If you visit a group of people living in a more traditional way
than the western societies allow, one thing that will blow their
mind is if you tell them you don't have children. You are
basically not considered an adult if you have none.
I think what has happened in the west, children have become less
of a good deal, economically. Not only in terms of money, but in
terms of time and reputation-management.
It used to be that you have some land, you raise some kids and
they take over the land. So in long term this is how the land
keeps productive. The kids were a good investment, since the
land was what kept them there, at least some of them. Nowadays,
all the kids move away, to some other city, probably, since the
land is not weighing them down anymore.
It used to matter less to your reputation as a parent if one of
your kids was a "failure" in some way. It seems that the idea of
parenting is rather new. Now as the term is there, there are
consequences of failing your duty as a parent. So a kid is a
hazard to your reputation in a way they weren't in the past.
It used to be that people could just go through the mandatory
schooling, but now you need a diploma of some sort to be
considered a normal person. This is a lot of money to throw down
especially if your kid happens to not be in the categories of
intellect that are considered good by the education system.
All this makes having kids a bad investment. You need to spend all
of your time working for their future that in the end will not
benefit you in any great way.
