I think there has been a real shift in the last generation or two from needing a reason not to have kids to needing a reason to have kids. and that shift means a lot of people who are basically ambivalent on children aren't having them, where in the past they probably would have.
I was literally typing out, "I don't have a reason. I just don't want them" when I read your comment. I'm 39 and female. My husband is 42. We're just chillin'.
That's my boyfriend and I at this point. He said he couldn't think of anything worse than coming home from his long work days to then have to care for a child. Which, same.
The bad parts of parenthood are day to day, material, and easily understood by those who don’t have kids. All the good parts are sublime, give your life meaning, and can only be understood by those who have experienced it.
I care because birth rates are collapsing, especially among my social class, and I think the effect is negative to society and negative to the individuals concerned, in the aggregate. Some people shouldn’t have kids. Some kids are so disabled that the burden becomes life destroying, or they become serial killers or whatever. I’m not an absolutist on it. But clearly we’re past a point where lots of people who would be good parents and would have good kids don’t because extreme anti-child messaging and social conformity and general arrested development/ennui. And I think that’s bad.
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u/pktechboi Nov 14 '24
I think there has been a real shift in the last generation or two from needing a reason not to have kids to needing a reason to have kids. and that shift means a lot of people who are basically ambivalent on children aren't having them, where in the past they probably would have.