In the last years I have become a lot more critic of the capitalistic system, how it exploits its workers and makes the rich even richer.

I have been thinking that even the idea of starting a family is now a dream, at least in the ideal conditions we would want. Consider the following expenses:

- House: it is now very difficult to buy a house. Its expensive and usually you need to get into debt.
- School: also very expensive. If you want to put your children in private school, it is even more expensive. Take into account that depending the country you live in, the difference between private and public education can be massive.
- Car: also expensive. Maintenance, permits, etc. Public transport is an option, but I think that if you have a family a car is very convenient. 
- Other expenses: necessary things like paying the bills, computers, phones, food, etc. You will have to sacrifice the quality of these good in order to afford all of the above.
- Stagnating wages: the joke is no joke. Everything rises except your wage. I honestly think we are reaching a tippig point on this regard.

Take into account that even if you are a professional, starting a family is difficult. Talking from personal experience, I have done everything you are supposed to do (go to university and get a degree), and still, the idea of starting a family is for me basically impossible (I live in a 3rd world country so wages are even lower compared to more developed countries).

When even starting a family is extremely difficult/impossible, we should question the economic system we live in.
I would like to know your thoughts about this.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

There was a time long ago in an agricultural society when having lots of kids was a good idea from a monetary standpoint.

You got free help.


Now - not so much.

Good thing too as far as I am concerned.

There's almost 8 billion reasons why not having kids is a good idea.

The vast majority of families don't start in ideal conditions. If you want a family, start a family, you'll find a way to make it. It might motivate you in strange ways.

(October 1, 2021 at 2:21 pm)brewer Wrote: The vast majority of families don't start in ideal conditions. If you want a family, start a family, you'll find a way to make it. It might motivate you in strange ways.

Your comment isnt taking the economic system in any way.

(October 1, 2021 at 2:52 pm)Macoleco Wrote:

(October 1, 2021 at 2:21 pm)brewer Wrote: The vast majority of families don't start in ideal conditions. If you want a family, start a family, you'll find a way to make it. It might motivate you in strange ways.

Your comment isnt taking the economic system in any way.

Why does it need to?

It is staggering the amount of money given back per child in the family when it comes to filing taxes each year.

Otherwise, I agree with the overall premise of the original post.

(October 1, 2021 at 2:52 pm)Macoleco Wrote:

(October 1, 2021 at 2:21 pm)brewer Wrote: The vast majority of families don't start in ideal conditions. If you want a family, start a family, you'll find a way to make it. It might motivate you in strange ways.

Your comment isnt taking the economic system in any way.

It all depends on where you are in terms of income and what your perspective future is, relative to your foreseen expenses.

Ideally, if you were to buy a house or flat, you'd have about half of it taken care before having children (remember the golden rule of not spending any more than 40% of your income on housing);
The car would already be yours (you don't need an SUV for one or two children, a normal hatchback is fine);
Schools and healthcare depend a lot on where you live;
At some point, the kids grow and are less of a drain on you... hopefully becoming self-sufficient.... 30 years later...

Fortunately, the prospect of ending a family in these trying economic times remains the same as it always has.

Boru

I'm an antinatalist, so, frankly, I'm not a fan of procreation even in the best of times. For a 90-second explanation of why, watch this video:





And, frankly, in this world especially, the idea of starting up a family strikes me as insane. Especially in a world where the people can't agree about whether stopping an infectious and deadly disease is a good thing, let alone a world where we only have a small window of time before climate change hits critical mass (and even the most conservative estimates done by people who aren't so divorced from reality that they ignore that it's a problem at all insist that there's a lot of action that needs to be done in an extremely small amount of time, something that would even be a challenge even if there weren't deniers in seats of power.)