We're barely surviving ourselves. We can't afford kids if we do want them.
this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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I never wanted kids, they just don't interest me and the cost is exorbitant. Spoke to a refugee lady at vwork and she had kids whilst on the run from government gumen. Oh you just have them and worry about it later.. it's a totally different attitude. In the west you need 3 jobs and a paid off home plus a nutritionist to consider it, in other places it just happens and noone questions your eating habits under fire. I think i agree with the non westerners on this, have them or don't, just stop making it a rigmarole.
The privileged are blessed/cursed with the breathing space for foresight, anticipating and trying to avoid all the pitfalls and problems that they can foresee... which are endless. People in survival mode are living day-to-day, hand-to-mouth, and have no time to consider their long game.
I want kids, but the government is doing their damndest to make it as difficult as possible for us by crashing the economy, cutting all federal programs, staffing agencies with NPCs, etc. Give generous paternity leave stipulations, tax credits, legalize surrogacy, and give credits for AI (artificial insemination) and surrogacy. Not to mention universal healthcare and child care credits.
Make it easy for us to have kids, and we will, lol. Quit cockblocking us.
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People without financial security: "kids are too expensive and I would be exhausted trying to provide for them"
People with financial security: "I'm having a good time, adding a kid to this mix would really require a step back in my lifestyle."
There's also the moral question of "do I want to add a living person to the world I wish I didn't exist in?"
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The key to making this a lesser issue when it comes to keeping birth rates high is, in my opinion, a solid foundation of community trust and communal childcare.
The phrase "it takes a village" didn't just spawn out of nowhere, after all. When communities can share the responsibilities of raising children, not only does it lead to a better quality of life for the kids because they tend to get more social interaction time in and better access to their community's resources, but it also takes the burden off a lot of parents since it stops being a 24/7 job, and more of a shared, common duty to their community that is only sometimes needed, and is flexible in the case of them needing a break.
Of course, to get something like this, you need to fix the fact that we live in a very low trust society, and that is extremely difficult to do.
And yet the people most concerned about birth rates fight the hardest against anything that would make people have more kids
The irony is palpable. Bernie Sanders in 2015/2016 had the most pro-child campaign since Obama first ran, and Sanders never even mentioned "birth rates".
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How about "Number of Americans who responsibly agree not to raise kids into poverty doubled in 20 years"
40 years of raising the burden on the middle class without applicable wages will do that to a society.
Raising what burden you say? Wages to cost of living.
This. If you don't have kids there are basically no support systems to start a family. Wages aren't high enough and it looks like a daunting task. But if you have kids, suddenly you can qualify for food stamps and assistance(which is good). The system is basically set up to help prevent you from failing once you've already done it, but not to set you up to do it successfully beforehand. To have kids, you basically have to say "fuck it, we'll just figure it out". A lot of people aren't willing to take that risk.
suddenly you can qualify for food stamps and assistance(
I wouldn't bet on that being a sure thing in a couple of months/years :)
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All these people with great rational reasons... Meanwhile, my wife and I just don't like children.
Not liking them is reason enough. That would be a miserable childhood to be raised by people that don't want them.
Honestly I don't either, but I am also not above using it as a philosophical cudgel against fascism. If I'm going to get shit for not wanting kids the least I can do is redirect the conversation to politics.
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I wonder how many are white people with a decent income who have two dogs, want to travel and to play Elden ring.
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its almost always the one thing that is a problem in most low-birth rate countries, that the govt ignores. HCOL, raising a child is very expensive+ political instability, causing deaths and misery.
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It seems like child abuse to bring someone into this shithole of a world.
That's why I don't want to do it. Anyone born now or later are going to experience a slow painful death due to lack or resources or a quick painful death in a resource war. And if they have any smarts they would hate my guts once they figure out the fate I had knowingly consigned them to by forcing their concious into a meatsuit.
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Originally I never wanted kids because it sounded like it'd get in the way of all the other stuff I want to do in life.
Now I don't because I see it as unethical.
I don’t want kids because I’m selfish with my time and don’t want to dedicate it to taking care of them. I don’t like kids because they are loud, smelly, and annoying.
That’s all there is to it. There’s nothing deep here. I like free time and quiet and don’t want to sacrifice that for 20+ years.
I don’t like kids because they are loud, smelly, and annoying.
My sentiments. Also, being on the spectrum doesn't help. I do not have the capacity. I would be a terrible parent.
It's not that I don't want kids, it's more that they have created a world so fucked that I can barely even exist in it myself.
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Governments do slim to nothing to invest in supporting their populace education, daycare, cost of living.
Why would I bring life into this country to experience the harsh, expensive, cold existence?
They cant even properly care for the sick or elderly. Only thing they care about is making money off of us.
Instead of socialized child care, Republicans will be like "LETS BAN CONDOMS"
All of these propaganda-pushers had a privileged upbringing. Even JD Vance had grandparents to care for him and give him a stable home. My two cents? I think the pro-natalist leaders are just oblivious.
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"I wanna be a fireman when I grow up!"
rubs kids hair
(He doesn't have a future)
^ that's why. I'm not raising someone on the idea that their life will be complete shit because there's zero proof to the contrary.
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Today's Headline: US government investigating ways to send US citizens without trial to El Salvadoran concentration camp.
Tomorrows Headline: Birth rates plummet in unprecedented and unexpected collapse.
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no shit. Everying is too expensive. Between housing and education, you have lifelong debt. Who the fuck wants that for their children?
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crazy, house prices also doubled/quadrupled during that time. i wonder if theres a connection?
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When I was younger I always figured I would be ready for kids some day. At the current rate of progress, that some day will be when I'm about 170, which is still a few decades before I'll be able to retire.
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If I hate the capitalism rat race I'm stuck in with all the uncertainties and the never ending grind and the deteriorating planet, why would I be motivated to bring kids into this world, knowing full well that I don't have the fuck you money needed such that they wouldn't have to go through the same rat race grind as me. Seems cruel.
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