To discuss the societal impacts of older parents?

[Kindersurprising]

I feel like this is a really under-discussed area, particularly as it’s now really extremely common (particularly in middle class circles) to have a first baby after 30 and in many cases 35+.

I feel like in 20 years we are going to see quite a big impact, in adults having fewer (if any) siblings due to parental age, caring for elderly parents while having small children themselves, a lack of grandparent support and I guess a smaller family circle much earlier on. I only realised today that it will be vanishingly rare for kids to have great grandparents soon - my DC have only one, through me.

The positives are often cited as more money, and more life experience.

I was 30 when DC2 was born, so somewhere in the middle and not a young parent as such. I often wonder what it would be like to have had them earlier.

How do you think this will play out in the next 20-50 years?

How many did they have when they were five?

I’m nearly 50 my my great grandparents were long dead when I was born as was one grand parent. My grandmas mum was 40 when she was born. Often looking after parents is down to one sibling.

People are staying healthy a lot longer and working later.

People moving away from home towns and divorce are likely to be much bigger issues

It's all 'me me me and my career' and travel.

How on earth is that a bad thing? Or selfish?

You sound incredibly bitter.

‘Not engaging any more’ after spamming me relentlessly and demanding replies when I wasn’t replying 😂😂

It’s not really under discussed though is it. This seems like a reaction to the threads on 15 year old having babies. I was born in the 70s to parents in their 20s and I didn’t know my great grandparents nor did anyone I knew. My grandparents didn’t so much childcare yet my mother cared for my elderly relatives when we were children. That’s life

I certainly don’t wish my mum had been 15 when she had me just so I could know her grandparents. That would be nuts

Everything is happening later. A consequence of most families needing two incomes to buy a house or even rent so couples need to establish careers, save for a deposit and then get financially stable enough to live off reduced income while the mother/caregiver is on maternity leave. Once you factor in the cost of childcare and maybe private education a lot of families are sticking at one child and don't start a family until late thirties or even forties. This might mean even grandparents are too old to help out let alone great grandparents.

When I was a child (in the 1960s) my mum was a SAHM and was 26 when she had me and 37 by the time she had my brother. I also had our first child at 26 and our second at 28 but we had moved to a cheaper part of the country to make our living costs affordable on just one income. Even so I had to return to part time work when my youngest was 2 when mortgage rates shot up to 15%. My DD had her first child when she was 28 so under 30 still. She works full time.

My mum is still alive so my GC have a great grandmother but only one. We will pay as a society for not making it affordable for young couples to buy a home and have children without needing fertility treatment because they are too old. It is also more common to have children with disabilities if parents are older.

But I have friends who have siblings who are disabled and they will have to have state care because my friends cannot take care of their disabled sibling. I don't think that's really unique to this situation.

I wouldn't be surprised if a robot would work out cheaper than a care home. Care home fees are extremely high.

Imagine being cared for by a robot 😳 am I the only one to find that truly bleak?

This is the case on a statistical level too. Teenage mums and their kids have much poorer outcomes than older parents. It’s a huge advantage for people to be mature and financially and emotionally stable before having kids

She said 1990. That was 35 years ago not 10. And statistics seem to agree

No

Grandparents can be a mixed bag.
I was raised by my maternal grandparents and they were the most loving and caring people I’ve ever known.
My paternal grandmother was mean - I learned at an early age to stay far away from her.
Still, while you don’t miss what you don’t know, I’m sorry you never got to meet your grandparents. I bet they were lovely.

Hence the societal impact when people don't live in the same country as their family. There will be an impact on the children/care of the older generation.

There is a correlation between parental age and additional needs whether physical or ASD etc.

I find this really hard to believe

Todays parents of young dc won't get to retire until 70 or older so they won't be providing care for older generations due to time constraints.

I think I'd probably prefer the robot over a care home if I had family or friends who would pop in to see me now and again.

Yes but most people don't realise that although additinal needs are at an increased risk. It's still not common!

For autism for example ...

'Even so, the absolute chance of having a child with autism is low even for the oldest parents. The researchers in the 2017 study calculated that about 1.5 percent of children born to parents in their 20s will have autism, compared with about 1.58 percent of children born to parents in their 40s'

@JLou08 do you think? who will own the tech & provide it? Even if it's cheaper than a human why won't companies won't want to profit since you know capitalism?

I had my children at 23,25 and 29 and the one at 29 was hard in my body. My mum was 31 and 33 when she had my brother and sister and she was in hospital a lot both times and she said it was hard.

Screenshot below

You are controlling, and a bit dense.

I've called you out on many mistruths and your clearly biased and goady stance.

You didn't want to engage in what was clearly a genuine attempt to get you to debate with honesty and evidence.

And when I said I'm stepping away as this thread isnt what you make out, you now want to say something to me?

Urgh. Why didn't you just admit you wanted a thread to discuss all the negatives of older parents?

You can make your inevitable childish comment in response to this, and get the last word.

I honestly wish you well, and hope you work some of your issues out through this thread

People are staying healthy a lot longer

this really is a bit of a myth.

Seriously?

That's still so young. Most people have babies around those ages and have perfectly healthy pregancies, myself included.

Imagine being cared for by a robot 😳 am I the only one to find that truly bleak?

better a robot then nothing!