nope. Only true if the new job offers benefit over the previous jobs.

Sorry to tell you this. But for many in modern society that is simply not the case. The growth in income or benefit at best covers the increase in cost of living.

With the huge increases in housing costs alone. Long term employment. Stable or steady replacement. Often fails to pay the increased dost of surviving as low income workers age.

For many low income families jobs last as long as the company success followed by random layoffs to support company shareholders. Followed by inflation only replacement work.

This is in no way a career just survival.

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zout 5 points a year ago

The acces to birth control?

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sunzu2 2 points a year ago
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