Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate • Hacker News Board

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#141

Post by notsureaboutpg » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:33 PM UTC

giantg2 wrote: post #72

testfoobar wrote: post #33

The reality for a lot of families is that having children is frighteningly expensive. The twin costs of childcare and a reduction in parental work hours (often mom's) and as a result future career and income advancement potential can be substantial drag on a family's income. Each additional child just prolongs this drag. Multigenerational households where grandparents provide childcare are one solution around this pr…

"Multigenerational households where grandparents provide childcare are one solution around this problem that I've seen." Except many grandparents are still working, especially to cover healthcare costs.

In the US, elderly people have Medicare, so why is this happening?

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#142

Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:34 PM UTC

iso947 wrote: post #115

leetcrew wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

could be on the books but not enforced. in my city helmets are required when riding those electric scooters. you're also exposed to the same DUI laws that apply to actual cars. doesn't stop a bunch of drunk college kids from riding them around with no helmet every night.

There are more head traumas from car occupants than cyclists, it’s odd that there aren’t laws mandating helmets for drivers - 20% of Traumatic brain injuries Resulting in hospitalisation were caused by car crashes - about 1,000 a week.

I think the relevant statistic would be head trauma per miles traveled. But cars do get a lot of exceptions to standards society expects from other situations.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#143

Post by trianglem » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:36 PM UTC

testfoobar wrote: post #33

The reality for a lot of families is that having children is frighteningly expensive. The twin costs of childcare and a reduction in parental work hours (often mom's) and as a result future career and income advancement potential can be substantial drag on a family's income. Each additional child just prolongs this drag. Multigenerational households where grandparents provide childcare are one solution around this pr…

There is no reason to give a career — a poor abstraction built around the simple concept of doing work for money — higher value than rearing a child, something millions of years of evolution has gender specifically selected for.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#144

Post by frongpik » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:37 PM UTC

sleepysysadmin wrote: post #86

Marriage rates are historic lows. Birth rates are historic lows. Women having careers is certainly the current belief why these are so low. Though as the article says they dont quite explain the situation. Car seats are ridiculous. Not a thing I considered before having a kid. It kind of makes sense, now that more kids could happen, the probability of filling the back seats with car seats is certainly expensive and a…

Well educated kids is obviously an asset to our society, but it puzzles me how the same society not only doesn't reward men for raising kids, it makes kids their biggest liability. It's like planting a tree because our society cries wolf about deforestation, and then years later getting a 500k bill from USFS because they had to do some works related to that tree. Men really need a lot of altruism to start a family these days.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#145

Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:38 PM UTC

trianglem wrote: post #143

testfoobar wrote: post #33

The reality for a lot of families is that having children is frighteningly expensive. The twin costs of childcare and a reduction in parental work hours (often mom's) and as a result future career and income advancement potential can be substantial drag on a family's income. Each additional child just prolongs this drag. Multigenerational households where grandparents provide childcare are one solution around this pr…

There is no reason to give a career — a poor abstraction built around the simple concept of doing work for money — higher value than rearing a child, something millions of years of evolution has gender specifically selected for.

That poor abstraction is what allows most people to provide their children with the quality of life they deem necessary.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#146

Post by nsxwolf » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:39 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #131

nsxwolf wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got the Pacifica a few years ago, never looked back. Probably will buy a new one in a few years.

What is the wear and tear cost per mile? I would be very apprehensive about investing in a Fiat Chrysler product.

I've never done the calculation, but we haven't had anything major come up yet on our 2017. We did have a corrosion problem on the aluminum hood out of warranty, and Chrysler fixed it for free.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#147

Post by notsureaboutpg » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:41 PM UTC

sleepysysadmin wrote: post #86

Marriage rates are historic lows. Birth rates are historic lows. Women having careers is certainly the current belief why these are so low. Though as the article says they dont quite explain the situation. Car seats are ridiculous. Not a thing I considered before having a kid. It kind of makes sense, now that more kids could happen, the probability of filling the back seats with car seats is certainly expensive and a…

>Marriage rates are historic lows. Birth rates are historic lows. Women having careers is certainly the current belief why these are so low.

In the olden days women had careers also, just only those ones in the upper-class. While women may not have had jobs like we think of them today, they also weren't at home taking care of households and chores and caring for children (they had an army of servants to do that for them) and so they pursued many of the same things upper-class men did.

Birth rates and marriage rates are low now because our society doesn't value marriage and birth as much as previous ones. We no longer attach a person's worth to their marital status (and that has had many benefits, don't get me wrong). There are ongoing efforts to not see the point of marriage or a family as having and raising children (for now, it's still the first thing that comes to people's minds though).

When that value isn't there socially, people won't struggle to attain that value. Instead we value material things a lot more (no way for me to prove that but it feels so clear when you read a bit of history or books from back then vs. now), and the best way to attain material things quickly is to not pursue things of declining social value (like babies and marriage).

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#148

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:41 PM UTC

DonHopkins wrote: post #104

kube-system wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was young, this was what minivans were for: families with three kids.

Whatever happened to station wagons, with all those extra flip-up seats in the back bay? This is the new Wagon Queen Family Truckster. This is a damn fine automobile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzXN5sQ5g-U&ab_channel=Foste...

They're called SUVs now and the extra seats are absent so that they can be styled with a sloping back. Priorities.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#149

Post by nsxwolf » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:41 PM UTC

lallysingh wrote: post #123

nsxwolf wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got the Pacifica a few years ago, never looked back. Probably will buy a new one in a few years.

How are they on road trips? Instead of a luxury SUV, my main concern is comfort.

Great driver and front passenger comfort. I haven't heard the kids complain about the rest of the seating. I've sat in the middle row a couple times and being tall-ish it wasn't as good as the front but still pretty decent.

The ride itself is great, and its not noisy. There's an active noise cancellation system, not sure if it does anything as I don't think I can turn it off to compare.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#150

Post by vondur » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 11:42 PM UTC

irateswami wrote: post #15

This is an actual conversation I had to have with my wife, having a third kid definitely requires a larger vehicle as the vast majority of cars today simply don't work for a family of five. Child car seats are too wide and the backseats of most cars are too narrow, and the price jump to a vehicle that would be able to handle three child car seats at once is enormous. Throw in some dogs, a couple pieces of luggage tha…

I guess that's why Minivans are popular here in the US. I have a Mazda 5, which is like a mini-minivan and it's probably big enough for 3 car seats. I really like this car, too bad Mazda gave up on them here in the US.