Why Kids Are Having Fewer Kids? BECAUSE!

We’re told the costs & rising expectations of parenthood are making young people wait longer to have kids & have fewer once they start a family? And, they’re less likely to have any at all? No wonder the US has a record low birthrate.

Rachel Wolfe's WSJ piece is downright depressing as well as troubling as more younger men & women are asking “what’s so important about having kids?” According to analysis of the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey data by Texas U demographer Dean Spears, “women without children, rather than those having fewer, are responsible for most of the decline in average births among 35- to 44-year olds … Childlessness accounted for over two-thirds of the 6.5% drop in average births between 2012 to 2022. While more people are becoming parents later in life, 80% of the babies born in 2022 were to women under 35.” Karen Guzzo, director of the Carolina Population Center said “Some may still have children, but whether it’ll be enough to compensate for the delays that are driving down fertility overall seems unlikely.”

The change in family having let alone family planning cuts across races, income levels, employment, regions & education. Anecdotally, Wolfe suggests, the reluctance can be traced to the crazy pace of modern life & heightened demands of jobs, along with ever-rising costs & societal expectations surrounding parenthood. The “why have kids?” question is also a hard one for this father of four to answer. I feel for the worry worts. Looking back, my kids were the biggest challenge & the greatest joy of my life. THEY are having kids like rabbits. If one of them ever came up to me & asked “why should I give you a grandson or daughter?” I’d tell them what my parents would have told me: “BECAUSE.”

Davd Soul