Terry, just interested in your thoughts on this. My wife and I had two children. We would’ve wanted more, but the economic reality was that we could barely get by because of the cost of medical insurance for the family. Then there was the reality that my wife had difficult pregnancies. It came back to economics.
I grew up in a family where I was taught that the mother should stay at home with the children. So we delayed having children until I could actually provide housing and medical care on one salary. And when we had our first child, we were 32. We had been married for eight years.
We always attended church. We would’ve liked more children. But the reality was, the economics were a deciding factor. We lived rather simply, in a house about half the size a lot of people want. We had one car, no boat, or all the other fancy things that people want. I never wanted those things. I didn’t want togo into debt. But the big economic reality was medical insurance sucked a lot of our disposable income away.
I know a lot of people just pop out children. Maybe I bought into the whole family planning issue. Also growing up from the 1960s to the 1980s, and seen environmental degradation, that may have contributed to limiting family size to two. The fact that my grandmother had ten children, nine who lived, was amazing. Perhaps they just didn’t worry about life on the family farm. Perhaps they always had enough from their garden to not go hungry. I do know from my dad‘s experience of being a 30-year-old in the great depression, that he went hungry. My dad worked extremely hard, but at times he didn’t get paid. He told me to always be happy as long as I had a roof over my head and a pot to piss in. My mom and dad had only two children. Somehow, economics comes into play on all of this. Doesn’t it?
Perhaps the real issue is whether people can afford children and also honor the religious blessing of having children. Politically, the outcome for the number of children is outlook. That children are a blessing to be celebrated, rather than celebrating the right of pregnancy terminations. I guess looking back, maybe I could’ve taken more risk to make more money. But I saw a balance between my work life and my family life as important. I desired a balance of a work life that would allow me time for personal prayer and reflection.
The joy I saw on the Orthodox Jewish mother, in the video you posted, is rather beautiful. But economically, I just can’t see that lifestyle for most people. I’ve also seen people live in poverty that have tons of kids. I’m not sure that is the best thing for society compared to trying to lead a balanced life. Then again, everyone is a blessing. Maybe it gets back to that old song. Everything is beautiful.
Yes. Many factors. Where do you live?
Terry, just interested in your thoughts on this. My wife and I had two children. We would’ve wanted more, but the economic reality was that we could barely get by because of the cost of medical insurance for the family. Then there was the reality that my wife had difficult pregnancies. It came back to economics.
I grew up in a family where I was taught that the mother should stay at home with the children. So we delayed having children until I could actually provide housing and medical care on one salary. And when we had our first child, we were 32. We had been married for eight years.
We always attended church. We would’ve liked more children. But the reality was, the economics were a deciding factor. We lived rather simply, in a house about half the size a lot of people want. We had one car, no boat, or all the other fancy things that people want. I never wanted those things. I didn’t want togo into debt. But the big economic reality was medical insurance sucked a lot of our disposable income away.
I know a lot of people just pop out children. Maybe I bought into the whole family planning issue. Also growing up from the 1960s to the 1980s, and seen environmental degradation, that may have contributed to limiting family size to two. The fact that my grandmother had ten children, nine who lived, was amazing. Perhaps they just didn’t worry about life on the family farm. Perhaps they always had enough from their garden to not go hungry. I do know from my dad‘s experience of being a 30-year-old in the great depression, that he went hungry. My dad worked extremely hard, but at times he didn’t get paid. He told me to always be happy as long as I had a roof over my head and a pot to piss in. My mom and dad had only two children. Somehow, economics comes into play on all of this. Doesn’t it?
Perhaps the real issue is whether people can afford children and also honor the religious blessing of having children. Politically, the outcome for the number of children is outlook. That children are a blessing to be celebrated, rather than celebrating the right of pregnancy terminations. I guess looking back, maybe I could’ve taken more risk to make more money. But I saw a balance between my work life and my family life as important. I desired a balance of a work life that would allow me time for personal prayer and reflection.
The joy I saw on the Orthodox Jewish mother, in the video you posted, is rather beautiful. But economically, I just can’t see that lifestyle for most people. I’ve also seen people live in poverty that have tons of kids. I’m not sure that is the best thing for society compared to trying to lead a balanced life. Then again, everyone is a blessing. Maybe it gets back to that old song. Everything is beautiful.