[quote=dumbrenter]It is very short-sighted view. Those same children are the market of tomorrow. They are the next doctors/lawyers/convicts, the next set of spenders who keep economy going and next set of savers who ‘might’ take care of their old folks.
Imagine that everybody decides not to have kids. In 5 years the elementary schools close, daycare business is bust, in 10 years all the school related jobs are gone. No more new workers entering workforce…so who is going to pay for their unemployment and your social security? Who is going to rent your properties and take your bank loans?
There is a reason why all agrarian cultures place a lot of value in having kids.
Children are not luxury (whining and personal stories about neices notwithstanding), and since the society as a whole benefits from them, the society as a whole should shoulder the responsibility for them too, like giving better tax breaks.[/quote]
Except the US is not an “agrarian culture” anymore and most American parents expect their kids to eventually support themselves working in a (dwindling number of) “white-collar” job. And the planet is really overpopulated (some parts of it MUCH more than others).
Knowing what I know and have seen throughout life, I don’t think people should have kids who can’t afford them. It’s akin to asking taxpayers who did not create the problem to help pay to support them. It’s a parasitic request.
I think it’s really okay to be childless all your life, even if part of a “couple.” There’s nothing wrong with this at all.
