Page 10 | To this this is NOT the worst time ever to bring a child into the world

Celebrityskint · 2022-10-07T22:44:31+00:00

Quite often I see posts going on about today’s world being a terrible world to bring children into... but honestly... in the UK... we’re probably having a very good life compared to most people in most of history.... it’s not a terrible time to bring children into the world

Beezknees · 09/10/2022 06:55

There's never a good time to bring a child into the world really. Saying that, I probably wouldn't do it now. I had mine in early 2008 not long before the financial crash and that wasn't great. It feels worse now though.

Hardbackwriter · 09/10/2022 07:10

It is so infuriating seeing all the people who had their own children exactly as they wanted to pontificate about how they wouldn't be so selfish as to do it now. The easiest sacrifice to make is always a hypothetical one.

insidenumber9 · 09/10/2022 08:04

H1nger5442678 · 08/10/2022 04:54

These children turn into teenagers. Then it’s when you realise how shit it is and question the morality of having children-the environment, masses of student debt, horrific exam pressure, no chance of owning own home, incredibly hard to move out, dwindling NHS, zero dentistry, dwindling orthodontics, very little mental health support, far more limitations due to Brexit….

This sums it up exactly.

NameChangeLifeChange · 09/10/2022 08:12

marmaladepop · 08/10/2022 23:09

This

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You’re being absolutely ridiculous. There will have been war somewhere when you had your child- it just didn’t affect you. The UK is still not at war so unless you are a displaced Ukrainian then you’re being ridiculous. There were equally great risks in the past of nuclear weapons, my mum remembers being taught in school what to do if there was attack.
This reminds me of the smug ‘surely you knew interest rates would go up’ thread. Surely you KNEW things would alwyas be peaceful and you knew they could grt worse? Surely you had heard of climate change and global warming and anticipated this? Otherwise more fool you.

SquishyGloopyBum · 09/10/2022 08:22

PrincessButtercupToo · 09/10/2022 01:27

The idea that we are living in end-times is ridiculous. None of the climate projections suggest this, and given how much safer the planet is than in prior centuries there’s no serious non-climate issue on the horizon either.

Yes, it makes sense to think about the future, but doing so doesn’t suggest that an apocalypse is on the way.

The predictions for the climate in the U.K. don’t put us outside climates that exist today and un which people live perfectly nice lives. Yes, buying on a flood plain in Bangladesh is a bad idea, but there is nothing that looks dangerous or unsurvivable for families living somewhere like Oxford, Hexham, or Hampstead.

Not saying there will be an apocalypse but there will be global food shortages that will also affect people in leafy Hampstead and Oxford etc.

The 'I'm alright Jack' attitude because we aren't in Bangladesh is a poor argument.

Remember covid and people were ransacking the shelves? Loo roll? We couldn't even cope as a society with that!

Tuilpmouse · 09/10/2022 08:23

@Asparagoose

... When I had my kids there was peace, food, energy, no disease, medical and dental care were easily accessible, schools were reliably open

And just when I thought people's distortion of the past couldn't get any more preposterous; here comes this.... I can only assume you must be Eve and you had your children in the Garden of Eden!

wreckame · 09/10/2022 08:27

As so often with these issues, people are probably arguing from very different places. A pp asked "if wealthy countries get a bit worse, but not much worse . . . ", and that's a key point: the effects of climate change are not going to be felt equally. It's poor, hot countries in the global south who are already suffering the worst effects and will continue to get much worse in the short term, giving us in the global north some time to adjust while our ex-colonies take the heat for us.
This could potentially be one mitigating factor: when whole regions start going under and spewing out thousands of desperate refugees, the people currently confident that it's not going to be that bad might wake up. (In a sense that's already happening, as since events in Australia, India etc. one almost never hears outright climate change denial any more, the way we used to even quite recently.)

Similarly within wealthy countries, particularly ones with severe and entrenched inequality like the UK, some people will have the means to mitigate the effects more than others. The government will likely continue with "trickle up" economic policies to facilitate that for maybe 30% of the population, at the expense of many of the others.

For somebody who's already poor in the UK and struggling to maintain a home and enough to eat, it's easy to see why there would be reluctance to bring a child into that when it's only likely to get worse. For somebody who isn't, ignoring the state of most of the world and just ensuring that you're on the right side of the protective wall of the economic system is one option.

Tuilpmouse · 09/10/2022 08:32

Remember covid and people were ransacking the shelves? Loo roll? We couldn't even cope as a society with that!

If a few people panicking and stockpiling loo roll is your definition of societal collapse then you are incredibly naive and sheltered.

History clearly isn't being taught in schools properly. The posts in this thread are showing a level of historical "illiteracy" equivalent to someone who, compared to English, can barely write their name, or Maths, can only count to ten. And it's having a huge impact on people's well-being and perspective, with despair and self-pity being the sad result.

Hopefornothing · 09/10/2022 08:38

psychomath · 08/10/2022 21:44

I'd argue that with regards to the current threat from Russia the worst time to have a child was probably around 2010, as they'll be just old enough now to understand and worry about things they hear on the news. Of course no-one in 2010 knew this was going to be a problem in 2022, but that's the point, isn't it? How can we possibly say now - or ever - whether it's a good or bad time to have children when we have no idea what the world will look like in five years, let alone the decades to come?

I agree with this. Maybe right now is the perfect time! Maybe in 5 years all wars will end and someone will solve climate change. We have no idea what the future will hold. So all children born now will have no memories of the issues and will lead lovely lives.
Or maybe we'll all be dead in 5 years in which case the worst time to have a child was anytime from about 2000 onwards.

SquishyGloopyBum · 09/10/2022 09:28

Tuilpmouse · 09/10/2022 08:32

Remember covid and people were ransacking the shelves? Loo roll? We couldn't even cope as a society with that!

If a few people panicking and stockpiling loo roll is your definition of societal collapse then you are incredibly naive and sheltered.

History clearly isn't being taught in schools properly. The posts in this thread are showing a level of historical "illiteracy" equivalent to someone who, compared to English, can barely write their name, or Maths, can only count to ten. And it's having a huge impact on people's well-being and perspective, with despair and self-pity being the sad result.

I'm not saying that at all. But whatever... 🙄

Designhelp · 09/10/2022 09:32

No one. Literally no one, who already has children has the right to tell another not to.

Dave20 · 09/10/2022 09:34

Is there ever a perfect time to have a child? Life is unpredictable? A war in Ukraine, could go on for years. Plus we’ve had wars of some kind since time began.

The 90s recession was bad, I was shielded as a kid but looking back things were tight. My mum did extra night shift’s to make ends meet and my dad had a full time job.

No internet or 24 hour news then either.

The recession of 2008 was pretty bad too. Businesses literally folded and lots of people lost their jobs.

In the last two years we’ve had a pandemic, a war in Europe and a rise in the cost of living.

Dave20 · 09/10/2022 09:35

We need kids to be born to keep up with the population and to pay taxes. China had to get rid of their one child rule due to this !

MarshaBradyo · 09/10/2022 09:39

Things are in flux. I feel very lucky to be where we are as it’s comparatively a privilege

It’s hard to know what will happen as many forces in play. We have climate change but also impetus to create new solutions

Prescottdanni123 · 12/10/2022 21:57

@wreckame

I work in conservation so yeah, all animals would be so much better off if humans did just go extinct.

Whats passing me off on this thread is the smugness and hypocrisy. People who have already had all the children that they want preaching about how they would never have children now because of climate change, blah blah blah. Climate change has been an issue for decades, its not something that has just come to light in the last few years.