Problem isn't with people who are in prison. Problem is with people who are out of prison with prison experience - most of them are thoroughly criminalised for life. So one should count people who served serious time behind bars, and now out - ideally, age-corrected, because people age out of crime and someone who got in jail at 18 and left at 50 is probably ok and isn't a big danger. That is the metric that society should strive to minimise.
America’s incarceration rate is in decline
281–290 of 586 posts
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Don't read the above as advocating having kids too young, it is not. Depending on the circumstances in a persons country, maybe getting children at a young age isn't that dumb. I'd argue that the best time to get kids is as a university student. You get free daycare, the government doubles your stipend (and it's extended), your housing subsidy increases, you generally have more free time as a student, grandparents…
> I'd argue that the best time to get kids is as a university student. You get free daycare, the government doubles your stipend (and it's extended), your housing subsidy increases, you generally have more free time as a student... Where... where do you live? I'm all for having kids as soon as possible, but I was barely able to provide for just myself during university.
I'm in Denmark. You get around $1100 per month from the government as a university student, you then get around the same amount per child (not sure if a couple get half of that each). Still if you're two students, with a child, that's at least $3300 a month. That's not a lot of money, but there are also government loans you can get, and again, free daycare and subsidies for housing. It's not a get rich scheme, but it's also only meant to be temporary i.e. until you finish your studies.
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the act of having a child is much more deliberate and the parents likely having more resources This is both good and bad. Having a child is very difficult, but it gets harder as you get older. You lack a lot of monitory resources as a teen or the early 20s, but you have a lot more energy, as you get older your body starts decaying you will lack energy. A kid had at 40 will still be depending on your when you are 55…
I had my children at 36 and 38, and I'm the mother, and energy-wise, I've had no issues. Yes, they considered me to be of "advanced maternal age" in the OB department and gave me special treatment due to it, but my doctors told me that the "advanced maternal age" threshold (35) was based off outdated research anyway. In the bay area, most of the mothers I've met were around that age, and my friends are having their k…
It also depends on your health and fitness.
My ex-wife was 37, and I was an year older, when our younger one was born and energy was not the problem so I agree with you that 35+ should not be a problem.
However, a lot of people are having kids significantly older than that.
I not know whether I could cope with a baby 20 years later. Contrary to stereotypes I used to get up faster and more fully if a baby cried in the night. On the other hand, having a baby might energise and motivate me! Not planning to try it out though!
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
Like all complex phenomena 1960s crime wave probably has many causes, but lead poisoning stands out - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis
>ike all complex phenomena 1960s crime wave probably has many causes, but lead poisoning stands out And the ones who didn't get sent to prison, stunt their career by being useless hippies or drive their muscle cars drunk so habitually that laws got passed are the current heads of most public and private institutions. So things will likely improve a bit when those people age out as their replacements will likely be pi…
Bold of you to assume the "microplastic'd pool" will be any better
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had kids in my late 30s and they tested my patience and emotional regulation to an extent greater than any other experience of my life. I was somewhat emotionally volatile in my 20s and I can't imagine my kids having better outcomes if I'd had to learn to parent at that time in my life.
My children are 12 years apart in age and being a parent in my 20s was a much better experience. I had less money, but I had more time. I wiser now, but I had more energy. I could relate to being a kid more. I'm not suggesting it's better. But people seem to automatically assume that being older when having kids as better. I know some much older parents who were not good parents. I know I would not make a good parent…
We have 4 kids and I relate to them really well I think, not to the level where I’m engrossed in descriptions of the latest Roblox game but they’re just younger humans, not some alien species… I’m in my mid 40’s and our youngest is 10.
I also have plenty of energy, the only real change I’ve noticed getting older is I’m in bed a bit earlier than I was in my 20s.
I don’t understand why people think midlife is some kind of drained, lifeless decrepitude
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Society itself is broken. You SHOULD be able to graduate high school and make enough to support yourself and a family with a bit of struggle This has literally only been true for about 30 years out of the sum total of human history, would you like to guess when those 30 years happened to be? Obviously the answer is "1950s america". For the rest of human history, you needed something beyond the education you receive…
> Obviously the answer is "1950s america". And the 50s to 80s anywhere else in the civilized world.
It does not have to be a replica of of 50s society though. In particular, I do not think the model of "men go out to work, women look after home and kids" is a great one.
There are lot of alternatives. Men can be primary parents (I was, once the kids got to about the age of eight or so, and was an equal parent before that) and they could stay at home (I continued working, but I was already self-employed and working from home, and my ex never worked after having children).
I think the ideal set up (it would have been so for me) would have been for both parents to work part time.
Of course it still comes back to, you should be able to raise a family on the equivalent of one full time income.
Of course, if the leisured society predicted a few decades ago had come to pass it would be one part time salary.
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the act of having a child is much more deliberate and the parents likely having more resources This is both good and bad. Having a child is very difficult, but it gets harder as you get older. You lack a lot of monitory resources as a teen or the early 20s, but you have a lot more energy, as you get older your body starts decaying you will lack energy. A kid had at 40 will still be depending on your when you are 55…
> A kid had at 40 will still be depending on your when you are 55 I had my kids 25-35; all 5 are adults. We live together as is befitting a 4 income economy. > and if the kids goes to college Do you mean go away to college? Yeah. No. > may have some dependency on you when your peers are retiring. Me and peers are all working grey. End of career happens with first major illness intersects with the lack of health insur…
SO what? That is well below retirement age and life expectancy. MY younger one turns 18 when I will be 58, and I am a single parent. Baring accidents or the severely unexpected (which can happen at any age - plenty of people die in the 30s or 40s) its not a problem.
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#288The question not even asked by the article is ... why?
The answer is likely unknowable, but I can think of several factors that tie into the plummeting birth rate: - While the Freakanomics citation of widespread access to abortion has been debunked as a sole cause, I think it remains credible for at least a contributing factor. Fewer young people born to folks who are too poor/busy/not wanting to raise them is doubtlessly going to reduce the number of young offenders who…
> how awful the dating market is especially for women,
Don't worry, I assure you it's just as terrible on the other side of the fence.
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Society itself is broken. You SHOULD be able to graduate high school and make enough to support yourself and a family with a bit of struggle This has literally only been true for about 30 years out of the sum total of human history, would you like to guess when those 30 years happened to be? Obviously the answer is "1950s america". For the rest of human history, you needed something beyond the education you receive…
People supported families with single incomes with less than high school education for centuries before the 1950s.
All the other members of the family were active and produced useful things - both kids and women. The iddle lifestyle was limited to richer classes.
Re: America’s incarceration rate is in decline
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you do the same comparison of the rates of leaded gasoline during childhood to adulthood crime rates across different countries which have different histories of leaded gasoline usage, you notice that the correlation persists. While of course correlation does not imply causation, it's a link that's fairly well-established in literature, it's not a spurious correlation, and we know that lead has concrete neurologic…
Since 1970 testosterone has declined 1% per year and it’s well established higher testosterone is linked to impulsive and violent criminal behavior and in countries like the US crime rate is at a 50 year low correlating with this decline starting 1970. There are many factors that correlate and potentially contribute to a reduction in incarceration rates. There are estimated 1.8-1.9M incarcerated. Since 1980 to the pr…
Where are these conviction rate statistics from? What are they measuring? (is it reporting of crime to a conviction on that crime?)