Re:US Births Dip to 30-yr Low; Fertility Rate Sinks Further ...
by magduf on Thursday May 17, 2018 @05:03PM
(#17095777)
The other thing everyone is forgetting is how much TIME kids require; it's not just about the money. As someone else in this thread said, poor people get their entertainment from their families and communities, whereas richer people have other ways to entertain themselves (travel, etc.). Raising kids is a huge time-sink; you never get any time to yourself, you never get to do anything that isn't kid-friendly, etc. It's a huge lifestyle change if you're used to being able to take weekend trips, go to fancy restaurants, go on international travel, etc.
Our expected spending on children has also grown dramatically. For example back then there was an expectation that someone would always stay home an look after the kids, now we expect them to go to day care. Back then 4 kids sharing a room their entire childhood was normal, now each kid is expected to get their own room. Back then kids where expected to entertain themselves, now we expect them to attend all sorts of after school activities. Back then they where expected to either go straight to work after high school or pay their own way through college either by working or scholarships, now the parents are expected to help pay for college, and so on.
Basically it's not that having kids per se is more expensive, it's that providing kids with the quality of life we've come to be expected to provide them with is expensive.