Reply to Growing share of childless adults in U.S. don’t expect to ever have children

Forum Index » Off-Topic

Reply to "Growing share of childless adults in U.S. don’t expect to ever have children"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you think about, purely from a financial perspective, I am doing way, way worse than my friends who did not have kids (chosen not to or just couldn't because of biology, relationships, circumstances, etc).

It is an interesting thing to see right now since I'm in the thick of it, but US society doesn't encourage having children. If anything, there are economic disincentives built into the economy. No paid leave after having a child, an expensive childcare framework that is regulated to high hell by the government (for safety reasons, is unquestionably a good thing) with no financial support of the government (which people endless dispute as to whether it is shitty or not). Tax benefits are minimal. College savings programs aren't deductible federally and student loan interest is subject to income limits that drive people out of being able to take the deductions. Factor in the caps on SALT deductions (local property taxes pay for schools and surprise, the federal government DOESN'T want to encourage this I guess) and well...here we are. [/quote]

This.  We have policies that do not encourage having children.  And we tell people that no one else should have to pay for their kids, and if you want kids, it's an individual lifestyle choice and you shouldn't expect anyone to help you.   So, now that there is less social pressure to have kids (especially on women), I don't know why we'd be surprised that a lot of people aren't planning to have kids.  We've basically said that having kids is only for rich people with a lot of support -- so people who aren't that are saying, "Okay."  [/quote]

I have well off friends in Canada who got paid for either six or 12 months of staying home after they had their kids (can't remember which). They went on some big trip during that time. It made having kids look so much more appealing than what I see here in the US - a measly few weeks of leave, all that time spent messy and depressed with no help unless you get super lucky and are rich enough for a nanny or have involved grandparents. Then there's daycare, endless sports, impossible to pay for college, etc.

I am 48 and chose not to have kids. I couldn't fathom how I'd ever ever ever realistically make it work. If I'd really wanted them I could have - my sibling has two, and we're similar enough that at least I have that model to go on - but it just seems to effing hard.[/quote]

I’m Canadian, living in Toronto. The key words in your comment are “well off”. Yes, overall our policies are better, but having children is still very difficult for those who aren’t wealthy. [/quote]

I'm sure it is - Canada is expensive, too! I was just blown away by what they were able to do during their state-sanctioned family time. It sure looked like the opposite of the grind I see in the US. [/quote]

Living in Canada does not mean that you get paid to stay home when you or your spouse gives birth. It is entirely dependent on your career, if you’re lucky enough to have one. And your friends were able to take a trip because they had a lot of money. 
Your example is nothing like the experience of 99 percent of Canadian parents. [/quote]

+1 I'm so tired of this board posting baseless facts about benefits abroad and skipping some rather salient points.

You don't get paid for 12 months of leave in Canada. You are entitled to four months of paid leave at a maximum of $400/wk - up to 55% of your salary (USD to CAD). After that you're on your own.

Similarly in the U.K. - you get six weeks of maternity benefits at 70% of full pay. Every week after that is a maximum of $150/wk (USD to GBP) up until 50-ish week or so.

Translation - if you can't survive on a payout of $400/month in the UK and nothing past the first four months of $1,600/month in Canada, you don't get to take a year off.  Especially considering the high cost of living in Canada.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics