three aspects of parenting that I suspect are the main reasons why people choose to have kids or not: the financial case, the moral case, and the practical case
None of these are reasons to choose to have kids; they are all reasons not to. That is, even if you refute them, you still haven’t made a positive case.
This brings up the issue of whether or not you “owe” your child an all expenses paid college education. I wouldn’t rule out only paying partially for your child’s college education especially since this calculation assumes only one child. I would be interested to hear more thoughts on this matter.
I don’t feel obligated to provide any college tuition to any of my children; I certainly haven’t ruled it out, but to have had their prospective existence hinge on going to a college or not seems to wildly exagerate the importance of a college degree.
I also tend to think the other financial costs of having a child are overblown due to a desire for convenience or status (that is, there are cheaper ways of doing things that may not signal high status, but that is true of everything really)
None of these are reasons to choose to have kids; they are all reasons not to. That is, even if you refute them, you still haven’t made a positive case.
I don’t feel obligated to provide any college tuition to any of my children; I certainly haven’t ruled it out, but to have had their prospective existence hinge on going to a college or not seems to wildly exagerate the importance of a college degree.
I also tend to think the other financial costs of having a child are overblown due to a desire for convenience or status (that is, there are cheaper ways of doing things that may not signal high status, but that is true of everything really)