outside of famine/war conditions, birth rates have historically been (much) higher among people (much) poorer than most americans. I think the difference is more that social support structures are weak, “standard of living” expectations are high, education is both expensive and necessary, and contraception/abortion are widely available and relatively destigmatized
Yeah this is a huge part of it. Boomers were able to give their kids good lives. Millennial can’t even give their kids the same standard they have. People want to give their kids a better life than they had, but this is impossible without a house and a yard and extra money for game consoles and extracurricular and playmates and all the shit that was taken for granted in a 90s childhood.
This is arguable as a lot if the “all people before capitalism were mud farmers” claptrap comes from the fact that the priests of capitalism always leave non market/capitalist goods out of their calculations. Like medieval pesants were wealthier than early modern farmhands because they had the commons.
outside of famine/war conditions, birth rates have historically been (much) higher among people (much) poorer than most americans. I think the difference is more that social support structures are weak, “standard of living” expectations are high, education is both expensive and necessary, and contraception/abortion are widely available and relatively destigmatized
People are poor but if you are poor and have kids there is a huge stigma attached to it if you were raised middle and upper middle class.
Yeah this is a huge part of it. Boomers were able to give their kids good lives. Millennial can’t even give their kids the same standard they have. People want to give their kids a better life than they had, but this is impossible without a house and a yard and extra money for game consoles and extracurricular and playmates and all the shit that was taken for granted in a 90s childhood.
Nail on the head. Would my hypothetical kids be fine without the treats I was given as a child? Probably.
Would it be exhausting to justify internally, explain to people, and face judgement from family? Definitely.
This is arguable as a lot if the “all people before capitalism were mud farmers” claptrap comes from the fact that the priests of capitalism always leave non market/capitalist goods out of their calculations. Like medieval pesants were wealthier than early modern farmhands because they had the commons.
hm the fed’s survey of consumer finances says the median household wealth in the us is $192,900 as of 2023 and that seems pretty high
That covers ~15 years of the average cost to raise a child. Huh, maybe this is the source of the child labor push.
Not sure what this has to do with my comment.