I have two teenagers and they are wonderful. But the world is NOT the same anymore. In the current moment, I would really think twice before bringing any more kids into this world. I feel sorry for everyone coming of age at this time. The world got very bad very quickly. There's no jobs, no one can afford a house, healthcare, or retirement, and the climate is toast.
What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
141–150 of 927 posts
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You can also hire a nanny. Yes, or just have your servants watch them. Most families in the US can't afford a nanny. Daycare is already stretching it. > It's also not the end of the world to take a couple years off work. It's a hurdle, but not the end of the road. Many people do it. Mostly women, and that helps keep the gender pay gap going.
> Most families in the US can't afford a nanny. Daycare is already stretching it. Where are you at? Nannies are cheaper than daycare starting at 1 kid and the cost becomes overwhelming in favor of a nanny when there's multiple kids. You can also have the nanny watch other kids in the neighborhood if you only have 1 kid.
Paying someone to watch your children full time so that you can do your full time job is inherently classist. Who takes care of the nannies kids?
The solution to "kids are expensive" being to just pay someone lower class to do it is absurd.
> You can also have the nanny watch other kids in the neighborhood if you only have 1 kid.
You're re-inventing daycare here.
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
one of my theories for why we specifically see highly-educated people waiting longer or opting out is that it's a consequence of tiger-mom/helicopter-parent upbringings its a double-blow to deciding to have kids -- a) they were raised to pursue personal/career excellence which deprioritized becoming a parent, and b) when they look back at their parental role models they see an unsustainable level of over-involvement…
Agreeing with you, and connecting it to the link, my parents talk about their childhood as basically being feral. You had multiple kids in the house who entertained/babysat each other (possibly by beating each other up, but whatever) and you also had streets filled with kids doing whatever (baseball in a dirt field, playing in traffic). The rule was to be home by the time the streetlights came on. Organizing and tran…
I grew up in the 80s and 90s. This was my childhood. In the summer, I would play with the neighboorhood kids until dark and come home.
My mom would yell out the back door when it was time for dinner.
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#144These studies never seem to look at time spent parenting, between baby-boom years and now. My parents parented a few hours a week and were entirely typical. I parented ceaselessly, just like my parenting-peers. My parents world was possible because kids roamed with peers (and without adults) for many hours a week. This was my childhood, my parents childhood, my grandparents childhood. My kids grew up under 24/7 adult…
I don't think that's a significant factor because it doesn't come into play until all of your children are at least like 8. Nobody is thinking "I'll have to drive them to music lessons in 10 years instead of letting them play outside".
I think the obvious factors are far more likely - people are poorer, childcare is more expensive, stay-at-home parents are less common.
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Costs $2500-4000/mo for infant care where I am. On top of a $3000/mo mortgage. NE USA. When I see a family of 5 my first thought is "holy fuck they must be loaded." Either that or they have one parent who cannot be employed outside the home.
If child care is that expensive, it's cheaper for one person to stay home, unless both parents have high paying jobs.
Revealed preference tells us people would rather have "no kids and 3 money" (credit to Homer Simpson).
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Costs $2500-4000/mo for infant care where I am. On top of a $3000/mo mortgage. NE USA. When I see a family of 5 my first thought is "holy fuck they must be loaded." Either that or they have one parent who cannot be employed outside the home.
If child care is that expensive, it's cheaper for one person to stay home, unless both parents have high paying jobs.
As something of a tautology, when both parents have high paying jobs, child care can charge whatever they want. And they still have limited spaces, which the highly paid parents are now competing for.
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Costs $2500-4000/mo for infant care where I am. On top of a $3000/mo mortgage. NE USA. When I see a family of 5 my first thought is "holy fuck they must be loaded." Either that or they have one parent who cannot be employed outside the home.
If child care is that expensive, it's cheaper for one person to stay home, unless both parents have high paying jobs.
It can be, but it's incredibly risky for women to stay home to take care of children. And, let's be honest - they're the ones actually putting in the effort here most of the time. Most women don't want to be at the complete financial behest of their husbands, nor do they want to risk missing out on a decade of work experience.
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#148I think this idea that we need more people is completely bonkers. Look at the housing market in any developed country; overcrowding at tourist destinations around the world; environmental impact of resource extraction, plastics manufacturing, fossil fuel consumption. There are WAY TOO MANY people in the world already. We had thriving communities with <1B people on the planet, we certainly don't need to go rocketing past 10B.
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
Money is not the issue according to this from 4 days ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44529456 According to that the issue is culture. We, as a species, have effectively just changed into people who no longer want kids (on average). Changing culture is hard. Sure, every little economic reason might have been some small influence on that culture but fixing the monetary issues will not suddenly snap the culture…
"We gave 1000 lucky participants $3.50 and a used bubblegum wrapper to share between them, but it didn't measurably increase their marginal propensity to have kids at all! Clearly the root problem couldn't possibly have anything to due with economics!" It's wild how quick and eager economists are to discard money as a driving factor when the solution could possibly involve more social spending. If this were about tak…
Did you just make that up? I don't see what that has to do with the linked study
Re: What caused the 'baby boom'? What would it take to have another?
#150I have two teenagers and they are wonderful. But the world is NOT the same anymore. In the current moment, I would really think twice before bringing any more kids into this world. I feel sorry for everyone coming of age at this time. The world got very bad very quickly. There's no jobs, no one can afford a house, healthcare, or retirement, and the climate is toast.
What a ridiculous attitude. The world will always have problems you cannot control. People have been having babies in all sorts of adversity for all of history.