Amidst a downhill employment trend for men aged 25-54, employers are reportedly begging for workers. At the same time, the fertility rate is veering well below the replacement level (13 min read).
I have pondered this question at length.. and I don't know the answer.. my sons are in that age range. both of them have informed me that I for sure will not be a grand mother. I actually worked through a mini grieving process for many personal reasons. My sons are every gainfully employed as well as wife and other significant other, she has a child from a previous marriage. Employment and the low birth rage among educated Americans of European descent (our family) should be viewed as two different and separate issues. I normally would not have even responded but I did spend lot of time thinking about this. I was divorced from their father, many of their peers.. also came from divorced families.. and we are live in what would be middle to upper middle environments; I took a look at my family Heritage and other sites of my sons fathers, both sides of family were hard working in all areas; from the trades, engineers, metal workers, many military, my own grand father was a Phd in Chemistry,, MIT.. etc. all the way to coal miners on my Italian side, and many families had between five and 12 children per couple, e.g. I do have hundreds of cousins,, by blood: what struck me was with a couple exceptions, and those were because one of the spouses died young and then usually man or woman remarried and had MORE kids was: first, faith,, Catholic or Lutheran or Episcopal., baptisms and church records, and secondly as I mentioned because the deep faith aspect of my family tree, very few documented divorce. I am talking about not anecdotal.. I have thousands of DNA relatives which go back to the 1600s.. even 1500s. (I started doing this recently) and I was actually extremely shocked. Anyone can go on Family ark.. something like that see for themselves.. all people.. all walks of life. America has gone secularly woke. In my opinion will get worse before it gets better. anyway, IMHO. :) isabell
Very interesting read. I kept thinking about Darwin:
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available and works co-operatively against common threats. Charles Darwin
You are right on about the university system and schools in general. Students do not ever rise above their teachers. You are also correct in starting those under 40 have no clue about what this country was like before 1970... like many of us who where around back then!
I came from a huge family, 16 kids when you count step, half, and full. Our family reunions are big. I only had one biological child because of how poor having all of those kids made us financially. That was what I could afford at the time. I married into 4 more later in life and have never looked back. Grandbabies and Great Gandbabbies galore. Life is good, wouldn't have it any other way. We are truly blessed.
I feel sorry for these kids not having children, or at least one. They are missing out on so much. The biggest thing they miss out on is the act of loving someone more than yourself. Someone you would give up your life for. In a word, unselfishness.
On the other hand there are people who are probably better off not having kids. Perhaps they know that they do not have the ability of putting someone ahead of them, or sacrificing for a child. It is not for everybody.
I have pondered this question at length.. and I don't know the answer.. my sons are in that age range. both of them have informed me that I for sure will not be a grand mother. I actually worked through a mini grieving process for many personal reasons. My sons are every gainfully employed as well as wife and other significant other, she has a child from a previous marriage. Employment and the low birth rage among educated Americans of European descent (our family) should be viewed as two different and separate issues. I normally would not have even responded but I did spend lot of time thinking about this. I was divorced from their father, many of their peers.. also came from divorced families.. and we are live in what would be middle to upper middle environments; I took a look at my family Heritage and other sites of my sons fathers, both sides of family were hard working in all areas; from the trades, engineers, metal workers, many military, my own grand father was a Phd in Chemistry,, MIT.. etc. all the way to coal miners on my Italian side, and many families had between five and 12 children per couple, e.g. I do have hundreds of cousins,, by blood: what struck me was with a couple exceptions, and those were because one of the spouses died young and then usually man or woman remarried and had MORE kids was: first, faith,, Catholic or Lutheran or Episcopal., baptisms and church records, and secondly as I mentioned because the deep faith aspect of my family tree, very few documented divorce. I am talking about not anecdotal.. I have thousands of DNA relatives which go back to the 1600s.. even 1500s. (I started doing this recently) and I was actually extremely shocked. Anyone can go on Family ark.. something like that see for themselves.. all people.. all walks of life. America has gone secularly woke. In my opinion will get worse before it gets better. anyway, IMHO. :) isabell
Great essay!
"Deaths of despair" is such an apt descriptor and category.
Love your commitment to the empirical in a discussion such as this one!
Childless Millennial here (shrug). And the beginning, at least, of your diagnosis of our generation seems on point.
Very interesting read. I kept thinking about Darwin:
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available and works co-operatively against common threats. Charles Darwin
You are right on about the university system and schools in general. Students do not ever rise above their teachers. You are also correct in starting those under 40 have no clue about what this country was like before 1970... like many of us who where around back then!
I came from a huge family, 16 kids when you count step, half, and full. Our family reunions are big. I only had one biological child because of how poor having all of those kids made us financially. That was what I could afford at the time. I married into 4 more later in life and have never looked back. Grandbabies and Great Gandbabbies galore. Life is good, wouldn't have it any other way. We are truly blessed.
I feel sorry for these kids not having children, or at least one. They are missing out on so much. The biggest thing they miss out on is the act of loving someone more than yourself. Someone you would give up your life for. In a word, unselfishness.
On the other hand there are people who are probably better off not having kids. Perhaps they know that they do not have the ability of putting someone ahead of them, or sacrificing for a child. It is not for everybody.
Very interesting essay! There is a great deal to think about and I am going to be thinking about it!