A child is a pleasure of a house because he or she creates untold joy to his or her parents. Unfortunately, Child-rearing is very pricey in these days. According to the U.S. survey, middle-income parent spend $234,900 for a child until he or she turns to 17, and that does not include for college tuition cost. That huge amount of money is a very big dilemma for the couples whether they should become parents or not. The parents not only have that financial responsibility, but also require sacrificing their time and freedom for the offspring with love, care and attention. Since a lot of couples do not want to take these risks of responsibilities, they rather like to be childfree couples or only one child parents if they desperately want to own family lives.
There are several causes for the fact that more couples want one child or none lately. The very first reason that more couples say “no” to become parents is because they are freedom lovers. They do not want to mess up their independent and romantic couple lives with kids running and crying around them. For example, in the article from Los Angeles Time written by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Angela and Jake Myers have been married for almost four years, enjoy their childless couple life. Angela said, “We are so happy, we have so much freedom in our lives right now, we're afraid of what bringing a child into the mix of things would do.” Being two-people-family life is very accustomed to Angela and Jake so that it might have been difficult for them to become a successful parent.
Moreover, if couples do not have any child, they will have more time for each other. They can travel together, share interests, watch sports, and so on, while people with kids take turns to babysit or eat. As a r...
... middle of paper ...
...out be true to say that the fewer kids they have, the long honeymoon they have, the less economic responsibility they have to take care of, and the more luxurious life they will have.
Work Cited
CHERYL LU-LIEN, T. A. N. "Examining Parenthood's Dilemma; Society * Couples in
Increasing Numbers are Opting Not to have Children, but Face Pressure from Family Members and Issues in the Workplace." Los Angeles Times: 0. Nov 10 2000. ProQuest. Web. 9 Feb. 2014 .
Hsu, Tiffany. "Cost of Raising Children Climbs; U.S. Survey Finds it Costs $234,900 to Rear a
Youngster from Birth through the Age of 17." Los Angeles Times. Jun 16 2012. ProQuest. Web. 9 Feb. 2014 .
Pierson, David. "One-Child Policy Becomes no-Child Choice; China's Demographic Time Bomb
Gets Dicier as Couples Put Off Or Shun Parenthood." Los Angeles Times. Sep 03 2011. ProQuest. Web. 9 Feb. 2014 .
there is also an increase in friends placed in the voluntary kin category. The article states that people who are single or live alone think of themselves as a family. Yet studies shown that these single families tend to keep more in touch with the relatives. A statement that Dr. Coontz makes is that We’re seeing a class divide not only between the haves and the have-nots, but between the I do’s and the I do nots,”. The article also states that the way demographer noticed differences in today’s family from previous one was through the birth rates, today’s rate is about half of what it used to be in 1960. After the era of the baby boom in 1964, the rate was 36 percent, and last year the number dropped to 23.5 percent predicting a 21 percent of child births by 2050. This because less women are become mothers – yet those who are only have one or two children compared the 3 children per family in the 1970s. Another reason the articles bring up about child care is the expenses, a child can easily cost a family as little as 241,080 to about a million dollars. However, the article agrees with chapter when it states that women with a bachelor or higher wait longer to get married and have children (about 90 percent)
Cohabitants with children might avoid marriage because they are afraid of hurting the children; they want to diminish the prospect of getting hurt. Lewis believes that the decline in the male breadwinner model, and the increase in women’s employment, together with the change in family law are what cause the temporary coupledom. Dench and Lewis hold the same sentiments in this case. Both Dench and Lewis believe that women’s participation in the economy, them wanting more independence (individualism), and the decline of the male breadwinner model are the main causes of marriages that do not last. Having said all that, as mentioned before, family is still central to most people (Scott 1997). Beck & Beck-Gernsheim have stated, “when discussing the future of “the” family, people often start out from false premises. They compare the familiar pattern father-mother-child with a vague notion of “no family,” or assume that another kind of family is replacing the nuclear one. It is much more likely … that instead of one kind replacing the other there will be a huge variety of ways of living together or apart, which will continue to exist, side by side.” Lewis holds the same view that of having democratic intimate relationships, and not just a conventional version of
Around the 1950’s, the media perpetuated the idea of the picturesque family unit; children made the shift from being a necessary evil to a symbol of status. Children were no longer meant to help sustain the family, so much as meant to be trophies of the parents’ competentness. Children became an outlet for parents to mold and live through vicariously: the more perfect your child was, the better parent you were. The problem is not that people want to have children, but that many cannot afford to take care of their spawn. Whether you are a young mother utilizing the assistance of government programs such as WIC or simply writing off your children on your taxes, you are making use of government incentive to procreate. Reproduction is completely natural; however, once backed by government incentive, the motivations for having children can take an unnatural turn. Children may be a symbol of love and unity, but it has expanded beyond the family unit. Many children have become the responsibility of the Unite...
In the essay, " Childfree by Choice, " by Kelly J Welch she wrote about how celebrities opted out of having children. But, now the no kids, no thanks trend started moving to the mainstream of USA. Welch explains that people wants to be childfree for several reasons. Some reasons are they want to be financially free, have educational or career goals. Some believe the world is too dangerous for children and they feel the world's resources are limited. Some decided to be childfree because they want to spend more time with each other. Some women who chose not to become mothers because they have no maternal instincts and/or no emotional connection or feelings towards babies or children.
...eliefs of the type of relationship they should have. It is not taken into serious account that love is the influential factor for couples to have in order for them to not only enjoy the beauty of having a child but having a child with that other person who also took part in creating that life.
The closeness of families allows the family to be more aware of what is happening with each other. Thus allowing for assistance to be more readily given. Through the kids living with parents until they marry they have the opportunity to save more money for when they are starting their life on their own. The drawback to the children continuing to live with parents is the strife that comes from the child being an adult but still living in their parents house. Living with their parents until marriage may also cause the children to have a steep learning curve when they marry. The children will not only have to adapt to being married but also the new experience of running their own household. They will go from having mild responsibility to heavy responsibility with little preparation for these
Without the presence of children always around, childless people have several advantages to their experiences in life. The average childless person has obtained a better education, has more money, and are actively employed, while also committed to that employment (Connidis, 2010, pp. 182-83). They also have a
From everyday experiences to recent news stories, I have come across many issues that large families face in America. Poverty and child abuse are top issues in the United States. For this reason, I believe the government should start regulating the number of children people can have based on financial stability, place of residence, criminal history, and other qualifications. The ideal American family image is one that provides parents that gracefully accommodate and nurture their children with open arms, financial cohesion, warm meals, and a roof over their heads. Although one might think these characteristics are a given, they are not as common as the general population widely assumes. There are many individuals deemed “unfit parents” who, despite complaints and adequate resources, continue to reproduce, putting children’s lives at stake. This brings up the question at hand: should up and coming parents be required to obtain a license to start a family?
First, the lifestyle of the Japanese is very different to that of Americans. Whereas people in America generally spend lots of time with their families, the people of Japan typically only see each other at certain times such as meals or weekends. This is due to a heavy focus on business and work life, especially since seniority at a company determines your wages and potential for promotion (Huen 2). As part of the seniority aspect of work, many women are reluctant to have children as it forces them to take time away from work in order to have a baby and to raise the child. According to Huen, “The Japanese employment system thus offers workers something close to permanent job security if they are patient about advancement, with predictable pay increases, company housing and several kinds of fringe benefits, all in return for workers’ loyalty and commitment to the company”. This system causes many women not to want children until their careers are well on the way to becoming ...
It has been said, children from two-parent families are better off. The setting is also a factor to take into consideration. The increase in single- parent homes has had an extensive and negative effect on children’s development. 50% of marriages end in divorce. We have young people with young minds having children, they can hardly take care of themselves at the age of 21, yet they have decided to bring four children into this world to be raised by one parent. In some communities, majority of the children are being raised by a single parent. Statistics have shown that children raised in a healthy single parent home have more problems emotionally, psychologically, in school, and with the law than those raised in healthy two-parent homes. No matter how good a single parent is, that a single parent can NEVER do for the child how two present, committed, parent partners share and work together; communicate together and solve problems together as equals.
For thousands of years until today, the best way to officially be the partner of someone is through marriage. People have practiced marriage for thousands of years. Many cultures see marriage as the best method to celebrate the love of a couple until death tears them apart. “Marriage establishes and maintains family, creates and sustains the ties of kinship, and is the basis of community” (Rowe 2). Marriage is a concept bigger than ones happiness and it is the basic for creating a peaceful home for the family. According to Rowe, “This sense of home requires the dynamic participation of both women and men--the women to mother and the men to father--to fulfill the daily roles of teaching, nurturing and protecting children” ( 2). Parents have an obligation to take care for children, so that when they grow up they are able to become a person who is strong enough to support himself. But there are different opinions whether raising a child should be shared equally between parents. One group thinks that it is essential for a child to grow up with the love and care of both parents. Meanwhile, others believe that child raising should be shared in a way that suits the family. While single parents argue that even without one parent they can give their children the needed love and care.
As the expenses of raising up a child is quite extensive, it is not surprising that one of the major concern of parents is their financial stability. More often than not, they are worried that they are unable to support this additional form of expense if they would decide to raise up a child. This is especially true in the modern day society, whereby everything requires a huge sum of money. Such expenses include school fees, food, housing and much more. As such they would choose not to have a child if their financial status is not stable, which will affect Singapore’s population growth
...couples have high expectations for their lives in order to create better living standard for their children in the future with their affords and sacrifices today.
One problem every single parent has is their financial situation. Single parents usually have a difficult time in supporting their child in every way financially. Divorced parents usually hav...
...there are various factors that have led to the low fertility rate of Singapore. This has brought differing impacts on the nation. Various policies have been implemented to tackle this issue, but not all have been successful.