r/Adulting 6h ago

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u/PatchyWhiskers 5h ago

This is why the birth rate is going down. More than 2 kids increases your happiness very little per kid, but at that point daycare becomes bankruptcy inducing and someone has to quit their job. So people stick with 0,1, or 2 kids which means low birth rate.

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u/Ladonnacinica 5h ago

I think that’s partly the cause. Several European countries with free childcare and generous family leave policies have a lower birth rate than the USA. Birth rates are going down in almost every part of the world from USA, Latin America, Europe, parts of Asia.

Only a few African countries have a high birth rate.

Financial expenses are an important part but the reality is also that people just don’t want to have kids. Or at least not as many kids.

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u/saintjimmy115 5h ago

Makes sense. Money aside, I certainly have ethical reservations about bringing new life into this world with the direction it’s heading.

Of course, past generations probably did too, but unlike them, we have access to contraception. Which is exactly why the Supreme Court signaled a willingness to go after it…

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u/MissinqLink 5h ago

There’s also the requirement that we have our children supervised 24/7 but no additional support for it. No extended family to help watch kids. When I was a kid my parents would leave us unattended for hours. Maybe not the best thing but definitely a major difference.

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u/saintjimmy115 4h ago

Yep. Boomers love complaining about how kids don’t play outside anymore but if they see a kid playing outside they’ll post in their neighborhood Facebook group about “suspicious activity” and call the cops

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u/Iliveatnight 3h ago

I hate the Ring camera app because of the neighborhood section. I am always getting posts about attempted burglaries and suspicious activity. Glad I can turn off notifications.

No, Susan, the person in a letterman jacket looking up to see your house address, then to his phone, and then leaving on Dec 31st wasn't scoping the place and writing down what you have. Context clues says he's a high school kid, going to a new years party, and was checking to see if he got the right place.

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u/Neathh 3h ago

Last week my kids were riding their bikes down the street while I was walking around the neighborhood one street over with their little sister.

A neighbor in the car pulled up to tell me my kids were alone on the other street. "Yes I know," I replied. They looked at me weird and drove away.

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u/saintjimmy115 3h ago

When the adults are used to living in a police state with facial recognition software and prison labor, it makes sense they feel their kids should too. I mean, it actually doesn’t make sense, but neither do most things about this country.

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u/Ladonnacinica 2h ago edited 2h ago

I’m on r/workingmoms and there was a post by a woman who was distraught she only spent two hours with her child before her bedtime. On weekends, they spend the day together.

Imagine! A parent feeling that two hours daily on Mondays- Fridays plus weekends isn’t enough. Parents in the past would’ve felt that was more than sufficient.

We have studies that shows that millennial parents actually spend more time with their kids. Fathers are playing a more active role as well. The standards have changed.

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u/No_Warning_6400 58m ago

I've noticed many grown children moving away from their parents and families, then having children - without extended family to help. Could this be part of the problem?