Ask HN: What are the benefits to having children nowadays?

Fuck Cancer.

In this case the OP made a bunch of claims which they cannot support, and then wants people to defend those claims/find counter-benefits to offset them. They've essentially pinned the discussion so that it wastes a bunch of time, and so their preconceived notions cannot be undercut.

If people want to have a good faith discussion about the positive/negatives, then that is certainly possible, but OP poisoned the well, so it is unlikely to be possible here.

People are social animals and that's the reason we spend time in Hacker News. No person no matter how introverted enjoys being alone all of the time; some people get their most enjoyable social interaction with their own family.

I'm a dad who decided with my partner to have our first kid, and then they turned out to be triplets. Just for context.

All of the things listed by parent below resonated with me. Here are a couple additional ones I didn't see:

1)Kids are an amazing lens through which to see the world brand new. Even spending time with a kid (not even yours) will let you discover new things your jaded grown-up brain has missed.

2)Moreover, society needs young people for this reason. As we get older we get less flexible in our thinking, less effusive in our ability to love, less hallucinatory in our creativity (all of which are important for running companies, governments, societies, etc.) Kids and teenagers (who are like kids matured in a cheese cave so their flavors and smells get more complicated) bring radicality and imagination back to society. If you're thinking about using hallucinogens to change your perspective as an older person, consider that kids/young folks basically bring this energy to the party without the drugs.

Robin Wall Kimmerer writes in "Braiding sweet grass" about how many indigenous societies around the world recognize the separate "wisdom of toddlers" and "wisdom of teens" - I feel like we need to talk about this more.

It doesn't work out well.

The people in the nursing homes/hospice still are only their to be paid. They don't care about you deep down.

So, things like bedsores are allowed to fester, cancer diagnoses come a bit later than you'd like, loneliness sets it (especially during covid), your diapers aren't changed all that much, you get sent out to the ER even for little things, etc. Your care is, essentially, being chosen by a lawyer and then enacted by a low paid employee who would like a real career where they don't treat old crazy people like babies.

Sure, you can choose a super luxe home to the tune of ~$50k/mo. I had an extended relative that was on a great series of pensions (guaranteed income) and was in a home that was costing ~$25k/mo. They were there for ~15 years. It still didn't go all that well and the family was called in at least twice a week to help out with things. Other people there without family nearby, let alone any at all, didn't fair nearly was well, typically 2-3 years. Then covid hit, and all hell broke loose for everyone.

If you don't have someone watching out for you that really does care for you, you're going to be treated poorly. Especially if you develop any mental problems in your old age.

You don't have to have kiddos, but you do have to have someone out there nearby who really will get out of bed at 3am for the third time this month to come help you when you're blind and demented to physically lift you up and wipe your incontinence off.