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A comment on US Births Dip to 30-yr Low; Fertility Rate Sinks Further Below Replacement Level. Parent comment

Re:US Births Dip to 30-yr Low; Fertility Rate Sinks Further ... by freyir on Thursday May 17, 2018 @03:42PM (#17094802)
Historically, children generated profit. These days, in developed countries, children are expensive. They cost money and time (e.g., years that you would otherwise spend going to school, building a career).
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Re:US Births Dip to 30-yr Low; Fertility Rate Sinks Further ... by dagw on Thursday May 17, 2018 @04:02PM (#17095027)
These days, in developed countries, children are expensive.

Sure, but they're far cheaper in both Sweden and Finland than in the US, yet people are still having fewer children there, so it can't simply be a cost issue.

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Re:US Births Dip to 30-yr Low; Fertility Rate Sinks Further ... by freyir on Thursday May 17, 2018 @04:14PM (#17095186)
The monetary cost of a Swedish child might be lower (though to some extent, the cost is just distributed across the population in the form of taxes), but the opportunity cost is not. Scandinavian countries have high rates of post-secondary education, which delays parenthood, and even with progressive workforce policies, having children can slow career advancement [1].

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/sep/22/books.famil...

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Re:US Births Dip to 30-yr Low; Fertility Rate Sinks Further ... by gowld on Thursday May 17, 2018 @04:54PM (#17095648)
Historically, parents were far less productive than we are now. People now just enjoy more material things than historically.
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