Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have a great childhood under the protection of amazing parents. We weren't rich, but they gave me love and opportunity which was fine for me. I'm 26M and I have a longtime girlfriend who I hope to someday marry. In the past, I hoped to give my children a better childhood than even I had.
Then I graduated college.
I had over 40k of debt to my name. I know that's not law school levels, but it's a lot for me. I had to pay that money back or risk my credit taking a major hit. I don't make a lot of money now – just below average, so the money I'm paying towards my loans are making me go into a vicious cycle where mathematically I will be paying off this loan for a very, very long time.
I literally can't afford to have kids. I can barely afford to live myself so I refuse to bring kids into a world where we have to struggle to get by. I've become so jaded looking at rising childcare costs and stagnant wages. It's as though the people who are keeping humanity running are being penalized for being parents.
Once I had an amazing desire to be a father. That desire was replaced by my desire to keep myself above the poverty line. I do not know how those of you who have kids are surviving, but I hope that the US becomes a place where you don't have to sacrifice your own happiness for the dreams of your child. You deserve to live, too. You deserve dreams, too. This country, if it is truly a land of opportunity, should INVEST in making it so having a child isn't the same thing as choosing poverty.
Thanks for hearing me out.