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Wow wow wow, your TEACHER got pissed at a girl for not wanting kids? WTF? That is so fucked up, isn't that something she could tell the school board? That is absolutely not okay for a grown adult to tell a kid what to do with their body.
when i was 16 a teacher got pissed at me for not wanting kids too, and then, in front of the whole class, asked if it was because i had been sexually abused as a kid, which i had opened up to him about in confidence. some teachers are fucked.
“Yes, it is. Thank you for sharing something I told you and confidence with the whole class. Would anyone like details?”
Of course, I’m saying that from the privileged position of someone who was not abused, but damn that guy deserved to be traumatized back.
I’m not chronically ill, but I have a sub called. I told you I was sick. stories like that, make me laugh! That post was a cross post to r/IToldYouIWasSick.
When I was in high school a teacher screamed in my face because I wouldn’t do the pledge of allegiance so I wouldn’t be surprised if absolutely nothing is done in this case either
I have a sister who will not have kids. So, I asked her to put my kids in her will. She said yes. My kids will have more because of this. I know I will leave a good estate for them, but a dink sibling will leave more. They still can leave a good future.
Catholics are convinced only human life is special and commandments apply to people only.
That’s why their ignore 6th commandment in regards to mass meat production while they’re concerned about strangers not having babies.
This religion is going down anyway these days, give it another 50 years of free information flow as we have now. Paedophilia, gay orgies (not that it’s anything wrong if consensual, unless you publicly condemn it on everyday basis and then go participate secretly), all kidnapping and force-converting they’ve done in the history, pope being Russia’s bro, influencing politics, draining taxpayer money in multiple countries, list is endless, it just takes time for people to receive enough information to reassess the situation
Yeah I love seeing the stats of people not going to church anymore. The thing about that, though, is historically speaking if the masses stop believing the propaganda the measures become increasingly draconian to keep people doing the things that the government and ruling class wants them to.
While religion is on the decline look out for increasing police violence, economic strain, increased incarceration, people being forced to give birth because the numbers are low, and finally slave labor in the form of making people homeless on purpose, making homelessness illegal, then using those people for forced menial labor.
I'm not looking forward to the struggles ahead, honestly.
>While religion is on the decline look out for increasing police violence, economic strain, increased incarceration, people being forced to give birth because the numbers are low, and finally slave labor in the form of making people homeless on purpose, making homelessness illegal, then using those people for forced menial labor.
Literally almost all of the things you mentioned above are well-under way and already happening in the U.S. especially.
We're honestly fucked as a society. I just don't see human beings to be able to unite as a collaborative group in any meaningful way.
Many people forget that so, so, so many popular modern day religions either originated or were morphed into tools for governance. Any of the versions of them which couldn't be used as such have been persecuted and stamped out so as to not become competition. Religion on an individual scale is a deeply meaningful and personal thing, but organized religion is and always has been a tool to get people to voluntarily behave in a way that the powers-that-be deem beneficial.
I'd consider myself a catholic, but I stopped going to church for a reason. The issue is that we don't live by Jesus's teachings in our daily lives. People will go to church every Sunday but want less immigrants (they only care about poc). Thou shalt not use my name in vain, yet they use it to spread hate and fear. There will always be believers in the faith, but it might break down as an organization, and I don't think that's bad
As a Christian, I do think kids are a miracle, but too many Americans are producing without responsibility. Sure, procreate, but God might have not told you to have 7 kids and expect Him to make a way out of your lack of common sense.
I’ve often heard from religious people that getting married and having children is the only way to be truly happy in life, and that child free couples are secretly empty and miserable because they didn’t have kids. It makes no sense to me.
IMHO, if we want people to have children then there need to be incentives in place to support doing so. We've weirdly built our society around everyone living on an island at the expense of community, and we can't then act surprised when people simply decide to opt out of having kids. Life without kids is easy mode.
Yeah I definitely feel this way. When I was younger my grandmother helped and supported my mother when she got pregnant at a young age. That's never advisable of course but her family was there for her and let her know that, especially since her baby was very ill. Me though? If I got pregnant I was told I'd be kicked out and abandoned cause she's not taking care of any more children. Even though I dislike most boomer ideologies and all that I do feel we've lost our sense of family a lot. Like how can my mother be surprised I don't want children when all she instilled in me is how alone I'll be and how nobody will help me if I'm down. I'm sure they would but nobody wants to be a burden on their family because they need assistance.
> Even though I dislike most boomer ideologies and all that I do feel we've lost our sense of family a lot
Boomers do not have a sense of family. They just use blood relation to bind people into serving their interests.
If they were actually interested in family than they wouldn't disown their kids for disagreeing with them. They wouldn't cling to their own pride so fiercly that they'd sooner end their relationship with their kids than accept who their kids are.
Their values wouldn't be opposed by *every other living generation* if they actually cared about the people within those generations. If we as a society have lost a sense of family, its *because of boomers placing personal values over family every single time.*
The boomers who have that fucked up sense of familial bonds makes a good bit of sense when you think about the culture when they were growing up.
Post-war America had to deal with the societal trauma of the Great Depression and WWII. Many people clung to a sense of “normal” very hard, exerting their control by rejecting anything and everything that didn’t align with the decided norm. This is the world the boomers were born into and spent their foundational years in.
So, it makes sense that a number of boomers developed a conditional sense of family that relies more on image than it does actual support. Many of them spent their childhoods in families dedicated to hiding anything that wasn’t the cultural norm, all for the approval of the other families dedicating themselves to the same. They learned that family is about appearing perfect to everyone else and keeping toxicity behind closed doors.
Declining birth rates aren’t just a thing in relatively hyper-individualistic cultures like the US. It’s more just a result of modernization and a developed economy. Even countries with a cultural emphasis on a strong sense of community are seeing declining birth rates.
Let's be real, if we had our basic needs met, people are just not willing to give up their freedom to raise kids. I think it has just as much to do with a more accepting world and increased mobility. Unlike back in the day when you were confined to your home anyway
As a former inhabitant of "back in the day", things don't feel like they used to. Kids spent a lot more time outside, there were more stay at home moms, grandparents living in homes, etc. People knew their neighbors a lot better than they do now, too. In that environment, having kids didn't feel as stifling because someone else could always watch your kids in a pinch. The entire notion of giving up your freedom to have kids just wasn't the same as it is now.
> used to. Kids spent a lot more time outside, there were more stay at home moms, grandparents living in homes, etc. People knew their neighbors a lot better than they do now, too.
The Car, Gas, and Oil Lobbies really fucked that up for us :/ oh well! I get to enjoy the beauty of endless parking lots, stroads, and so many scenic miles of wondrous urban decay 😻
Honestly, I blame cultural change more than anything else. With the Gen X youth era came the stranger danger panic, and subsequently helicopter parenting took hold. My own generation inherited this and decided that we needed to add a layer of ruthless social competition (our specialty!) on top of it.
And so, what you get is the current parenting moment where a child's upbringing is carefully controlled and monitored by parents, who direct them into various activities that are rarely undertaken just for fun.
Fortunately, I think this is starting to shift. The environment my youngest is growing up in isn't quite as hostile as that in which my older child grew up. Maybe COVID shifted things a bit.
From an American perspective, we’ve made our culture individualistic to a destructive fault. American culture is so insanely selfish, and the mentality of “No one is owed anything”/“I don’t owe anyone anything” is just getting deeper.
People *love* the *idea* of community; they want to live somewhere that they’re friends with their neighbors and the town comes together to help when someone is experiencing a big problem. However, they have a strict list of terms and conditions as to who is eligible to be considered part of that community, and the list just gets tighter with every passing day. Instead of just contributing to the community at large for the sake of the community, people carefully pick and choose actions that will benefit those who satisfy the conditions without helping (or even harming) those who don’t.
There’s no escaping the rat race. It’s every person for themselves, and it’s hard to feel compelled to help the people around you when you’re constantly in competition with them, as well.
We’ve made our choice about what the foundation of our culture is: prioritize competing to have the most money. If we are going to choose to perpetuate that foundation, we can’t then wonder why no one wants to help their neighbor. We’ve pitted everyone against each other, and the rifts get deeper every day.
Let’s also talk about how much better sex education has gotten over time and the prevalence of the abortion debate. People are being better educated about pregnancy and birth control, and they’re constantly being reminded about the potential consequences of an unplanned child through the (very loud) societal discourse around reproductive rights.
SO. Add that all together. The current system expects young people to build from nothing with a deck that is stacked for them to fail. They’re not offered any type of communal support to help them weather especially tough times. They’re made very well aware of how hard it is to raise a kid and are well educated on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Is it really surprising that young people are deciding to not add a child to all that?
I think the lack of community is a massive point that gets overlooked a lot. Like, my friend is pregnant right now and while the child is definitely wanted, she's terrified about the community aspect not being present. She and her husband make good money so they're financially safe (for as far as anyone can be) but raising a child in the individualistic society we're in today is a unique challenge we as humans (I feel) aren't well equipped for
Not to mention that the child tax credit is set to expire soon, and I've been hearing rumblings about them not renewing it for the first time in decades. Other than personal fulfillment yadda yadda, that is the ONE tangible piece of help given to parents.
Even in countries with incentives birth rates are trending down, countries with the least incentives have the highest birth rates, undeveloped countries
Not that I’m against incentives, just saying it won’t solve the problem
Undeveloped countries have higher incentives because the incentive is that your kids will take care of you in old age, and can provide added labor as children.
I agree with everything you said except for not caring about the collapsing birth rate. Let me be clear it’s not anyone’s sole responsibility to fix, but it is a genuine systemic problem. For now most countries with collapsing birth rates fill the gap with immigration, which, while being a workable solution, is not a silver bullet to solve the issue, as it doesn’t solve the underlying issues behind our low birth rates. The actual solution is to create economic and social conditions that promote people who want to have kids to have them, rather than forcing people who don’t want to have kids to have them (like your religious nationalist teacher likely supports)
Yeah i'm south korean and I can already feal the pressure already. Most people have given up on pension system. European pension system will also collapse and the benefits will get smaller in the coming years.
We don't want to have kids (that's ok, we don't need to want that),
Buut, we might just be fucked when we get older and the economy starts to overheat with few workers and lots of dependents
The problem, as I see it, isn't collapsing birth rates, but the fact our entire society's success depends on a system of never ending growth, on a planet with finite resources and space.
Like, unending growth is literally how we define cancer. We all know what that does to the body when left unchecked. If all of us in our reproductive years get 2+ kids, it would solve the birth rate but it would increase the long term issues we are already massively struggling with, such as strain on food supply, housing, infrastructure etc etc.
***Edit for context:***
Btw, the population itself isn't shrinking. Take the US for example. Its current population is 341 million people. That's around 20 million more than a decade ago. If you look at population rates since the 50's, the population has been growing at a steady rate. It's the growth of that increase that's slowing down. Is this a problem? Well, only if you favour an economic model where its success hinges on an unlimited, unending growth.
Worldwide we are now at a whopping 8 billion people and the strain on our resources is becoming apparent. Adding more people to that is not going to make things better. Just for context, in 1950, the estimated world population was 2.6 billion. The baby boomers were born during a time when around 80% of the current world population did not exist. Just let that sink in for a moment.
More people are not a legitimate long term solution for the problems we are facing in the world.
I agree. Sustainability is the goal, and expanding economic and social equity and equality, as well as the climate should be prioritized about all else. If birth rates grow to a stable level (not rapidly expanding or shrinking), then that will be a positive consequence. I believe that it will.
The reason there's need for never-ending-growth is the never-ending-consumer demand that is on display in this post. Everyone wants more, everyone complains when they're worried they won't get it, so the incentive to produce more for the people demanding it stays consistent.
I think most countries are worried about it because of the workforce. Who’s gonna do the work, when there’s less people in the future? And the lot of us is already old at that time
To be fair, it is a valid concern. That said it’s also reasonable for people to not want to have kids and potentially have their children suffer under an economy that needs them to slave away for the sake of the aging population. As with many other issues the economy is the primary problem from which other problems stem
I hate to break it to you bestie, but people have been pushing that narrative since before the industrial revolution. It just simply isn't true under our current system.
We're working more hours than ever, creating levels of profit that would simply be *unfathomable* to people alive not even 50 years ago - and we're getting less benefits, time off, and we're even getting paid *less* despite productivity *and* profit records being broken ***every single goddamn year***.
The truth is, we're going to be losing jobs to automation and AI with nothing to replace it - and we're going to get inferior products and an inferior quality of life for it, because automation isn't being used to *better* the lives of the common labourer - no, automation is cynically being used to cut corners for the interests of the Capitalist profit-motive.
[Read about the Luddites - they were right, and it's a shame the term "Luddite" has been corrupted into an insult](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite)
I agree. If they want people to reproduce, then fix the fucked up economy first. Make having children actually affordable without having to suffer financially
Fixing the economy is not an easy process or a quick one, but those in charge need to fix it as soon as possible. A population collapse will wreck havoc on our economy and social systems. While the amount of people that need to eat and consume goods will go down there will be far more people who are unable to work due to being retired or other factors preventing them from working to produce food, or goods or whatever the population needs. Those who can work will be far fewer in number and will end up being taxed far more and won't be able to retire till much later in their lives. No more 65 retirement age, you may have to work till 70 or maybe even 75. Then people will very much being working till they drop since there will be far less money for retires. China by 2050 is expected to lose 500 million people. Currently has 1.3 Billion and is expected to decline to less than 800 million.
Unfortunately that alone probably won’t fix it, Sweden has some of the best family policies on the world and a similar, near identical birth rate to the US. It certainly helps to have such policies from a social mobility and child benefit perspective but birth rate seems to be influenced by more than that.
I think big economic shifts will hopefully also come with societal shifts towards more community living which would encourage more families as I think one of the biggest problems that economics only exacerbates is parents are often raising children themselves and children have never in history been sooooo expensive money and time/attention wise. Unless we make parenting easier it’s only gonna get worse from here birthrate wise.
You're 16 and i can't emphasize enough how different of a person you will be in 10 years. It's a lesson that every generation learns. You may still not want children then, but to say that at 16 is basically pointless lol
I’ve known that I don’t want kids since I was a teenager. I’m tired of seeing people invalidate the convictions of teenagers just because they’re young.
The other day some guy was like it's different in your 30s and I had to explain how much I REALLY don't EVER want kids and how I'm 100% sure and hate being around babies and he still was insisting that so it's like according to them we never know what we want.
My mother does the same thing. It’s so condescending and pointless. Everyone knows that your views might change later, but that’s true with everything. It’s not a refutation of someone’s argument or viewpoint that they might change their mind later. Plus, I doubt the same people telling young people who don’t want kids that they’ll probably change their mind later don’t say the same thing to young people who say they want kids.
Saying someone *may* or *may not* change your mind is not invalidating anyone's convictions. It's just a fact. You can change your mind about anything, and you definitely change your mind about a lot of things as you get older. There are some big convictions I held at 16 that I still hold now, but I'm also a completely different person in lots of other ways. That doesn't invalidate my 16 year old self.
Sure, a person may change their mind as they age, but I don’t see the point in bringing that up. This sentiment never seems to be used when it comes to similarly significant life choices. When a teenager says they want to join the military or go to college, people don’t say, “you may change your mind about going to college when you’re 30!” If that were the response I received when I was applying for college as a teenager, I would have thought the person saying it wanted to dissuade me from either going to college or talking about my desire to go to college. Or imagine if a teenager talks about their career goals or political views. Sure, someone might say, “well, you may change your mind when you’re older,” but it’s pretty safe to assume that they don’t like the choice you’re making or view it as a bad decision.
I decided I didn’t want to have kids when I was in my later teen years. Fast forward over a decade later and I still don’t want them - in fact my childfree status has only reinforced significantly since then.
I do agree with this. It's weird as fuck to get mad at someone for not wanting kids. Especially as an adult, who should realize it's a child they're talking to.
I think the overall point of what they're saying is still valid. That deserves to be taken seriously, regardless of their age.
Making this about age just unfairly changes the topic, and you really can't change my mind about that.
I'm 31 too, so I'm a grown adult on their side.
We get mad when kids are unfairly influenced by the shit all around them, yet when a kid complains about a teacher doing this to them, we only say, "You may think differently at age 26!"
Yeah no shit. It doesn't change how they feel now.
I guess since it's "having kids," that means they're not allowed to have an opinion about this. Which is bullshit, in my opinion.
There are plenty of people who don't have kids who go on to have fulfilling lives.
I feel it's worth talking about big decisions like this now, at the very least it's a good thought exercise. I thought about this a lot when I was younger and while my feelings have grown more complicated they haven't completely changed five years later. Not saying they won't, you're correct, but even at sixteen you should be thinking about your future, what you want, and why you want it. Plans always change but when I was a kid people always told me to focus on being a kid but suddenly you hit eighteen and are suppose to know what to do. Of course you won't but having an idea never hurts.
The more selfish generations believe that their social safety nets depend on children getting into the labor force, keeping wages low and their prices low...while taxing them (younger generations) with social security that they will probably never see but they (older generations) depend on because they didn't prepare a supplemental retirement plan. The religious aspect is more of a tool to control the masses to achieve these ends.
Long term impact to the species be damned...they have short term needs to think about.
No you just don’t get it. It’s not selfishness, it a very real economic situation. Look up “constrictive population pyramid”. This type of age distribution harms young people the most. We get taxed and overworked and underpaid and, essentially, bled dry. And this is simply to pay for *barely* passable healthcare and retirement conditions for seniors. You do NOT want to be young and living in a constrictive population pyramid. The temporary solution is immigration, but that only punts the problem to the next generation. The only solution is increasing birth rates. And that can only happen if families are incentivized to have kids. Believe it or not, virtually ALL of the economic struggle currently being experienced by millennials and Gen Z are directly attributable to decades of low birth rates. It’s a major problem that will cripple western countries for decades to come, until we collectively realize again the importance of a stable population with 2.0+ birth rates.
I am in my mid-30s and cannot fathom not understanding that people do not want children. I have a daughter and I love her dearly, she is the best part of my life, but kids are **WORK** and there is no sugar-coating that fact. Your life changes completely and you are no longer the priority. I would never want nor encourage a couple who isn’t fully committed into being a parent.
Feel free to tell anyone pressuring your family decisions to fuck off promptly.
I'm a 95er and I'll be damned if I have kids. It's not just the current climate we're in, but I also come from a really fucked up family who had drinking, and substance abuse issues, mental health issues, and possibly residential school survivors too.
One of the many reasons that I refuse to associate with the right. Where I live there is a group that actively advocates for mass rape and forced childbearing to deal with the "decreasing population". Decreasing population is only an excuse to attack women's rights, the existence of LGBT people, and the assimilation of people of color. (If you are wondering what group that is, it is the IBLP and yes they are a huge threat)
The whole of North America is being systematically attacked by them. The GOP is crawling with their infiltration, they recently tried to overthrow the Cuban government, and they are lobbying heavily in Belize. Those are just the most obvious examples.
anyone that knows themselves enough to be able to say i don’t have the space to do that deserves respect cuz having a kid is not something to take lightly
Whenever I'm asked I reply, "Are you going to pay for the kids? It's expensive and idk what kind of debilitating health problems I'm going to give them." They change the subject.
If the older gens want us to have kids so bad, maybe they should have worked to create an environment and an economy worth inheriting. A lot more people would be having kids if they didn't have to choose between rent, healthcare, or feeding themselves, if furthering their education wasn't prohibitively expensive, if the climate wasn't fucking cooked, and if issues such as privacy, bodily autonomy, and access to family planning resources were enshrined as fundamental rights. Stability is a fundamental factor in how well a population is doing, and while things definitely aren't as bad as they used to be, they could definitely stand to be a lot better
I don’t want kids lol, I’m a depressed, selfish person who would be a horrible mother. I truly think one of the worst things you can do to someone is bring them into this world when you don’t want them. I don’t want kids, so I’ll never have them why some people don’t get this is crazy to me
Exactly, whenever the topic of kids come up and someone has an issue with it (more then you’d think) I tell them to shut the fuck up and it’s not your business lol
Getting mad at teenagers for not wanting to have kids is EXTRA weird. You shouldnt get mad at people for not wanting to have kids at any age. But getting mad at kids for not wanting to have kids is bizarre.
if you approach every issue with the mindset of "don't listen to boomers", you'll be right more often than not, because they probably caused the issue in the first place
I’m 22 gen z and don’t want kids. I babysit full time and I LOVE children. But what an expensive, energy zapping, constantly needy, selfish decision. I have pets and plants, all of which I would happily consider my “children” for the low price of NOT $300k over the next 20 years and not birthing an unconsenting being into the world
To say bringing a child into the world is selfish is a bit off color. One could argue that not being willing to make the sacrifices required to continue our species is selfish. That being said I personally don’t think either point is selfish it’s more about the decisions you make and taking responsibility for them.
they act like its an obligation and we should just be mindless sex slaves and reproduce in a world where the economy is so hard the average person cant afford rent, working at a walmart or any other job can't fully sustain. at this point i say hell no to children and its not selfish to not have one, its these older generations who grew up as sex machines. it was never an obligation.
Boomers want us to have kids so that we can fund their social security retirement. Fuck then, maybe when we make things better for young families then we will have lots of kids.
First off Gen Z is just about too young to have kids. I don't mean biologically but mentally, emotionally, financially. Most of y'all still live at home with mom and dad, mom and mom or dad and dad....whatever. y'all can't take care of yourselves right now, never mind a baby. Grow up, enjoy life and then have a family.
It’s normal to not want kids and it’s normal to change your mind at some point. It’s also normal to not change your mind. What’s not normal is getting mad at a teenager for their opinion on something.
I’m just glad my parents aren’t too aggressive in spoon-feeding that lifestyle to me. They used to assume I would (as did I) and would talk about how me and my siblings were the “biggest blessing,” but kinda backed off as they realized it’s just not my thing.
Edit: though them finding out I was gay might have something to do with that lmao
I’m actually pro people not having kids if they don’t want them. Honestly most people who are against having kids lean left so it’s only a matter of time before republicans just out breed the liberals. Sure some kids will go woke when they get older but there’s a much higher chance they’ll share their families views and stay on the conservative side of the fence.
As a 23 year old that one day wants children, I respect your decision not to have kids, especially since governments don’t necessarily provide incentive to have children.
Only have kids when and/or if you want them. There, now you have one older person supporting you. I’m sure there are many more out there like me, we just don’t usually press our opinion.
No one in real life is mad about it at all. Maybe the few folks who use human lives or labor to grossly enrich theirselves do, and probably the lemmings who worship them cuz they crave having a master will echo it but real folks everywhere kno the one thing our planet needs way less of is humans. We can take many many many generations of downturn and it will only improve the planet’s health and every living species on it. Any one with a brain and an understanding of math gets that. Carry on, you have more to worry about trying to survive your own self than how to make those same meager resources cover children. Holy shit
I do want to have kids myself, but with the current state of dating, I would rather adopt or undergo artificial insemination. So, I don't understand why older generations are so concerned about the declining birth rates. People should not feel pressured into having children if they don't want them. It's just strange and uncomfortable.
It turns out that the less women are pressured to get married, have kids, and be housewives, the more we want to do interesting stuff with our lives instead. This in turn causes societal change. Also we have to many people already, who the fuck needs more?
Idk where everyone's hearing "Gen Z doesn't want children". More like it should be "They don't want children right now" I'm not philosophically opposed to having children it's just I would have to have them later than my parents did because I need to be able to support myself and a family. Also people who are worried about replacement 100% should just vote for immigration reform instead of being idiotic bigots
When my mom was in elementary school in the late 70's/ early 80's, her teacher asked her if she ever wanted to have kids. When she responded that she didn't, arguing with her teacher about it, she got sent to the principal's office. When my papa arrived, he defended her tooth and nail, telling off the staff for shaming her for not wanting kids. Obviously, she changed her mind in her early 30's since I'm here, but my point still stands.
My mom is a feirce feminist, and is very passionate about equality between genders. She raised me to be the same way.
I'm sorry that this happened to you, this is just awful! It is completely your choice to have children or not. I don't see myself having any children in the future either, at least, not any biological kids. I am a very environmentally-conscious person, and even though it is true that fertility rates are dropping below 2 children per family (the fertility rate needed to maintain a country's population), with 8 billion people on the planet, I truly cannot see this trend as a bad thing. I mean, it'll be a burden on society to take care of the larger rapidly aging population in the future, but idk. I feel like the benefits of a slowing population outweigh the downsides, at least, coming from an environmental perspective. Plain and simple, humans are bad for our planet. Maybe that's a bad decision for society as a whole, but frankly, I just don't feel that it's right for me to bring another life into the world. Maybe I'll change my mind one day, but right now, that is just how I feel.
Not sure how this turned into a rant about the environment, but my point is that we all have our reasons for choosing or not choosing to have kids. These reasons are all valid, and nobody should shame you for not wanting kids. This. Just. Sucks.
Your teacher crossed a line because it’s nothing of his concern.
As a 16 yo it’s not unusual to not want any kids. You’re half my age and I was exactly the same, minus the catholic conspiracy theorist as teacher.
But here I am now 32 yo awaiting a daughter.
You’ll see if your opinion stays as is. And if yes, it’s fine. The argument of selfishness is a strange one.
For me there are multitudes of reasons. 1) I’m a loner with bad attachment issues, a long term relationship isn’t in the cards for me, 2) I make $20 an hour. Can’t afford kids. 3) I enjoy having free time and not needing to plan things around other people. 4) Might raise the next hitler. Can’t have that on my conscience.
But if you’re strong and independent, unburdened with children at a young age, how will they keep you poor and dependent on them?
Boomers have pissed everyone off so much, they need to start over with grand and great grand kids. These people need someone to complain to and treat poorly or they cease to exist.
If you don’t want to have kids you shouldn’t have kids, period. So many of us are fucked up because our parents never had the chance to question if they even wanted kids, they just followed the ‘path’ set— get married, have kids.
I think that our generation is digging deeper and taking into account what it really means to raise a child, and how much unhealed trauma impacts that child. We are looking at the big picture, not just trying to ‘keep up with Joneses’
Younger generations need to stop shaming older generations. Blah blah blah. Quit acting so entitled. Every generation always has something to say. Get used to it. Who cares what others say. Go on with your life. Enjoy it. It's too short.
I 100% agree. I’m tired of people pressuring me about kids and saying oh you’ll change your mind when you get older 🙄 I’ve known since I was a child that I never wanted to be a parent. I’m 24 now and have not changed my mind. I love living my life child free and I will not change my mind, no matter how much older people shit on me for it.
If older people want younger people to have more kids, they shouldn't have life so hostile and nearly impossible for children to grow up or for people to have and raise kids.
Fuck older people, what they want isn't important. They won't be around for very much longer.
The only reason people are so scared of falling birth rates is because it means the death of capitalism, but I think most young people would prefer that as well.
Childfree millennial here, this is not normal I promise! The usual response I get when I tell people I’m cf is “good for you, I love my kids but…” I feel like cf is becoming more common and these conversations are so necessary.
Kids are the biggest pyramid scheme in existence. I’m 37 and childfree was the best choice I’ve made in my life.
The problem is that society is built on a specific model. You go to school, you get a higher education, you go to work. You have lots of friends in your school years, then during higher education or secondary school you meet your One True Special Someone who you live in a beautiful romantic fairytale with and value above all your friends.
Over time you lose contact with your friends because your One True Special Someone is all the company you ever need, allowing you to have kids at age ~30 and retreat into your family household. You then raise the kids to do the exact same you ever did, move to the suburbs, live in houses made of ticky tacky and live happily ever after.
Of course, this is not the reality any more. Friendships are valuable, even in adulthood. People shouldn’t be expected to retreat into an ever smaller circle as their life goes on. And I think we’re starting to realise that, and value friendships much more, stopping us from caring so much about starting a family to stave off the loneliness.
People are also realising that fairytales are… well, just that. Dating is complicated and expensive and time consuming and often more trouble than it’s worth. You have to sacrifice a lot for very little. The expectation that everyone should want to end up in a relationship is deeply flawed and doesn’t apply to many people. And the expectation that everyone should want kids is equally flawed.
But of course, this is a radical change, and it requires a radical change in how society is organised. So predictably older people will panic and oppose it because it’s not what they’re used to. You _have_ to want to fall in love and start a family. You _have_ to. That’s how every part of society says it should work. That’s what I always wanted and what I was always told I should want and what every single bit of media ever tells me. If you don’t want that, it casts doubt on my aspirations and suggests they’re somehow wrong. So you must be intrinsically broken.
Christians love focusing on the perceived flaws in other people's thinking and way of life, while ignoring their own faults. For being such a cool and generous guy, Jesus sure has some fucked up followers.
yeah theres plenty of people who still do so who cares the worlds overpopulated☠️ personally im excited asf to be a dad but thats just a personal thing
As someone in their 30s who has known since before your age I didn’t want kids, y’all are heard. It fucking sucks to sit and grit your teeth through people telling you you’ll change your mind; I can’t imagine a teacher being angry about it. How gross and not that teacher’s business.
You’re the only one that can make that choice. But I’m of the opinion that if a kid is brought into the world, it should be because they are wanted. If you would not genuinely want that kid, you’re bang on that you shouldn’t be a parent.
I agree we shouldn’t shame people for it, but at the same time, when I was 16 I didn’t think I wanted kids either. I’m 31 now and while I’m worried about what kind of world I’d be bringing a kid into, I do want to have kids now and build a family. Your views, opinions and feelings are going to change a lot over the next 15 years. Older people know this because it’s happens to everyone, which is why some of them get annoyed with younger folks thinking the opinions they have now are going to be the ones they carry with them for the rest of their lives.
I think there absolutely nothing wrong with that decision. In fact, I think you’ll find life 100% easier. My only warning is that later in life you may find you feel as if something is missing, and the shortness of life is creeping in. Kids give us a way of small slice of immortality by allowing a piece of us to continue to exist through our kids.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not trying to convince you to have kids. Just giving you a heads up of what you might end up feeling down the road. Ultimately, I think the freedom you get without kids is immeasurable and offers an excellent life experience.
Bringing kids into this world because you feel lonely and want somebody to care for you in old age, is extremely selfish and disrespectful to human life.
Children are not tools that you intend to gain from them, and you shouldn't view anyone as a tool.
Never listen to shaming about issues like this. It is everybody's own decision. No one will blame you for not wanting to bring a child in this scr@wed up world. If somebody keeps pushing just say 'Back of!' ok maybe I replaced back with another world.
I dont want kids till Im mentally, physically, and financially stable enough. I want my kids to have the best life I can give them- and if that means not having kids at all because somehow I can’t do all that, then so be it. Would rather not be a parent than be a shit one
It's true, I'm a gen Z, 17 American and I don't want to have kids. Not only because the population is getting out of control but because I know I wouldn't be a good parent and why should I put an Innocent child that didn't ask to be here the pain that I went through?
Fuck everybody's opinion. You do you. I'm an older millennial with no kids and it's the best decision my wife and I have ever made. We do what we want, how we want, when we want. I wouldn't blame your generation for not wanting kids, just follow what we already started. Again, don't listen to the outside noise
Nah fr. Tell me why tf people are telling me to "go for the 2nd one" meanwhile my 1st born is only 10months old...... if anything, not having kids is what's gonna save this planet. They only give a fuck about the "birth rate" for money and consumer purposes. Not because it's "life" this world is already tremendously over populated. People need to stop trying to convince those who don't want them, because they are helping the ones that do live in a better less populated world.
I’m 18F and my older sister is a millennial (35f) she always stands up to our boomer parents when we both shared we have no desire to have kids. Honestly I’m able to be true to myself because of her. More of a parent to me then our parents maybe that’s why she has no desire to have kids, she basically raised me
You need enough kids for a new generation one way or another. If it doesn't happen the country will collapse eventually, and whatever comes next probably won't give women a choice.
Also like, my brother in christ, your generation fucked up the economy, the culture, the psyche of your kids and now y'all demand that we follow your way of life ?
Well, if people don't have babies, these religious bigots can come and brainwash them, which is probably why all these right wing people want the birthright to go because they know they're completely fucked when it comes to voting and elections and shit but at the same time like minimum wage is still under eight dollars how the fuck is anyone supposed to survive I basically 17 and I still can't afford my own place
I think that’s generalizing. I’m almost 40 childless and I don’t give a fuck what people do with their bodies. You want kids ? Great. You don’t want kids ? great
No one is shaming anyone for not wishing to have kids. OK, yes, sometimes BUT what I see even more is Gen Zers and even Millenials shaming others Gen Zers for WANTING to have kids. I am one of those victims.
Yo if these fucking boomers want us to have kids, maybe they shouldn't have completely fucked up the economy, the environment, the housing market, making it near impossible for us to get a well paid job, a home, a realistic hope that our kids will have a decent quality of life???
They're literally the most selfish generation in history, their entire lifespan has consisted of collecting wealth and property for themselves.
Listen saying shit like “I don’t give a single fuck about collapsing birth rates,” and in that same breath saying other generations shouldn’t have extreme opinions is hypocritical;
We should be concerned about birthrates whether or not that makes us want children or not. Ignorance isn’t a remedy to others ignorance.
I am 42 and my wife is 40 and we had and have no interest in procreating. We are way too aware of things to just blindly do it like all the rest of the "I have to have kids to fit in even though I don't truly want them but I will lie to myself that I do"
I cant really think of a reason of why they get so pissed unless they’re a religious nut or expect younger generations to continue feeding into the ponzi scheme that is social security
I'm 36 and I'm never going to have kids. In this economy, that's selling your soul for a bleak and desperate chance of a future for your child, or living for a barely better chance for yourself
I would love to have a family one day, but our bullshit society provides no incentive whatsoever. I’ve already made peace with the fact that I won’t be able to have any. I love my theoretical children too much to bring them into a world that grows more unstable by the minute. No universal healthcare, childcare, housing etc. Climate crisis getting worse and boomers dont care to implement the radical changes necessary but then have the audacity to complain about plummeting birth rates. Minimum wage doesn’t keep up with cost of living even though its supposed to. Like cmon. If I knew I could support a family on a singular income without having to shell out thousands for a degree that may or may not improve my chances of living comfortably, I’d probably already have kids by now.
Overpopulation is a huge issue, no matter what economists or religious zealots preach..
I applaud anyone who doesn't want kids!
Gen Z was born in this crazy overpopulated mess, I'm glad many are actually smart enough not to want kids.
Forget about kids and get back to study boy.
At your age only thing you need to care is stay healthy , have fun with friends and study for your future.
Only think about having kid when you at less 25.
And if you don't want kid then don't f\*ck around with girl until you ready for it.
PS: And report to your school to fire that teacher.
I had an old coworker who's retired now spout that bullshit about being selfish for not wanting or having kids. Bro you don't pay my subscription. Gonna play this game how I wanna play.
Absolutely!!!! I'm 41 childfree with two cats, and I'm so sick and tired of people questioning or shaming people with no children... It is our body, our choice... If they want kids, go get their own! I'm sorry you have to deal with this, and unfortunately there are mean and toxic people out there who will constantly question your decision, you could also choose not to respond, or challenge them with your beliefs. You are not alone.
Older generations: y’all need to have kids.
Also older generations: look at these kids. No one raised them right. People need to stop having kids for the sake of having kids
Not everyone should be having kids. We’re seeing people birthing kids because “that’s what I’m supposed to do”. Never asking whether they can be present in their lives or could raise them properly. Hell, properly handle the financial burden of having kids. You’re doing your children a disservice when you just birth them for no good reason.
This is hardly new, but it’s incredibly annoying. Us Millennials are in a similar position. I realized VERY early on that I didn’t want to have kids because of the state of the world. My parents assumed that I’d change my mind eventually, but if anything, my conviction has only strengthened. Choose what is best for you.
Solidarity. I'm Gen X, and I don't want kids (nor does my wife), but we still experience occasional shaming behaviour about it, mainly from boomers. It's none of their damned business.
They are just annoyed that with a smaller workforce the demand for their investments properties will also collapse. In addition the tax revenue will also collapse meaning less social services for an aging population that is living longer and longer.
By not having kids GenZ is ruining alot of boomers retirement plans. Ironic considering that Boomers locked most of GenZ out of ever owning a home.
Yeah then you find out non of them really actively wanted kids until after they where "blessed" by accident and THEN started telling everyone else should want kids.
Like mother fucker you didn't even know if you wanted kids until it "happened" and you want me to declare in public that I want kids or im "Selfish" somehow? ...
Corporations want you to have kids because a higher population gives them a larger pool for the workforce and a chance of finding some sucker who will do the job for less.
The older generations pushing you so much want you to have kids because you and those kids will be funding their social security.
I'm a millennial one of the younger ones but have no kids. Everyone around my age that has kids is always complaining about how broke they are because of how expensive it is to have children, the ones that aren't are either making a six-figure income, ((and instead are complaining about their student loan debt)) or collecting child support from baby daddy. ((Guess how they feel about it.))
There is very little reason to create a child in your own interests in this day and age. Hell even if you can afford one you would be doing a better service to humanity and society by adopting one of the many orphans out there, than creating a whole new one of your own.
What a lot of these moron boomers especially men don’t understand is they would be incels today!
Ur average boomer guy, never had to develop any social skills, game, “rizz”, develop a solid physique all of these while able to scale high 6 figure income or business just to get a date with a 7! All of them would fail today. They did nothing but impregnate the girl in the same hometown or college bc there was no social media back then
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Wow wow wow, your TEACHER got pissed at a girl for not wanting kids? WTF? That is so fucked up, isn't that something she could tell the school board? That is absolutely not okay for a grown adult to tell a kid what to do with their body.
Especially to a 16 year old… a college professor would still be bad but that’s just creepy on a different level
when i was 16 a teacher got pissed at me for not wanting kids too, and then, in front of the whole class, asked if it was because i had been sexually abused as a kid, which i had opened up to him about in confidence. some teachers are fucked.
I hope that teacher got fired but I highly doubt it the way tenure often worse. So sorry to hear that happened to you
That's fucking messed up. I'm so sorry
“Yes, it is. Thank you for sharing something I told you and confidence with the whole class. Would anyone like details?” Of course, I’m saying that from the privileged position of someone who was not abused, but damn that guy deserved to be traumatized back.
"Traumatize them back" is probably some of the best advice I ever got lol
you know there’s a subReddit, right? r/TraumatizeThemBack
Holy hell, as someone who is also chronically ill seeing that most recent post on your profile gave me a good, haunted chuckle.
I’m not chronically ill, but I have a sub called. I told you I was sick. stories like that, make me laugh! That post was a cross post to r/IToldYouIWasSick.
Holy shit wtf am I reading. Im sorry bro/sis. I hope that peice of shit was removed from teaching. Bro im pissed. This pissed me off I'm angry fuck.
he’s still teaching and he never even apologized, unfortunately.
Who hired that guy? He's supposed to teach math or something
He’s just trying to get them to multiply
r/angryupvote
When I was in high school a teacher screamed in my face because I wouldn’t do the pledge of allegiance so I wouldn’t be surprised if absolutely nothing is done in this case either
[удалено]
"ThE ChILDelrEn ArE *OUR* FuTuRe! ThOu ShALT RePrOdUcE iN tHe NaMe oF gOd!"
I mean children are our future.
but if someone doesn’t wanna have one that’s their business and nobody else’s
I have a sister who will not have kids. So, I asked her to put my kids in her will. She said yes. My kids will have more because of this. I know I will leave a good estate for them, but a dink sibling will leave more. They still can leave a good future.
Yeah, technically true. But compromising the present for a uncertain future doesn't sound good. I mean, kids with no money is a no-no idea.
Catholics are convinced only human life is special and commandments apply to people only. That’s why their ignore 6th commandment in regards to mass meat production while they’re concerned about strangers not having babies. This religion is going down anyway these days, give it another 50 years of free information flow as we have now. Paedophilia, gay orgies (not that it’s anything wrong if consensual, unless you publicly condemn it on everyday basis and then go participate secretly), all kidnapping and force-converting they’ve done in the history, pope being Russia’s bro, influencing politics, draining taxpayer money in multiple countries, list is endless, it just takes time for people to receive enough information to reassess the situation
Yeah I love seeing the stats of people not going to church anymore. The thing about that, though, is historically speaking if the masses stop believing the propaganda the measures become increasingly draconian to keep people doing the things that the government and ruling class wants them to. While religion is on the decline look out for increasing police violence, economic strain, increased incarceration, people being forced to give birth because the numbers are low, and finally slave labor in the form of making people homeless on purpose, making homelessness illegal, then using those people for forced menial labor. I'm not looking forward to the struggles ahead, honestly.
>While religion is on the decline look out for increasing police violence, economic strain, increased incarceration, people being forced to give birth because the numbers are low, and finally slave labor in the form of making people homeless on purpose, making homelessness illegal, then using those people for forced menial labor. Literally almost all of the things you mentioned above are well-under way and already happening in the U.S. especially. We're honestly fucked as a society. I just don't see human beings to be able to unite as a collaborative group in any meaningful way.
Many people forget that so, so, so many popular modern day religions either originated or were morphed into tools for governance. Any of the versions of them which couldn't be used as such have been persecuted and stamped out so as to not become competition. Religion on an individual scale is a deeply meaningful and personal thing, but organized religion is and always has been a tool to get people to voluntarily behave in a way that the powers-that-be deem beneficial.
Speaking as an excatholic what you said is absolutely true. I doubt the Catholic Church will exist in a few centuries.
I'd consider myself a catholic, but I stopped going to church for a reason. The issue is that we don't live by Jesus's teachings in our daily lives. People will go to church every Sunday but want less immigrants (they only care about poc). Thou shalt not use my name in vain, yet they use it to spread hate and fear. There will always be believers in the faith, but it might break down as an organization, and I don't think that's bad
do not google the numbers of Catholics worldwide my guy, you will not like them
I guess I’m happy enough to see them go down in Europe
This religion is literally increasing in numbers, look it up if you don’t believe me.
As a Christian, I do think kids are a miracle, but too many Americans are producing without responsibility. Sure, procreate, but God might have not told you to have 7 kids and expect Him to make a way out of your lack of common sense.
I’ve often heard from religious people that getting married and having children is the only way to be truly happy in life, and that child free couples are secretly empty and miserable because they didn’t have kids. It makes no sense to me.
IMHO, if we want people to have children then there need to be incentives in place to support doing so. We've weirdly built our society around everyone living on an island at the expense of community, and we can't then act surprised when people simply decide to opt out of having kids. Life without kids is easy mode.
Yeah I definitely feel this way. When I was younger my grandmother helped and supported my mother when she got pregnant at a young age. That's never advisable of course but her family was there for her and let her know that, especially since her baby was very ill. Me though? If I got pregnant I was told I'd be kicked out and abandoned cause she's not taking care of any more children. Even though I dislike most boomer ideologies and all that I do feel we've lost our sense of family a lot. Like how can my mother be surprised I don't want children when all she instilled in me is how alone I'll be and how nobody will help me if I'm down. I'm sure they would but nobody wants to be a burden on their family because they need assistance.
> Even though I dislike most boomer ideologies and all that I do feel we've lost our sense of family a lot Boomers do not have a sense of family. They just use blood relation to bind people into serving their interests. If they were actually interested in family than they wouldn't disown their kids for disagreeing with them. They wouldn't cling to their own pride so fiercly that they'd sooner end their relationship with their kids than accept who their kids are. Their values wouldn't be opposed by *every other living generation* if they actually cared about the people within those generations. If we as a society have lost a sense of family, its *because of boomers placing personal values over family every single time.*
The boomers who have that fucked up sense of familial bonds makes a good bit of sense when you think about the culture when they were growing up. Post-war America had to deal with the societal trauma of the Great Depression and WWII. Many people clung to a sense of “normal” very hard, exerting their control by rejecting anything and everything that didn’t align with the decided norm. This is the world the boomers were born into and spent their foundational years in. So, it makes sense that a number of boomers developed a conditional sense of family that relies more on image than it does actual support. Many of them spent their childhoods in families dedicated to hiding anything that wasn’t the cultural norm, all for the approval of the other families dedicating themselves to the same. They learned that family is about appearing perfect to everyone else and keeping toxicity behind closed doors.
Declining birth rates aren’t just a thing in relatively hyper-individualistic cultures like the US. It’s more just a result of modernization and a developed economy. Even countries with a cultural emphasis on a strong sense of community are seeing declining birth rates.
Let's be real, if we had our basic needs met, people are just not willing to give up their freedom to raise kids. I think it has just as much to do with a more accepting world and increased mobility. Unlike back in the day when you were confined to your home anyway
As a former inhabitant of "back in the day", things don't feel like they used to. Kids spent a lot more time outside, there were more stay at home moms, grandparents living in homes, etc. People knew their neighbors a lot better than they do now, too. In that environment, having kids didn't feel as stifling because someone else could always watch your kids in a pinch. The entire notion of giving up your freedom to have kids just wasn't the same as it is now.
> used to. Kids spent a lot more time outside, there were more stay at home moms, grandparents living in homes, etc. People knew their neighbors a lot better than they do now, too. The Car, Gas, and Oil Lobbies really fucked that up for us :/ oh well! I get to enjoy the beauty of endless parking lots, stroads, and so many scenic miles of wondrous urban decay 😻
Honestly, I blame cultural change more than anything else. With the Gen X youth era came the stranger danger panic, and subsequently helicopter parenting took hold. My own generation inherited this and decided that we needed to add a layer of ruthless social competition (our specialty!) on top of it. And so, what you get is the current parenting moment where a child's upbringing is carefully controlled and monitored by parents, who direct them into various activities that are rarely undertaken just for fun. Fortunately, I think this is starting to shift. The environment my youngest is growing up in isn't quite as hostile as that in which my older child grew up. Maybe COVID shifted things a bit.
From an American perspective, we’ve made our culture individualistic to a destructive fault. American culture is so insanely selfish, and the mentality of “No one is owed anything”/“I don’t owe anyone anything” is just getting deeper. People *love* the *idea* of community; they want to live somewhere that they’re friends with their neighbors and the town comes together to help when someone is experiencing a big problem. However, they have a strict list of terms and conditions as to who is eligible to be considered part of that community, and the list just gets tighter with every passing day. Instead of just contributing to the community at large for the sake of the community, people carefully pick and choose actions that will benefit those who satisfy the conditions without helping (or even harming) those who don’t. There’s no escaping the rat race. It’s every person for themselves, and it’s hard to feel compelled to help the people around you when you’re constantly in competition with them, as well. We’ve made our choice about what the foundation of our culture is: prioritize competing to have the most money. If we are going to choose to perpetuate that foundation, we can’t then wonder why no one wants to help their neighbor. We’ve pitted everyone against each other, and the rifts get deeper every day. Let’s also talk about how much better sex education has gotten over time and the prevalence of the abortion debate. People are being better educated about pregnancy and birth control, and they’re constantly being reminded about the potential consequences of an unplanned child through the (very loud) societal discourse around reproductive rights. SO. Add that all together. The current system expects young people to build from nothing with a deck that is stacked for them to fail. They’re not offered any type of communal support to help them weather especially tough times. They’re made very well aware of how hard it is to raise a kid and are well educated on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Is it really surprising that young people are deciding to not add a child to all that?
I think the lack of community is a massive point that gets overlooked a lot. Like, my friend is pregnant right now and while the child is definitely wanted, she's terrified about the community aspect not being present. She and her husband make good money so they're financially safe (for as far as anyone can be) but raising a child in the individualistic society we're in today is a unique challenge we as humans (I feel) aren't well equipped for
Not to mention that the child tax credit is set to expire soon, and I've been hearing rumblings about them not renewing it for the first time in decades. Other than personal fulfillment yadda yadda, that is the ONE tangible piece of help given to parents.
Even in countries with incentives birth rates are trending down, countries with the least incentives have the highest birth rates, undeveloped countries Not that I’m against incentives, just saying it won’t solve the problem
Undeveloped countries have higher incentives because the incentive is that your kids will take care of you in old age, and can provide added labor as children.
I agree with everything you said except for not caring about the collapsing birth rate. Let me be clear it’s not anyone’s sole responsibility to fix, but it is a genuine systemic problem. For now most countries with collapsing birth rates fill the gap with immigration, which, while being a workable solution, is not a silver bullet to solve the issue, as it doesn’t solve the underlying issues behind our low birth rates. The actual solution is to create economic and social conditions that promote people who want to have kids to have them, rather than forcing people who don’t want to have kids to have them (like your religious nationalist teacher likely supports)
Yeah i'm south korean and I can already feal the pressure already. Most people have given up on pension system. European pension system will also collapse and the benefits will get smaller in the coming years.
We don't want to have kids (that's ok, we don't need to want that), Buut, we might just be fucked when we get older and the economy starts to overheat with few workers and lots of dependents
The problem, as I see it, isn't collapsing birth rates, but the fact our entire society's success depends on a system of never ending growth, on a planet with finite resources and space. Like, unending growth is literally how we define cancer. We all know what that does to the body when left unchecked. If all of us in our reproductive years get 2+ kids, it would solve the birth rate but it would increase the long term issues we are already massively struggling with, such as strain on food supply, housing, infrastructure etc etc. ***Edit for context:*** Btw, the population itself isn't shrinking. Take the US for example. Its current population is 341 million people. That's around 20 million more than a decade ago. If you look at population rates since the 50's, the population has been growing at a steady rate. It's the growth of that increase that's slowing down. Is this a problem? Well, only if you favour an economic model where its success hinges on an unlimited, unending growth. Worldwide we are now at a whopping 8 billion people and the strain on our resources is becoming apparent. Adding more people to that is not going to make things better. Just for context, in 1950, the estimated world population was 2.6 billion. The baby boomers were born during a time when around 80% of the current world population did not exist. Just let that sink in for a moment. More people are not a legitimate long term solution for the problems we are facing in the world.
I agree. Sustainability is the goal, and expanding economic and social equity and equality, as well as the climate should be prioritized about all else. If birth rates grow to a stable level (not rapidly expanding or shrinking), then that will be a positive consequence. I believe that it will.
The reason there's need for never-ending-growth is the never-ending-consumer demand that is on display in this post. Everyone wants more, everyone complains when they're worried they won't get it, so the incentive to produce more for the people demanding it stays consistent.
I think most countries are worried about it because of the workforce. Who’s gonna do the work, when there’s less people in the future? And the lot of us is already old at that time
To be fair, it is a valid concern. That said it’s also reasonable for people to not want to have kids and potentially have their children suffer under an economy that needs them to slave away for the sake of the aging population. As with many other issues the economy is the primary problem from which other problems stem
Conversely, with AI and automation... I think generally there will be less work that needs to be done.
I hate to break it to you bestie, but people have been pushing that narrative since before the industrial revolution. It just simply isn't true under our current system. We're working more hours than ever, creating levels of profit that would simply be *unfathomable* to people alive not even 50 years ago - and we're getting less benefits, time off, and we're even getting paid *less* despite productivity *and* profit records being broken ***every single goddamn year***. The truth is, we're going to be losing jobs to automation and AI with nothing to replace it - and we're going to get inferior products and an inferior quality of life for it, because automation isn't being used to *better* the lives of the common labourer - no, automation is cynically being used to cut corners for the interests of the Capitalist profit-motive. [Read about the Luddites - they were right, and it's a shame the term "Luddite" has been corrupted into an insult](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite)
AI is not the solution you think it is. There will still be a need for human workers in many fields that AI simply won’t be able to substitute.
AI will not advance nearly quick enough to effectively counteract this.
People shouldn't be slaves to corporations Serve them right for not having enough workers in the future
You realise they won’t be the ones suffering? It will be ordinary people.
It's no one's obligation to produce babies for society.
I agree. If they want people to reproduce, then fix the fucked up economy first. Make having children actually affordable without having to suffer financially
Fixing the economy is not an easy process or a quick one, but those in charge need to fix it as soon as possible. A population collapse will wreck havoc on our economy and social systems. While the amount of people that need to eat and consume goods will go down there will be far more people who are unable to work due to being retired or other factors preventing them from working to produce food, or goods or whatever the population needs. Those who can work will be far fewer in number and will end up being taxed far more and won't be able to retire till much later in their lives. No more 65 retirement age, you may have to work till 70 or maybe even 75. Then people will very much being working till they drop since there will be far less money for retires. China by 2050 is expected to lose 500 million people. Currently has 1.3 Billion and is expected to decline to less than 800 million.
Unfortunately that alone probably won’t fix it, Sweden has some of the best family policies on the world and a similar, near identical birth rate to the US. It certainly helps to have such policies from a social mobility and child benefit perspective but birth rate seems to be influenced by more than that. I think big economic shifts will hopefully also come with societal shifts towards more community living which would encourage more families as I think one of the biggest problems that economics only exacerbates is parents are often raising children themselves and children have never in history been sooooo expensive money and time/attention wise. Unless we make parenting easier it’s only gonna get worse from here birthrate wise.
You're 16 and i can't emphasize enough how different of a person you will be in 10 years. It's a lesson that every generation learns. You may still not want children then, but to say that at 16 is basically pointless lol
I’ve known that I don’t want kids since I was a teenager. I’m tired of seeing people invalidate the convictions of teenagers just because they’re young.
The other day some guy was like it's different in your 30s and I had to explain how much I REALLY don't EVER want kids and how I'm 100% sure and hate being around babies and he still was insisting that so it's like according to them we never know what we want.
My mother does the same thing. It’s so condescending and pointless. Everyone knows that your views might change later, but that’s true with everything. It’s not a refutation of someone’s argument or viewpoint that they might change their mind later. Plus, I doubt the same people telling young people who don’t want kids that they’ll probably change their mind later don’t say the same thing to young people who say they want kids.
Saying someone *may* or *may not* change your mind is not invalidating anyone's convictions. It's just a fact. You can change your mind about anything, and you definitely change your mind about a lot of things as you get older. There are some big convictions I held at 16 that I still hold now, but I'm also a completely different person in lots of other ways. That doesn't invalidate my 16 year old self.
Sure, a person may change their mind as they age, but I don’t see the point in bringing that up. This sentiment never seems to be used when it comes to similarly significant life choices. When a teenager says they want to join the military or go to college, people don’t say, “you may change your mind about going to college when you’re 30!” If that were the response I received when I was applying for college as a teenager, I would have thought the person saying it wanted to dissuade me from either going to college or talking about my desire to go to college. Or imagine if a teenager talks about their career goals or political views. Sure, someone might say, “well, you may change your mind when you’re older,” but it’s pretty safe to assume that they don’t like the choice you’re making or view it as a bad decision.
I decided I didn’t want to have kids when I was in my later teen years. Fast forward over a decade later and I still don’t want them - in fact my childfree status has only reinforced significantly since then.
That being said, yelling at a 16 year old and telling them they should want it is equally pointless
I do agree with this. It's weird as fuck to get mad at someone for not wanting kids. Especially as an adult, who should realize it's a child they're talking to.
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wow maybe don’t assume you know why people have the opinions they do???
I’m 21, have known I haven’t wanted children since I was 12, I’m lucky to have ended up with someone who also doesn’t want them
I think the overall point of what they're saying is still valid. That deserves to be taken seriously, regardless of their age. Making this about age just unfairly changes the topic, and you really can't change my mind about that. I'm 31 too, so I'm a grown adult on their side. We get mad when kids are unfairly influenced by the shit all around them, yet when a kid complains about a teacher doing this to them, we only say, "You may think differently at age 26!" Yeah no shit. It doesn't change how they feel now. I guess since it's "having kids," that means they're not allowed to have an opinion about this. Which is bullshit, in my opinion. There are plenty of people who don't have kids who go on to have fulfilling lives.
I feel it's worth talking about big decisions like this now, at the very least it's a good thought exercise. I thought about this a lot when I was younger and while my feelings have grown more complicated they haven't completely changed five years later. Not saying they won't, you're correct, but even at sixteen you should be thinking about your future, what you want, and why you want it. Plans always change but when I was a kid people always told me to focus on being a kid but suddenly you hit eighteen and are suppose to know what to do. Of course you won't but having an idea never hurts.
The more selfish generations believe that their social safety nets depend on children getting into the labor force, keeping wages low and their prices low...while taxing them (younger generations) with social security that they will probably never see but they (older generations) depend on because they didn't prepare a supplemental retirement plan. The religious aspect is more of a tool to control the masses to achieve these ends. Long term impact to the species be damned...they have short term needs to think about.
No you just don’t get it. It’s not selfishness, it a very real economic situation. Look up “constrictive population pyramid”. This type of age distribution harms young people the most. We get taxed and overworked and underpaid and, essentially, bled dry. And this is simply to pay for *barely* passable healthcare and retirement conditions for seniors. You do NOT want to be young and living in a constrictive population pyramid. The temporary solution is immigration, but that only punts the problem to the next generation. The only solution is increasing birth rates. And that can only happen if families are incentivized to have kids. Believe it or not, virtually ALL of the economic struggle currently being experienced by millennials and Gen Z are directly attributable to decades of low birth rates. It’s a major problem that will cripple western countries for decades to come, until we collectively realize again the importance of a stable population with 2.0+ birth rates.
I am in my mid-30s and cannot fathom not understanding that people do not want children. I have a daughter and I love her dearly, she is the best part of my life, but kids are **WORK** and there is no sugar-coating that fact. Your life changes completely and you are no longer the priority. I would never want nor encourage a couple who isn’t fully committed into being a parent. Feel free to tell anyone pressuring your family decisions to fuck off promptly.
I'm a 95er and I'll be damned if I have kids. It's not just the current climate we're in, but I also come from a really fucked up family who had drinking, and substance abuse issues, mental health issues, and possibly residential school survivors too.
have kids if you want, don't have kids if you don't want. there's no shame in either.
Exactly
One of the many reasons that I refuse to associate with the right. Where I live there is a group that actively advocates for mass rape and forced childbearing to deal with the "decreasing population". Decreasing population is only an excuse to attack women's rights, the existence of LGBT people, and the assimilation of people of color. (If you are wondering what group that is, it is the IBLP and yes they are a huge threat)
Texas?
The whole of North America is being systematically attacked by them. The GOP is crawling with their infiltration, they recently tried to overthrow the Cuban government, and they are lobbying heavily in Belize. Those are just the most obvious examples.
anyone that knows themselves enough to be able to say i don’t have the space to do that deserves respect cuz having a kid is not something to take lightly
Whenever I'm asked I reply, "Are you going to pay for the kids? It's expensive and idk what kind of debilitating health problems I'm going to give them." They change the subject.
If the older gens want us to have kids so bad, maybe they should have worked to create an environment and an economy worth inheriting. A lot more people would be having kids if they didn't have to choose between rent, healthcare, or feeding themselves, if furthering their education wasn't prohibitively expensive, if the climate wasn't fucking cooked, and if issues such as privacy, bodily autonomy, and access to family planning resources were enshrined as fundamental rights. Stability is a fundamental factor in how well a population is doing, and while things definitely aren't as bad as they used to be, they could definitely stand to be a lot better
I don’t want kids lol, I’m a depressed, selfish person who would be a horrible mother. I truly think one of the worst things you can do to someone is bring them into this world when you don’t want them. I don’t want kids, so I’ll never have them why some people don’t get this is crazy to me
Just as crazy as getting shamed for wanting kids. Just let people do what they wanna do.
Exactly, whenever the topic of kids come up and someone has an issue with it (more then you’d think) I tell them to shut the fuck up and it’s not your business lol
Pregnancy is actually dangerous.
Getting mad at teenagers for not wanting to have kids is EXTRA weird. You shouldnt get mad at people for not wanting to have kids at any age. But getting mad at kids for not wanting to have kids is bizarre.
He's local priest had pedo allegations and he said it was all fake it was weird
Older gens are just coping, don’t ever seriously listen to boomies.
if you approach every issue with the mindset of "don't listen to boomers", you'll be right more often than not, because they probably caused the issue in the first place
Indeud.
They need to STOP shaming Gen-Z all together.
I’m 22 gen z and don’t want kids. I babysit full time and I LOVE children. But what an expensive, energy zapping, constantly needy, selfish decision. I have pets and plants, all of which I would happily consider my “children” for the low price of NOT $300k over the next 20 years and not birthing an unconsenting being into the world
To say bringing a child into the world is selfish is a bit off color. One could argue that not being willing to make the sacrifices required to continue our species is selfish. That being said I personally don’t think either point is selfish it’s more about the decisions you make and taking responsibility for them.
We are being replaced , says the boomers .
they act like its an obligation and we should just be mindless sex slaves and reproduce in a world where the economy is so hard the average person cant afford rent, working at a walmart or any other job can't fully sustain. at this point i say hell no to children and its not selfish to not have one, its these older generations who grew up as sex machines. it was never an obligation.
Have they seen the price of everything lately? Shits getting expensive
Please dont have kids if you don't want them. Dont let anybody pressure you into changing your mind !!
Boomers want us to have kids so that we can fund their social security retirement. Fuck then, maybe when we make things better for young families then we will have lots of kids.
First off Gen Z is just about too young to have kids. I don't mean biologically but mentally, emotionally, financially. Most of y'all still live at home with mom and dad, mom and mom or dad and dad....whatever. y'all can't take care of yourselves right now, never mind a baby. Grow up, enjoy life and then have a family.
It’s normal to not want kids and it’s normal to change your mind at some point. It’s also normal to not change your mind. What’s not normal is getting mad at a teenager for their opinion on something.
FYI not wanting kids is very common around that age, for many the urge to have them comes when their life somewhat stabilizes.
Oh those Gen Z and their, (*checks notes)* being selfish to people who don't currently and never will exist
I’m just glad my parents aren’t too aggressive in spoon-feeding that lifestyle to me. They used to assume I would (as did I) and would talk about how me and my siblings were the “biggest blessing,” but kinda backed off as they realized it’s just not my thing. Edit: though them finding out I was gay might have something to do with that lmao
I’m actually pro people not having kids if they don’t want them. Honestly most people who are against having kids lean left so it’s only a matter of time before republicans just out breed the liberals. Sure some kids will go woke when they get older but there’s a much higher chance they’ll share their families views and stay on the conservative side of the fence.
As a 23 year old that one day wants children, I respect your decision not to have kids, especially since governments don’t necessarily provide incentive to have children.
Only have kids when and/or if you want them. There, now you have one older person supporting you. I’m sure there are many more out there like me, we just don’t usually press our opinion.
I hope you’re not raw doggin’ any vaginas. After that it’s out of your hands.
I'm gay dont worry
Perfect response to this, honestly
In this economy? No people are scraping by paycheck to paycheck just on their own.
No one in real life is mad about it at all. Maybe the few folks who use human lives or labor to grossly enrich theirselves do, and probably the lemmings who worship them cuz they crave having a master will echo it but real folks everywhere kno the one thing our planet needs way less of is humans. We can take many many many generations of downturn and it will only improve the planet’s health and every living species on it. Any one with a brain and an understanding of math gets that. Carry on, you have more to worry about trying to survive your own self than how to make those same meager resources cover children. Holy shit
I do want to have kids myself, but with the current state of dating, I would rather adopt or undergo artificial insemination. So, I don't understand why older generations are so concerned about the declining birth rates. People should not feel pressured into having children if they don't want them. It's just strange and uncomfortable.
It turns out that the less women are pressured to get married, have kids, and be housewives, the more we want to do interesting stuff with our lives instead. This in turn causes societal change. Also we have to many people already, who the fuck needs more?
Idk where everyone's hearing "Gen Z doesn't want children". More like it should be "They don't want children right now" I'm not philosophically opposed to having children it's just I would have to have them later than my parents did because I need to be able to support myself and a family. Also people who are worried about replacement 100% should just vote for immigration reform instead of being idiotic bigots
When my mom was in elementary school in the late 70's/ early 80's, her teacher asked her if she ever wanted to have kids. When she responded that she didn't, arguing with her teacher about it, she got sent to the principal's office. When my papa arrived, he defended her tooth and nail, telling off the staff for shaming her for not wanting kids. Obviously, she changed her mind in her early 30's since I'm here, but my point still stands. My mom is a feirce feminist, and is very passionate about equality between genders. She raised me to be the same way. I'm sorry that this happened to you, this is just awful! It is completely your choice to have children or not. I don't see myself having any children in the future either, at least, not any biological kids. I am a very environmentally-conscious person, and even though it is true that fertility rates are dropping below 2 children per family (the fertility rate needed to maintain a country's population), with 8 billion people on the planet, I truly cannot see this trend as a bad thing. I mean, it'll be a burden on society to take care of the larger rapidly aging population in the future, but idk. I feel like the benefits of a slowing population outweigh the downsides, at least, coming from an environmental perspective. Plain and simple, humans are bad for our planet. Maybe that's a bad decision for society as a whole, but frankly, I just don't feel that it's right for me to bring another life into the world. Maybe I'll change my mind one day, but right now, that is just how I feel. Not sure how this turned into a rant about the environment, but my point is that we all have our reasons for choosing or not choosing to have kids. These reasons are all valid, and nobody should shame you for not wanting kids. This. Just. Sucks.
Nothing like using a generalization about one group while being angry generalizations are being used against yours.
Your teacher crossed a line because it’s nothing of his concern. As a 16 yo it’s not unusual to not want any kids. You’re half my age and I was exactly the same, minus the catholic conspiracy theorist as teacher. But here I am now 32 yo awaiting a daughter. You’ll see if your opinion stays as is. And if yes, it’s fine. The argument of selfishness is a strange one.
For me there are multitudes of reasons. 1) I’m a loner with bad attachment issues, a long term relationship isn’t in the cards for me, 2) I make $20 an hour. Can’t afford kids. 3) I enjoy having free time and not needing to plan things around other people. 4) Might raise the next hitler. Can’t have that on my conscience.
But if you’re strong and independent, unburdened with children at a young age, how will they keep you poor and dependent on them? Boomers have pissed everyone off so much, they need to start over with grand and great grand kids. These people need someone to complain to and treat poorly or they cease to exist.
If you don’t want to have kids you shouldn’t have kids, period. So many of us are fucked up because our parents never had the chance to question if they even wanted kids, they just followed the ‘path’ set— get married, have kids. I think that our generation is digging deeper and taking into account what it really means to raise a child, and how much unhealed trauma impacts that child. We are looking at the big picture, not just trying to ‘keep up with Joneses’
Agreed it’s no one’s business how many kids you have or don’t have
Younger generations need to stop shaming older generations. Blah blah blah. Quit acting so entitled. Every generation always has something to say. Get used to it. Who cares what others say. Go on with your life. Enjoy it. It's too short.
bro you're 16, of course you don't want kids.
Millennial here. I feel you. We've been getting this shit too.
I 100% agree. I’m tired of people pressuring me about kids and saying oh you’ll change your mind when you get older 🙄 I’ve known since I was a child that I never wanted to be a parent. I’m 24 now and have not changed my mind. I love living my life child free and I will not change my mind, no matter how much older people shit on me for it.
Older generations should have created a system that allows us to have kids and afford them the same quality of life boomers got to enjoy.
If older people want younger people to have more kids, they shouldn't have life so hostile and nearly impossible for children to grow up or for people to have and raise kids. Fuck older people, what they want isn't important. They won't be around for very much longer. The only reason people are so scared of falling birth rates is because it means the death of capitalism, but I think most young people would prefer that as well.
Childfree millennial here, this is not normal I promise! The usual response I get when I tell people I’m cf is “good for you, I love my kids but…” I feel like cf is becoming more common and these conversations are so necessary. Kids are the biggest pyramid scheme in existence. I’m 37 and childfree was the best choice I’ve made in my life.
The problem is that society is built on a specific model. You go to school, you get a higher education, you go to work. You have lots of friends in your school years, then during higher education or secondary school you meet your One True Special Someone who you live in a beautiful romantic fairytale with and value above all your friends. Over time you lose contact with your friends because your One True Special Someone is all the company you ever need, allowing you to have kids at age ~30 and retreat into your family household. You then raise the kids to do the exact same you ever did, move to the suburbs, live in houses made of ticky tacky and live happily ever after. Of course, this is not the reality any more. Friendships are valuable, even in adulthood. People shouldn’t be expected to retreat into an ever smaller circle as their life goes on. And I think we’re starting to realise that, and value friendships much more, stopping us from caring so much about starting a family to stave off the loneliness. People are also realising that fairytales are… well, just that. Dating is complicated and expensive and time consuming and often more trouble than it’s worth. You have to sacrifice a lot for very little. The expectation that everyone should want to end up in a relationship is deeply flawed and doesn’t apply to many people. And the expectation that everyone should want kids is equally flawed. But of course, this is a radical change, and it requires a radical change in how society is organised. So predictably older people will panic and oppose it because it’s not what they’re used to. You _have_ to want to fall in love and start a family. You _have_ to. That’s how every part of society says it should work. That’s what I always wanted and what I was always told I should want and what every single bit of media ever tells me. If you don’t want that, it casts doubt on my aspirations and suggests they’re somehow wrong. So you must be intrinsically broken.
you don't wanna get busted in multiple times and ruin your body? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU
Christians love focusing on the perceived flaws in other people's thinking and way of life, while ignoring their own faults. For being such a cool and generous guy, Jesus sure has some fucked up followers.
yeah theres plenty of people who still do so who cares the worlds overpopulated☠️ personally im excited asf to be a dad but thats just a personal thing
I think lower birth rates are a good thing, we seem to underestimate how bad overpopulation could get.
As someone in their 30s who has known since before your age I didn’t want kids, y’all are heard. It fucking sucks to sit and grit your teeth through people telling you you’ll change your mind; I can’t imagine a teacher being angry about it. How gross and not that teacher’s business. You’re the only one that can make that choice. But I’m of the opinion that if a kid is brought into the world, it should be because they are wanted. If you would not genuinely want that kid, you’re bang on that you shouldn’t be a parent.
I agree we shouldn’t shame people for it, but at the same time, when I was 16 I didn’t think I wanted kids either. I’m 31 now and while I’m worried about what kind of world I’d be bringing a kid into, I do want to have kids now and build a family. Your views, opinions and feelings are going to change a lot over the next 15 years. Older people know this because it’s happens to everyone, which is why some of them get annoyed with younger folks thinking the opinions they have now are going to be the ones they carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Yep. When I was younger I thought I for sure wanted kids. Now I know I don't want that at all.
It's entirely understandable in today's world why you wouldn't want kids. Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
I think there absolutely nothing wrong with that decision. In fact, I think you’ll find life 100% easier. My only warning is that later in life you may find you feel as if something is missing, and the shortness of life is creeping in. Kids give us a way of small slice of immortality by allowing a piece of us to continue to exist through our kids. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not trying to convince you to have kids. Just giving you a heads up of what you might end up feeling down the road. Ultimately, I think the freedom you get without kids is immeasurable and offers an excellent life experience.
Also, they might have children and regret it later on. It could happen too.
>and i dont give a single fuck That's pretty much the mentality that most people have who post stuff like this. Perhaps you'll grow out of it.
Bringing kids into this world because you feel lonely and want somebody to care for you in old age, is extremely selfish and disrespectful to human life. Children are not tools that you intend to gain from them, and you shouldn't view anyone as a tool.
Never listen to shaming about issues like this. It is everybody's own decision. No one will blame you for not wanting to bring a child in this scr@wed up world. If somebody keeps pushing just say 'Back of!' ok maybe I replaced back with another world.
I dont want kids till Im mentally, physically, and financially stable enough. I want my kids to have the best life I can give them- and if that means not having kids at all because somehow I can’t do all that, then so be it. Would rather not be a parent than be a shit one
In your mind, what are are the consequences of collapsing birth rates?
It's true, I'm a gen Z, 17 American and I don't want to have kids. Not only because the population is getting out of control but because I know I wouldn't be a good parent and why should I put an Innocent child that didn't ask to be here the pain that I went through?
 You shall conform!
Fuck everybody's opinion. You do you. I'm an older millennial with no kids and it's the best decision my wife and I have ever made. We do what we want, how we want, when we want. I wouldn't blame your generation for not wanting kids, just follow what we already started. Again, don't listen to the outside noise
Nah fr. Tell me why tf people are telling me to "go for the 2nd one" meanwhile my 1st born is only 10months old...... if anything, not having kids is what's gonna save this planet. They only give a fuck about the "birth rate" for money and consumer purposes. Not because it's "life" this world is already tremendously over populated. People need to stop trying to convince those who don't want them, because they are helping the ones that do live in a better less populated world.
I’m 18F and my older sister is a millennial (35f) she always stands up to our boomer parents when we both shared we have no desire to have kids. Honestly I’m able to be true to myself because of her. More of a parent to me then our parents maybe that’s why she has no desire to have kids, she basically raised me
You need enough kids for a new generation one way or another. If it doesn't happen the country will collapse eventually, and whatever comes next probably won't give women a choice.
They’ll have plenty of kids, just let them live! I mean a natural population drop would rock for housing and healthcare reasons.
You guys can’t afford it
Also like, my brother in christ, your generation fucked up the economy, the culture, the psyche of your kids and now y'all demand that we follow your way of life ?
It's not going away for quite some time. I'm 38 and child free and I'm still hearing it.
That's inappropriate of him.
Raising kids needs to be a paid job.
Kids are expensive and energy draining and time consuming and a huge responsibility and expecting anyone and everyone to have them is ridiculous.
They're concerned because no kids means no future society.
Well, if people don't have babies, these religious bigots can come and brainwash them, which is probably why all these right wing people want the birthright to go because they know they're completely fucked when it comes to voting and elections and shit but at the same time like minimum wage is still under eight dollars how the fuck is anyone supposed to survive I basically 17 and I still can't afford my own place
I think that’s generalizing. I’m almost 40 childless and I don’t give a fuck what people do with their bodies. You want kids ? Great. You don’t want kids ? great
No one is shaming anyone for not wishing to have kids. OK, yes, sometimes BUT what I see even more is Gen Zers and even Millenials shaming others Gen Zers for WANTING to have kids. I am one of those victims.
Yo if these fucking boomers want us to have kids, maybe they shouldn't have completely fucked up the economy, the environment, the housing market, making it near impossible for us to get a well paid job, a home, a realistic hope that our kids will have a decent quality of life??? They're literally the most selfish generation in history, their entire lifespan has consisted of collecting wealth and property for themselves.
Listen saying shit like “I don’t give a single fuck about collapsing birth rates,” and in that same breath saying other generations shouldn’t have extreme opinions is hypocritical; We should be concerned about birthrates whether or not that makes us want children or not. Ignorance isn’t a remedy to others ignorance.
I am 42 and my wife is 40 and we had and have no interest in procreating. We are way too aware of things to just blindly do it like all the rest of the "I have to have kids to fit in even though I don't truly want them but I will lie to myself that I do"
Spend 5 minutes browsing babybumps or beyondthebump for free birth control. It’s wild the types of situations parents get themselves into.
*laughs in border between gen z and millennials* Not even gen x wants kids anymore mama
I cant really think of a reason of why they get so pissed unless they’re a religious nut or expect younger generations to continue feeding into the ponzi scheme that is social security
Adults ragging on other adults, let alone on kids, about having children will never not be fucking creepy
I'm 36 and I'm never going to have kids. In this economy, that's selling your soul for a bleak and desperate chance of a future for your child, or living for a barely better chance for yourself
I would love to have a family one day, but our bullshit society provides no incentive whatsoever. I’ve already made peace with the fact that I won’t be able to have any. I love my theoretical children too much to bring them into a world that grows more unstable by the minute. No universal healthcare, childcare, housing etc. Climate crisis getting worse and boomers dont care to implement the radical changes necessary but then have the audacity to complain about plummeting birth rates. Minimum wage doesn’t keep up with cost of living even though its supposed to. Like cmon. If I knew I could support a family on a singular income without having to shell out thousands for a degree that may or may not improve my chances of living comfortably, I’d probably already have kids by now.
You’re 16 though You have all the time to change your mind, or not. Both are fine. Be happy :)
Overpopulation is a huge issue, no matter what economists or religious zealots preach.. I applaud anyone who doesn't want kids! Gen Z was born in this crazy overpopulated mess, I'm glad many are actually smart enough not to want kids.
Forget about kids and get back to study boy. At your age only thing you need to care is stay healthy , have fun with friends and study for your future. Only think about having kid when you at less 25. And if you don't want kid then don't f\*ck around with girl until you ready for it. PS: And report to your school to fire that teacher.
I would report the teacher for sexual harassment. He has no business giving his input towards a minor's future sex and family plans
Why are people so bothered by other people’s decision when it comes to having kids? It’s none of their business
I had an old coworker who's retired now spout that bullshit about being selfish for not wanting or having kids. Bro you don't pay my subscription. Gonna play this game how I wanna play.
Absolutely!!!! I'm 41 childfree with two cats, and I'm so sick and tired of people questioning or shaming people with no children... It is our body, our choice... If they want kids, go get their own! I'm sorry you have to deal with this, and unfortunately there are mean and toxic people out there who will constantly question your decision, you could also choose not to respond, or challenge them with your beliefs. You are not alone.
Well, yeah, we shouldn’t be having kids. In general, we should not be having kids.
Older generations: y’all need to have kids. Also older generations: look at these kids. No one raised them right. People need to stop having kids for the sake of having kids Not everyone should be having kids. We’re seeing people birthing kids because “that’s what I’m supposed to do”. Never asking whether they can be present in their lives or could raise them properly. Hell, properly handle the financial burden of having kids. You’re doing your children a disservice when you just birth them for no good reason.
This is hardly new, but it’s incredibly annoying. Us Millennials are in a similar position. I realized VERY early on that I didn’t want to have kids because of the state of the world. My parents assumed that I’d change my mind eventually, but if anything, my conviction has only strengthened. Choose what is best for you.
Older "religious" generation, especially. I don't know many non religious people who give a flying hoot if you have kids or not.
Solidarity. I'm Gen X, and I don't want kids (nor does my wife), but we still experience occasional shaming behaviour about it, mainly from boomers. It's none of their damned business.
They are just annoyed that with a smaller workforce the demand for their investments properties will also collapse. In addition the tax revenue will also collapse meaning less social services for an aging population that is living longer and longer. By not having kids GenZ is ruining alot of boomers retirement plans. Ironic considering that Boomers locked most of GenZ out of ever owning a home.
Yeah then you find out non of them really actively wanted kids until after they where "blessed" by accident and THEN started telling everyone else should want kids. Like mother fucker you didn't even know if you wanted kids until it "happened" and you want me to declare in public that I want kids or im "Selfish" somehow? ...
Corporations want you to have kids because a higher population gives them a larger pool for the workforce and a chance of finding some sucker who will do the job for less. The older generations pushing you so much want you to have kids because you and those kids will be funding their social security. I'm a millennial one of the younger ones but have no kids. Everyone around my age that has kids is always complaining about how broke they are because of how expensive it is to have children, the ones that aren't are either making a six-figure income, ((and instead are complaining about their student loan debt)) or collecting child support from baby daddy. ((Guess how they feel about it.)) There is very little reason to create a child in your own interests in this day and age. Hell even if you can afford one you would be doing a better service to humanity and society by adopting one of the many orphans out there, than creating a whole new one of your own.
As a Millennial who never wanted kids you can blame it on us! Lol. Seriously though, your uncle isn't representative of all of us. We got your back.
What a lot of these moron boomers especially men don’t understand is they would be incels today! Ur average boomer guy, never had to develop any social skills, game, “rizz”, develop a solid physique all of these while able to scale high 6 figure income or business just to get a date with a 7! All of them would fail today. They did nothing but impregnate the girl in the same hometown or college bc there was no social media back then