I have gathered some comments and opinions from redditors about having kids and want to know your thoughts! I was posting this in r/unpopularopinion but apparently I am violating rules so they blocked my post.
I started by asking something like this: what do you think about the statement “If you cannot afford kids, then dont have them”?
This are some of the comments I got:
Raising kids is expansive, yes, and according to where you live, that reality can impact your ability to have kids (or provide for them) BUT that's not always true and it's not always a matter of choice.
Many countries have policies to help families according to their resources (child benefits, child-raising allowances and so on). At this point, your ability to have kids may not be entirely linked to your level of wealth.
On top of that, having kids can be a choice, but not always. If people can't easily have access to birth control and sex education, chances of unwanted pregnancies rise drastically. Same with access to abortion, whatever your opinion on the subject, it's just statistics. In the end, people without proper sex education, without access to any means of birth control, will end up with unwanted pregnancies even if they can't afford to raise a child. Of course, families will lower incomes are much more impacted.
Conclusion : Like many popular statement, that's a crude oversimplification of much more complex subject. If you live in a country without social benefits, no easy access to birth control (no, abstinence is NOT birth control), that's a very stupid and judgy statement people should keep to themselves.
If you live in a country that provide help for families, good level of education, easy access to birth control and abortion AND still end up with several kids you can't afford to raise, well yeah what's your problem?? (answer : religious or cultural background promotting procreation at all cost most of the time).
We live in a dystopian where only the rich can breed
Regardless, while the world having a smaller population is ideal, people do need to understand that policies that create DRASTIC shortages will create massive problems. Entire systems are built upon the foundation of populations increasing and in order to care for an aging population you do need enough younger folk. You can get away with gradual decreases in population but massive? Nope, you'll undermine the entire system. And then the population will age, the economy will collapse and standards of living will plummet.
Ask Japan and Korea about the dangers of declining birth rate. Adding costs to reduce the population is a recipe for economic disaster.