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Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

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Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#31

Post by gedy »

j7ake wrote: post #19
rpcope1 wrote: post #17

It's probably going to take way more than just free daycare to make a dent. If declining birthrates can be swung back to a more neutral rate like 2.1, it probably will mean wide reaching financial, cultural, and general societal changes. I think something like the Order of Maternal Glory ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Maternal_Glory ) but for like 3+ kids, where there's additional social standing in additio…

Free day care is amazing. If that doesn’t make a dent then I am not sure what will. Probably free daycare and relaxing immigration would be best to increase population

Able to live on one salary comfortably?

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#32

Post by fuzzybear3965 »

dyauspitr wrote: post #16
jopsen wrote: post #5

Falling birth rates is a problem in most wealthy industrialized societies. Being up a 4am to greet my wife who's been up since 1am with a screaming child. I'm not sure exactly what kind of benefits could convince us that he needs siblings :) Just saying, that while I certainly applaud the effort. I don't see any easy ways to fix the issue: kids are hard work, there are many other things you could do with your life.

You have to listen to crying and lose some sleep for a couple of weeks? You’re an adult, this is possibly the most self absorbed and shortsighted thinking I seen in a while.

Weeks? Try years. As a parent of a newborn, I can confidently say that my wife hasn't had a full night's sleep for even one night since the kid was born in early July - she watches the kid at night (we live in a one bedroom apartment with the crib in our room - it affects me, too, but I try to tune it out and focus on sleep, as breadwinner). She also watches the kid all day while I work (9-11 hours). She's drained. I don't see this getting any easier for at least 12 months. It's a long road.

We don't have family to support us and we can't afford childcare. So, that's our situation. Not complaining, just saying - it's not weeks of a little bit less sleep. It's chronically interrupted sleep for months, maybe years (according to Dr. Ferber), with severe affects to hormonal regulation and mood and weight.

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#33

Post by elzbardico »

This won't work and it is fine. Nothing is permanent, world population has fallen considerably in other times in history. Yeah, the GDP will probably drop, but necessarely the per capita GDP. Yeah, a falling GDP is not good news for people who lend money and expect compound interest over a long horizon of time, some defaults will happen, probably we would end up having to forgive some debts and writing off a lot of stuff, but so what?

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#34

Post by teitoklien »

jopsen wrote: post #5

Falling birth rates is a problem in most wealthy industrialized societies. Being up a 4am to greet my wife who's been up since 1am with a screaming child. I'm not sure exactly what kind of benefits could convince us that he needs siblings :) Just saying, that while I certainly applaud the effort. I don't see any easy ways to fix the issue: kids are hard work, there are many other things you could do with your life.

Idk, I love children and being able to comfort kids back to sleep makes me more happy and not annoyed, I’d choose children over a better vacation or a car, I’m not sure why our generation in most countries stopped caring about children.

Until this, people would dedicate their lives to their kids, children were the most important thing in people’s lives, everything from friends, to outings, to day to day life, would revolve around the child’s best interests and wants.

I’m not sure why this link broke, across every major country. Was it the internet ? What was it, even people from less fortunate backgrounds are having fewer kids, like a LOT LESS, what changed, its not about religion, even the religious are having fewer kids (more than non-religious) but still fewer,

It’s truly a big question, my guess is it has something to do with, increasing the avg age of marriage by 10 yrs from 20 to 30, and making pre-marital sex available in-cheap for everyone, before you’d need to get married to be able to sleep with the opposite gender.

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#35

Post by tsunamifury »

mindwok wrote: post #22
alexpotato wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been parenting for the last several thousand years. I say this not to be flippant or sarcastic but rather to ask how our ancestors seemed fine with the above but we seem less so? (To be fair, I have 3 kids and totally get why your scenario might lower the odds. I'll say that even with the 1am wakeups, the "I love you!" from a toddler is one of the best feelings ever.)

I believe the answer is that there is far more interesting things to do with your life. It's quite easy to imagine a life where you're occupied up to your mid thirties with things like university, starting a career in a field you're actually interested in, maybe moving locations once or twice, travelling, working overseas. This plays out even at the relationship level: people in their 20's are far less committal, and…

I mean yea did that till I got bored at 37/38 and had kids

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#36

Post by space_fountain »

elzbardico wrote: post #33

This won't work and it is fine. Nothing is permanent, world population has fallen considerably in other times in history. Yeah, the GDP will probably drop, but necessarely the per capita GDP. Yeah, a falling GDP is not good news for people who lend money and expect compound interest over a long horizon of time, some defaults will happen, probably we would end up having to forgive some debts and writing off a lot of s…

A large class of people who loan money are people looking to fund a retirement. This will be devastating to them

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#37

Post by toomuchtodo »

tsunamifury wrote: post #35
mindwok wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the answer is that there is far more interesting things to do with your life. It's quite easy to imagine a life where you're occupied up to your mid thirties with things like university, starting a career in a field you're actually interested in, maybe moving locations once or twice, travelling, working overseas. This plays out even at the relationship level: people in their 20's are far less committal, and…

I mean yea did that till I got bored at 37/38 and had kids

Over half of US households (58.4%) contain no kids, 17.9% are married parents raising kids, 7.4% are single parents.

Some have them, many are not.

https://www.voronoiapp.com/demographics/Over-Half-of-Househo...

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#38

Post by leidenfrost »

rpcope1 wrote: post #17

It's probably going to take way more than just free daycare to make a dent. If declining birthrates can be swung back to a more neutral rate like 2.1, it probably will mean wide reaching financial, cultural, and general societal changes. I think something like the Order of Maternal Glory ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Maternal_Glory ) but for like 3+ kids, where there's additional social standing in additio…

Maybe if they were more open to immigration culturally, a lot of people would happily integrate to their society.

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#39

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

teitoklien wrote: post #34
jopsen wrote: post #5

Falling birth rates is a problem in most wealthy industrialized societies. Being up a 4am to greet my wife who's been up since 1am with a screaming child. I'm not sure exactly what kind of benefits could convince us that he needs siblings :) Just saying, that while I certainly applaud the effort. I don't see any easy ways to fix the issue: kids are hard work, there are many other things you could do with your life.

Idk, I love children and being able to comfort kids back to sleep makes me more happy and not annoyed, I’d choose children over a better vacation or a car, I’m not sure why our generation in most countries stopped caring about children. Until this, people would dedicate their lives to their kids, children were the most important thing in people’s lives, everything from friends, to outings, to day to day life, would r…

> I’d choose children over a better vacation or a car

I don’t think the burden of children is experienced only financially. I suspect at least some people are choosing sleep, peace, and freedom over children. Not [primarily] luxury goods.

Re: Japan Offers Free Daycare to Boost Tokyo's Falling Birth Rate

#40

Post by jazz9k »

mindwok wrote: post #22
alexpotato wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been parenting for the last several thousand years. I say this not to be flippant or sarcastic but rather to ask how our ancestors seemed fine with the above but we seem less so? (To be fair, I have 3 kids and totally get why your scenario might lower the odds. I'll say that even with the 1am wakeups, the "I love you!" from a toddler is one of the best feelings ever.)

I believe the answer is that there is far more interesting things to do with your life. It's quite easy to imagine a life where you're occupied up to your mid thirties with things like university, starting a career in a field you're actually interested in, maybe moving locations once or twice, travelling, working overseas. This plays out even at the relationship level: people in their 20's are far less committal, and…

I did all of this by 30 and started a family shortly after this. Kids are hard (I have two), but I wouldn't change anything.

I know multiple single people in their 50s and 60s with no kids and they are all miserable human beings.

Another issue is that most of your peers at that age are raising a family and have less time to get together, making it very lonely. If you wait long enough, your friends will retire/kids will move out and they will have time for you again.

This doesn't even include the elderly people with no kids that end up alone in a nursing home one day.

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