Are we reaching a point where getting married/having children/owning home is just to damn expensive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the 4 year tuition cost of decent school? 75k? 80k?

Notice I said decent and not great.

A great school will cost over 100k easily.

Who cares?? I graduated George Mason in 2008 and Mke 280k/yr. I'm so glad I went to GMU, I have so many local contacts through the alumni network. A great school means very little and as a hiring manager myself I care absolutely not even an ounce where you went to college.

I have kids, I have a SFH, I have ZERO school debt and with two of us (my DH was UVA) we make over 500k/yr.

Where do you make $280K as a hiring manager?!

Right? Finding this post hard to believe.

I am not this poster, but this is a common mistake. A "hiring manager" is not, typically, an HR person, like a recruiter (unless it's an HR person hiring an employee). The "hiring manager" for a position is literally the manager the employee who is being hired will report to. Literally, the manager who is hiring. So that person could make 280K, could make 80K, could make whatever. The poster was saying--in their role as a hiring manager--literally, an employee hiring other employees--he doesn't care about where the degree is from. His only job is not only to hire people. We actually have no idea what his actual job is, other than he clearly has direct reports he hires.

side rant over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
College is too expensive. Expectations are too high in urban areas in terms of activities, enrichment etc.

We better figure it out because we are below replacement age reproduction.

I haven't read all 8 pages, but you say this like it is a bad thing. The planet cannot continue to support our booming population. And I say this as a pregnant woman who wants more than 2 children, so I am exacerbating the issue.

Exactly. We need less people, not more! And then unemployment would go down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haven't read all 7 pgs -- but haven't people been saying this for generations? Don't know how our kids will ever get married, buy a house, have kids bc it's sooooo expensive now. And yet every generation manages.

And yet the birth rate has dropped significantly.

And how do you know that's bc of expenses rather than just lesser interest in having babies?

My friends and I LOVE babies..but how can we pay student loans, $2K/mo RENT , $2K daycare with men who are mamma's boys and not willing to grow up?
Young women are expected to make equal financial contributions , be excited to work F/T and then come home and do 95% of childcare and housework with little/no help from anyone, and go to the gym or run marathons with DH, and then be ready for sex at a moment's notice.

It's NOT the lack of interest in having babies, its the LACK OF RESOURCES (financial, physical, emotional, etc) that are affecting the birthrate.

These are not problems endemic to a generation, these are problems specific to a group of women (including, it seems, you and your friends) who did a shitty job picking partners. It isn't society's fault your husband is a slacker douche.

PREACH!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article is several days old, but some of the commenters have echoed similar sentiments in this thread. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/us/fertility-rate-decline-united-states.html#commentsContainer

One comment in particular stood out:

"In short, many people of both sexes of prime childbearing age are not having children right now because they cannot afford all of the Big Four (housing, student loan payments, healthcare, daycare) at the same time, those that ARE having kids because they are making enough to make those four expenses bearable are only having one or two, and those who can afford to have three or more are not because they are working so many hours that they are too damn tired to even consider adding another crying baby to the mix."

This. Expectations for parents have increased--in terms of time and money. People graduate from college with more in student loans (because tuition has outpaced inflation for years). Housing is more expensive. Daycare is expensive. And there is little societal support in terms of healthcare costs, parental leave and sick leave, child care costs, etc. If we were really worried about people having more babies, we'd have universal health care, affordable quality child care, and guaranteed parental leave. We aren't worried, or at least not worried enough to do anything to make it easier for people to have more kids. We just demand that parents (especially mothers) sacrifice more and more time and money, and berate them for being selfish when they don't or aren't able to.

Nobodies berating parents/mothers for not 'sacrificing' by bringing more children into the world or not sacrificing by taking time off work. At least nobody I know. Your uterus, your business.

Really? You've never read or heard anyone complaining that young adults are "too selfish" to have kids (rants about avocado toast and the like come to mind)? Or about women who use daycare instead of staying home with their kids? Or about how people could afford more kids if they were just willing to "take fewer vacations or drive an old car" or "live further out" or whatever? I have heard and read all of those things. And that's not even counting the racists who think that white women need to have more babies because immigrants or other people they deem undesirable are having too many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the 4 year tuition cost of decent school? 75k? 80k?

Notice I said decent and not great.

A great school will cost over 100k easily.

Who cares?? I graduated George Mason in 2008 and Mke 280k/yr. I'm so glad I went to GMU, I have so many local contacts through the alumni network. A great school means very little and as a hiring manager myself I care absolutely not even an ounce where you went to college.

I have kids, I have a SFH, I have ZERO school debt and with two of us (my DH was UVA) we make over 500k/yr.

Many talented, hard-working individuals are not as fortunate as you are. Do not assume that your experience is reflective of the economy as a whole. A good education and a good work ethic do not necessarily translate into 280K a year in the job market. Luck -- good and bad -- plays a huge role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the 4 year tuition cost of decent school? 75k? 80k?

Notice I said decent and not great.

A great school will cost over 100k easily.

Who cares?? I graduated George Mason in 2008 and Mke 280k/yr. I'm so glad I went to GMU, I have so many local contacts through the alumni network. A great school means very little and as a hiring manager myself I care absolutely not even an ounce where you went to college.

I have kids, I have a SFH, I have ZERO school debt and with two of us (my DH was UVA) we make over 500k/yr.

Many talented, hard-working individuals are not as fortunate as you are. Do not assume that your experience is reflective of the economy as a whole. A good education and a good work ethic do not necessarily translate into 280K a year in the job market. Luck -- good and bad -- plays a huge role.

Also there are just some jobs (most really) that will never pay that much, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t worth doing or that we don’t need talented hard working people to fill those jobs.