Should poor people have kids?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Is your child well cared for?  Got everything it needs?  Safe?  Warm?  Fed?  Loved?  Then deafness doesn't make people unfit parents.

I think the issue here is people who are financially and/or emotionally not suited to having children but continue to do so.

Boru

There was a time, in the not so distant past, when there were efforts being made in the US to prevent deaf people from having children.  There was even a plan to prevent them from marrying and the idea of forced sterilization was even floated.

Of course, deaf people can raise children just fine.  I took a course on Deaf Culture and was shocked to learn the above things.  I had no idea this was a thing.  

As for being poor - that's sort of subjective.  How poor is too poor?  There is the possibility that fortunes will change.  If you can provide the basics and are a loving parent then I am not sure that financial status is the only basis to go on.

I agree that if you can barely keep food on the table or provide other necessities it's probably best to stop breeding.

Right enough - 'poor' is a very subjective term.  Let's say 'Too poor to provide a child with the basic necessities'.  No one's claiming that if you can't afford to send your child to Cambridge and have to settle for Hull, you shouldn't have kids.  But if you are so financially stressed that things like diapers and inoculations are a problem, then maybe it's best to not rear a child in those circumstances.

And yes, circumstances can change.  But more often, they don't - people born into poverty generally (not always) spend their lives in poverty.  It seems a dangerous risk to be desperately poor and have children on the off chance that things will get better.

Boru

[brewer]

I’m so annoyed. My no good cousin is pregnant AGAIN. She’s never had any decent life, and she constantly complains about being poor but has dropped out every program set up to help her or gotten kicked out for acting like every day of her life is World Star/ Jerry Springer. I can barely help myself why should I help her too? Especially when she’s not even trying! So something people don’t really wanna hear: If you can’t afford kids don’t have them. I’m not talking about people who fell on hard times or those who didn’t have a choice (rape). Or even people who took precautions and got pregnant anyway. I’m talking about those people who grew up poor and know the struggle but got pregnant anyways. I’m talking the family that has 3-5 kids and is beneath the poverty line. That’s so fucking selfish. If you know what it’s like to be without why would you dream of making your children suffer the same? Like seriously explain because I’m confounded.

I'ts not a question of should they, but of why do they. There are many proposed reasons for why, education and access to birth control being two.

[Alex K]

There are many people who better shouldn't have kids, but whether someone is poor is just not the right criterion.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

My no good cousin is pregnant AGAIN.

They know what causes that now.

[Little lunch]

My no good cousin is pregnant AGAIN.

They know what causes that now.  

Let's not be too hasty, there's still a lot of research to be done.

[Chad32]

I think the whole reason poor people tend to have more kids is lack of education, and access to things like birth control and abortions. If someone has money, and easy access, they have ways to reduce the number of kids they have. Should poor people have kids? It's probably not practical to have maybe more than one, if any. However, people with sex drives are going to have sex, so they're going to have kids if people with more power than them prevent them from getting abortions, or proper birth control, either through misinformation or restricting access. Sex is practically inevitable. Kids aren't.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

They know what causes that now.  

Let's not be too hasty, there's still a lot of research to be done.

I suspect that's just an excuse to be dicking round, mate.

---

I think the whole reason poor people tend to have more kids is lack of education, and access to things like birth control and abortions.

My cousins:

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

There are many people who better shouldn't have kids, but whether someone is poor is just not the right criterion.

Not the criterion, but it should certainly be a consideration.

Boru

[BrokenQuill92]

I’m referring to people who know damn well what birth control is and have access. They just make every excuse not to use it. For the price of that beer, or bag of chips you could’ve bought condoms. 7$ a box

[ThinkingIsThinking]

Should poor people have kids?