Reply to NYT: Forget Pancakes. Pay Mothers.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People should not be paid for their lifestyle choices. Parenting is a chosen responsibility not a job.[/quote]

How is having kids a lifestyle choice?  Almost everyone has kids.  It’s part of living on planet earth.  If we stopped having kids the world would cease to exist.  It’s not a lifestyle choice.  Select people may be able to opt out but the vast majority of us can’t and wouldn’t want to.  Building a family is a natural human desire. [/quote]

But is that a responsible approach? Think of all the low income single moms.

And it simply isn’t true that the world would cease to exist if people exercised greater responsibility with birth control. [/quote]

You’re changing what you originally said.   Now you’re saying it’s only a lifestyle choice for low income people. [/quote]

I didn’t change anything. I’m a different poster, and that was my first comment.

Your premise is basically that everyone is entitled to have kids. I disagree. I think it’s dangerously irresponsible to have a baby you can’t afford. In America, you basically need to be a single high earner or married in order to afford a kid. Data points to the biggest poverty indicator as single parenting (it’s a “no duh” statistic that two parents are better than one even if one stays home to cover child care).

As a household with two professionals, we can afford to raise a handful of kids. Had our salaries been lower, we would have stopped at 2. Had I been single, I would have debated having even 1.

FTR, I’m all for higher tax credits and cash benefits to support raising young kids (0-5). I’m not in favor of paying women to be sahms forever. Once your kid hits kindergarten, they are in school 6 hours a day. I’m also not in favor of giving a handout to affluent women (that’s a waste).

Candidly, I think the real issue is that some women feel undervalued by their husbands and “society.” The former might be legit (depending on your husband). The latter is largely driven by insecurity. As a career professional, I can assure you I couldn’t care less if a woman works or not. That’s her choice. But I do find it irritating to hear people complain about their lot in life. Smarten up, people: don’t have a kid unless you are prepared to dedicate your entire life to being the best parent you can be.

Anyone watch The Last Kingdom? Uhtred’s teen daughter has wisely determined getting married means having babies and being responsible for child rearing and cooking and chores, etc. She realizes it means sacrificing her own needs and life (basically). She’s not wrong. I mean, things are better in 2020 America, but it’s still not all puppy dogs and rainbows. [/quote]

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