Today, after work I went to one of my usual food joints to pick up my meal. (Location and names withheld for obvious reasons). Employee behind the counter was giving me hard time for not going there frequently. After the regular banter, he mentioned the he lost his regular job and that fast food job is his only job now. I felt sorry, just before I paid I asked him whether he have a family. "Three beautiful kids and wife, and fortunately she's working". I left the place on a good note.
So it came to one of the topics which we heatedly discuss at work, among close friends. The topic is, If you're poor, is it a wise move to have more kids? Or in other words, why poor people end up with more kids while rich have far too less. I understand that reproductive rights are fundamental and you can't control or mandate couples (married or unmarried) to have kids based on how much money you've at that point of time. (This doesn't apply in China though)
Look around, look beyond our usual suburban life. You can see that most of the people who depend on welfare or food stamps have more than 2 or 3 kids. The poverty in these inner city/urban areas is gut wrenching It's like watching a horror movie in a loop. You can see this at your neighboring Wal-Mart location also. It's tough to say what caused that poverty and which preceded what? The childbirths or the downfall into poverty.
In India it's even worse. There's so much societal pressure to bear more children when you're in right age. No matter how flimsy you income source is and how costly it became to raise a child and educate him or her. "Leave it to the Almighty, he'll take care of all of them."
Meanwhile you see that Upper middle class and rich couples who keep delaying the children. Reasons could be many...careers, timing, uncertainties. So even if they're well educated, nice job to rely on, they consider so many variables before they take that step.
The question I've is, why is this fear not part of reproduction cycles of very poor people. Is it the lack of education, contraceptives, foresight or the overabundance of passion killing the caution. How exactly do you plan to provide for your kids and send'em to school. And is there a correlation between poverty and number of children.
New york Times published a though provoking article Richer People Want Fewer Children in July. The background for that is another freakonomics article The Rich vs Poor Debate: Are Kids Normal or Inferior Goods? I usually take any freakonomics article with pinch of salt.
But data wouldn't lie.
You can see the fertility difference between women in India and USA. The country with highest per capita fertility is Niger. And you see how less the per capita income is. Kids aren't the reason for poverty but people in poverty give birth to more babies.So it came to one of the topics which we heatedly discuss at work, among close friends. The topic is, If you're poor, is it a wise move to have more kids? Or in other words, why poor people end up with more kids while rich have far too less. I understand that reproductive rights are fundamental and you can't control or mandate couples (married or unmarried) to have kids based on how much money you've at that point of time. (This doesn't apply in China though)
Look around, look beyond our usual suburban life. You can see that most of the people who depend on welfare or food stamps have more than 2 or 3 kids. The poverty in these inner city/urban areas is gut wrenching It's like watching a horror movie in a loop. You can see this at your neighboring Wal-Mart location also. It's tough to say what caused that poverty and which preceded what? The childbirths or the downfall into poverty.
In India it's even worse. There's so much societal pressure to bear more children when you're in right age. No matter how flimsy you income source is and how costly it became to raise a child and educate him or her. "Leave it to the Almighty, he'll take care of all of them."
Meanwhile you see that Upper middle class and rich couples who keep delaying the children. Reasons could be many...careers, timing, uncertainties. So even if they're well educated, nice job to rely on, they consider so many variables before they take that step.
The question I've is, why is this fear not part of reproduction cycles of very poor people. Is it the lack of education, contraceptives, foresight or the overabundance of passion killing the caution. How exactly do you plan to provide for your kids and send'em to school. And is there a correlation between poverty and number of children.
New york Times published a though provoking article Richer People Want Fewer Children in July. The background for that is another freakonomics article The Rich vs Poor Debate: Are Kids Normal or Inferior Goods? I usually take any freakonomics article with pinch of salt.
But data wouldn't lie.
This is an universal problem not just here in US. But I see this very closely here.
Two weeks back, 60 minutes broadcasted a report about new generation of kids growing up in cars. We just have a new level of poverty below homeless shelters. Two things caught my attention. As the above data proves, the poorer you get, the more kids you've. Family in this video is, single mom with 4 kids.
And then the second family in this video, you can see two kids living in a truck with their dad and their....dog! It's been two days since I watched this, I still can't comprehend why that family still have a dog.
My heart goes out to those kids who're homeless. Particularly that young girl and her brother cleaning up themselves in different gas station bathrooms every day disturbed me a lot. But I can't say the same about the parents. I understand, a single event can change a life and you might end up on a street. But why the pet? Can't you make a discretionary choice of getting rid of pet when you turn homeless.
I don't have a proper closure or conclusion for this post.
My thoughts are unclear and I'm on a thin line between absolute sorrow and anger.
Peace
(Disclaimer: I'm a single male with no kids and I don't intend to have kids in future also. So this post itself might lack that objectivity which you're looking for)
Here's the 60 minutes program link, Hard Times Generation: Families living in cars
My heart goes out to those kids who're homeless. Particularly that young girl and her brother cleaning up themselves in different gas station bathrooms every day disturbed me a lot. But I can't say the same about the parents. I understand, a single event can change a life and you might end up on a street. But why the pet? Can't you make a discretionary choice of getting rid of pet when you turn homeless.
I don't have a proper closure or conclusion for this post.
My thoughts are unclear and I'm on a thin line between absolute sorrow and anger.
Peace
(Disclaimer: I'm a single male with no kids and I don't intend to have kids in future also. So this post itself might lack that objectivity which you're looking for)
Here's the 60 minutes program link, Hard Times Generation: Families living in cars
