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

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

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

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."[/quote]

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.  [/quote]

I agree. I also think things have changed from a generation ago that have increased the financial demands on parents. When pensions were prevalent, there wasn’t such a need to save a lot for retirement. You didn’t need as much college savings because tuition was lower and it was truly possible to work your way through college without taking on much debt.  [/quote]

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