Raising a child in the U.S. costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many younger Americans say they can't afford it.
  • TheLepidopterists [he/him]
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    2 months ago

    We have a complex and frankly fragile system of family members who care for one another's kids and maintain specific work schedules so that one grownup is always available in my family, that we built from scratch (not really from a cultural background where this is the norm, it's out of necessity) and it's frankly the only way my family has been able to support any children.

    I'm genuinely not sure how a person pays for rent/mortgage, utilities, gas and food while also paying the kinds of prices that childcare costs in even low COL areas of the US.

    • operacion_ogro [he/him]
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      2 months ago

      The only happy parents I know have family who regularly watch their kids, including overnight stays. The kids love it because they spend time with more family, and my friends love it because it means they still have time to work and do things for themselves outside of childcare. I frankly don't know how the average atomized American family copes with raising children.

      • moonlake [he/him]
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        2 months ago

        I frankly don't know how the average atomized American family copes with raising children.

        Apparently they are coping very poorly, as per recent surveys:

        "After breaking out responses from people with children under age 18, the APA reported that 48 percent of those parents and caregivers describe themselves as completely overwhelmed."

        "The parent-specific breakdown also found that 41 percent said most days they "were so stressed they couldn't function" — double the number reported by non-parents — while 42 per cent said they were so stressed they felt numb."