Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

Post by uniclaude » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:37 AM UTC

iaw wrote: post #289

zetazzed wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my wife and I were discussing whether to have a third kid, the "we can justify a minivan now" argument was a big push in favor! If you think it's uncool, just remember -- if you buy a sports car, there is always someone out there with a cooler sports car. But you can buy THE BEST minivan in the world for ~$40k. Minivans also tend to go heavy on tech and comfort features relative to their price point. Yes, they s…

My problem with minivans (as opposed to good sports cars) is that they drive like crap. I have never encountered (or heard of) a van that drove well with one exception [1] [1] I remember reading about a volkswagen bus that had been modified heavily with Porsche components to the point it could drive and accelerate better than any van had a right to.

Post by irrational » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:41 AM UTC

ynniv wrote: post #262

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 replaced my 3-series BMW with a Honda Odyssey, and I've spent two years singing its praises. Part of the problem is that we have created a culture that uses cars as a form of self expression, and many early parents aren't ready to "be" a minivan. But the minivan is what you actually want as a parent: room for six people of any size, or four people and at least twice as much cargo as an SUV, with safe, remote contro…

Post by ynniv » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:45 AM UTC

iaw wrote: post #289

zetazzed wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my wife and I were discussing whether to have a third kid, the "we can justify a minivan now" argument was a big push in favor! If you think it's uncool, just remember -- if you buy a sports car, there is always someone out there with a cooler sports car. But you can buy THE BEST minivan in the world for ~$40k. Minivans also tend to go heavy on tech and comfort features relative to their price point. Yes, they s…

My problem with minivans (as opposed to good sports cars) is that they drive like crap. I have never encountered (or heard of) a van that drove well with one exception [1] [1] I remember reading about a volkswagen bus that had been modified heavily with Porsche components to the point it could drive and accelerate better than any van had a right to.

Post by irrational » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:51 AM UTC

SulfurHexaFluri wrote: post #258

dmurray wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's say it costs you $200k to raise a kid to adulthood [0]. A Honda Civic costs $25k new [1], an 8-seater Honda Odyssey costs $31k new [2]. A car lasts 10+ years so conservatively that's $12k extra in transportation costs for your fourth child. Maybe you can argue it's $20k with fuel. That...doesn't seem unreasonable? As a society, we like people to start families and continue the human race, but we know overpopula…

We still have a birth rate that is too high. It will be a long long time before we need to work on raising the birth rate and the problem isn't that complex.

Post by adrianN » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:54 AM UTC

amurthy1 wrote: post #275

SulfurHexaFluri wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We still have a birth rate that is too high. It will be a long long time before we need to work on raising the birth rate and the problem isn't that complex.

The world overall might have too high a birth rate but almost all Western countries have a birth rate below the replacement level of 2.1 (e.g. US, UK, AUS all at 1.7 [0] and falling [1]). Unless you make up this difference with immigration, you have a declining population, which creates all sorts of short term issues. Given that western countries have become increasingly hostile to immigration, especially from develo…