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Does Not Having Children Make Us Happy?

Happiest country in the World

The total fertility rate for the year 2023 was 1.26 children per woman, according to Statistics Finland. This is the lowest rate recorded since 1776.

The number cruncher also noted that last year the average age of first-time mothers rose to 30.3 years, and 32.2 for fathers.

As Finland is seeing fewer babies, fewer people are also dying, according to Statistics Finland, which said it recorded 1,880 fewer deaths in 2023 than the year before.

Life expectancy for boys born now is 79 and 84.2 for girls, representing an increase of 0.33 years for boys and 0.4 years for girls compared to 2022.

https://yle.fi/a/74-20090349

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This government especially is making it very difficult to bring up children.
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Birth rates under previous government also the lowest in history at the time. Maybe more to do with attitudes to motherhood than government policies, in the "happiest country in the World".
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Many people in 25-35 age are unemployed or with short contracts. How can you think to have a family?
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Perfectly put into words. That's exactly how it is. Anyone who has even a spark of responsibility in them wants to first create a reasonable foundation for a child before having one, and that's damn difficult in this country.

On the other hand, one sees a lot of young mothers who are already divorced and single mums in their early 30s. Those may be good for fertility statistics because they have given birth to children, but the image of family that Finland represents is not less questionable than its declining fertility rates.

Lots of problems in this country. Lots of problems. And please refrain from saying that the image of family isn't better in other European or Western countries. Pointing fingers at other countries does not make one's own country any better.
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I think some of it is due to the late start to adulthood most Finns get. In my home country I finished high school at 17, university at 20 and have been in full time employment ever since. Here kids don't start school until 7. Finish at 20. A year of military service. A modern trend of taking a gap year. A perchant for Finns to get a masters degree. It all adds up to not starting to earn an income until about 27. By the time they can afford to have a family, it's biologically too late.
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And after all that time to get education the future career becomes the most important achievement.. goal at least. Btw, only men compelled to do military conscription.
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As an adult, I still don't feel secure enough to raise children. The costs are prohibitive, with weakening support networks and unstable job markets adding to the issue. Not to mention, the surge in prices for essentials like energy, food, and especially housing is daunting.

On top of these economic challenges, the ongoing threats posed by global warming, war, and a government bent on pulling out the rug under everyone who isn't wealthy or a business, makes the future seem even more uncertain.

If people are struggling to make their own basic needs, and have feelings of worry, then with all these reasons it's understandably scary and intimidating for anyone considering starting a family today.
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Similar issues were on minds of people also in the past. And then they got kids and worked hard to arrange the living and things mostly worked fine. Maybe now people just choose not to do it- when alternatives feel attractive?
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People today are generally more educated on many topics and often reconsider their futures. For example, contraceptive use has increased significantly, and education overall has improved. We now live in an age where information is transmitted at lightning speed, for better or worse.

Setting aside the concern about having fewer people to support an aging population, is lower population growth really such a terrible thing? We're already struggling to feed and house everyone as it is.
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From what I can see, young couples are choosing miniature breeds of dogs over children.
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Education is the key here. Educated people knows kids don't bring happiness or joy in life as it used to be propagandized before. The happiness, living standard, freedom of mobility, career perspective, everything reduces with the kids.

Unlike some countries we do not need kids to look after us in old age, so, there is really no point of having kids just for sake of having these days.
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To me it seems like a spiral. The insane taxes and cost of living mean that fewer people can afford to have children. That tilts the population demographic such that fewer young workers have to financially support more old people. A consequence of that is that old people get more voting power than young people - they will vote in their own interests, putting even more of a financial burden on young people, making it harder again for them to afford children.

I can only envision very dark futures.

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Финны просто атеисты. Отсюда и боязнь заводить детей.

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Не согласен. Религия может быть немного влияет, но есть гораздо более существенные причины.
И 27 лет совсем не "too late", у меня первый ребенок был в 39

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Ладно, вас вычеркиваем. Вы те самые вторые 50 процентов, которые верят в Бога, но не полностью доверяют.

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Для мужчины действительно нет особой разницы, можно и в 80. Качество спермы, конечно, падает, но не критически. А вот для женщины окно фертильности очень узкое. Если не родила ребёнка до 30 - это уже 50% вероятность остаться бездетной до конца жизни. А после 40 вероятность зачатия падает критически, и, вдобавок, становится сложно выносить. У людей, в целом, нереалистичные представления о возможности завести детей в старшем возрасте. И это не я говорю, а учёные.

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Из книги Эллендеи Проффер "Бродский среди нас"

В 1989 году к Иосифу приехал важный гость – двадцатидвухлетний Андрей Басманов, сын, в последний раз увидевший отца в пятилетнем возрасте. Встреча не задалась. Иосиф позвонил мне и с досадой сказал, что сын, играющий на гитаре, весь день ничего не делает, только смотрит MTV, говоря, что в России ничего подобного нет.
Конечно, ему нравится. Он молодой музыкант, сказала я. Мне самой нравится.
Он не читает. Он ничего не знает, сердито сказал Иосиф.
Вот это было преступлением. Сыну полагалось быть его копией и его гордостью. Я сказала ему, чтобы был помягче с парнем, который впервые встретился с отцом, будучи уже взрослым. Но Иосиф – не мог, он был разочарован. Когда мы заговорили об этом в следующий раз, Андрей уже улетел в Россию, раньше времени. Иосиф все еще огорчался и винил Марину в том, что получилось из Андрея. Теперь он не против того, чтобы завести другого ребенка – ребенка, из-за которого, как он сказал мне однажды, Андрей мог почувствовать себя оттесненным.

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