It’s probably not selfishness, experts say. Even young adults who want children see an increasing number of obstacles.
For years, some conservatives have framed the declining fertility rate of the United States as an example of eroding family values, a moral catastrophe in slow motion.
JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, recently came under fire for saying in 2021 that the nation was run by “childless cat ladies” who “hate normal Americans for choosing family over these ridiculous D.C. and New York status games.”
Last year, Ashley St. Clair, a Fox News commentator, described childless Americans this way: “They just want to pursue pleasure and drinking all night and going to Beyoncé concerts. It’s this pursuit of self-pleasure in replace of fulfillment and having a family.”
Researchers who study trends in reproductive health see a more nuanced picture. The decision to forgo having children is most likely not a sign that Americans are becoming more hedonistic, they say. For one thing, fertility rates are declining throughout the developed world.
Rather, it indicates that larger societal factors — such as rising child care costs, increasingly expensive housing and slipping optimism about the future — have made it feel more untenable to raise children in the United States.
It’s probably not selfishness, experts say. Even young adults who want children see an increasing number of obstacles.
Well, of course it’s not selfishness. Having children is a purely selfish act, because who else are you reproducing for? You can’t do something for someone that doesn’t exist, and bringing existence to someone who hasn’t asked for it, knowing what the world looks like, doesn’t strike me as a kindness. So who else is benefiting? The capitalist machine?
But the world really needs another little copy of me running around because I’m so unique and wonderful! /s
but i am 👁️👄👁️
Well, I mean SOME people have to reproduce at least…
The corporations need more worker meat for the grinder! How dare you selfishly keep that from them!
The mines are yearning for the children
Money.
People in central Africa must be swimming in it…
Bank accounts are empty, and the air is full of smoke.
the car’s on fire
and there’s no driver at the wheel
and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
and a dark wind blowsNGL, line 3 looking more appealing every day.
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We are trapped in the belly of the beast, and the beast is starving to death.
NO STABILITY… landlords can raise rent as much as they want… And houses are out of reach of most people
$
$
After just putting two through college it’s pretty simple: They’re fucking expensive !!!
Because some people actually care about children? Instead of pretending to care and immediately abandoning that position as soon as the child is born?
gestures broadly
I have better things to do
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Quite the opposite. People generally want children for selfish relations.
I’ve never understood that assumption either. Having a child is the clearly selfish choice if you’re going to choose to have this binary that one of the two is selfish.
Right? One of the two is clearly fucking selfish and its not the people that looked at the world and themselves and said “nah cant handle that”
People can barely afford what is considered essential these days. Jobs are hard to find, but no one wants to work. Layoffs happening in every large business to cut costs. Profit margins and infinite growth have become congressional priority. Owning your own home is a dream becoming more and more intangible. They make these articles every so often and they’re often disconnected with the struggles of the lower and middle classes, asking a question with obvious answers. Most people without kids are a few paychecks away from bankruptcy and you want them to be excited about parenthood?
Can’t afford one. Jobs don’t pay enough to afford one. They’re annoying. They’re shit machines. I prefer to have fun in life and do what I like more than take care of a kid.
Yeah man, Ashley wasserface was pretty much right, aside from the drinking, statistically.
Every time I talk to a friend with children it sounds like they’re trying to stop Woodstock ‘99, and I’m too tired for that.
The same poeple who wanted to ban having anyone else pay off kids school lunch debt, besides the parents, are the same people who get offended when we aren’t popping out kids. The same poeple who want zero maternity leave and zero prenatal support act like we are the worst of the worst. Don’t have children you can’t afford, no state welfare for you! So when we were like okay we won’t have kids they are all shocked Pikachu face.
