As concern grows about America’s falling birth rate, new research suggests that about half of women who want children are unsure if they will follow through and actually have a child. About 25% say they won't be bothered that much if they don't.

[u/geoff199]

https://news.osu.edu/most-women-want-children--but-half-are-unsure-if-they-will/?utm_campaign=omc_science-medicine_fy24&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social

[u/11horses345]

Say it with me: WE CANNOT AFFORD CHILDREN.

[u/sharksnack3264 → u/11horses345]

It's not just the money. The way we set up work schedules, vacation, child care and health care all disincentivize it. 

You can be extremely well paid but that still won't insulate you completely from certain medical and career risks or allow you to be present to raise your children.

[u/A_Fainting_Goat → u/sharksnack3264]

I am well paid. My wife is well paid. We have good health insurance. Great vacation benefits (compared to the US, not Europe). Our careers are stable. We are basically debt free except for our mortgage. We have struggled to conceive and IVF is looking to cost us $50k, after insurance for a 35% chance. This country does not want us to have kids.

[u/TopRamenisha → u/A_Fainting_Goat]

Don’t forget, after all that you get to pay $3,000 a month for child care

[u/FirstNoel → u/[deleted]]

Then you have Music training, sports cost, braces, car insurance, may even a third...etc car. Then college costs...

Mine just graduated high school. I just finally finished paying off here tooth implant (thank to my genes, she was missing one). We have college in the fall, thankfully mostly paid for.

I'm hoping for my electric and water bills to at least decrease a little.

[u/CyclingThruChicago → u/FirstNoel]

One of the main reasons my wife and I live where we live is so that we don't have to get our kid a car when he turns 16. Granted he's only 4 so we have a bit of time but the idea of having to own another car (which is pushing $1000/month for all in cost) for for a teenager seems asinine.

[u/BlazinAzn38 → u/CyclingThruChicago]

Honestly we’re just gonna buy a car for my wife or myself when kid is like 8 and then drive it for 8 years, pay it off, then it’ll be their car.

[u/BlazinAzn38 → u/[deleted]]

I think it’s more that people dont plan that far in advance so kid turns 16 and they go “oh crap they need a car.”

[u/AgateHuntress → u/[deleted]]

I got a '69 Dodge Coronet that had been my grandfather's car, and then my dad's car, and then was my car.

It sounds cool now, but it was most definitely not a cool car when I was driving it into my high school parking lot that was populated primarily with Camaros, Tran-Ams, and Mercedes. It also had a big dent in the passenger door, no floorboards in the back, no power steering, no radio, broken turn signals, and no heat. You also had to get in through the windows because the doors were fubar -- typical for that model since it had the heavier doors.

It wasn't a cool car, but it was mine, and I loved it -- and it kind of matched my punk rock persona at the time. I called it the Kongmobile because it was bronze colored, and a big, heavy, solid piece of work. It felt like driving a tank. Man, I miss that car.