Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
I think this is a very prescient observation, though this is more of a western world thing, is it not?
And in addition to stuff like skyrocketing childcare costs, at the other end there are also escalating costs in terms of senior care. I mean, there is healthcare which one can't get around, but another high-cost sector for seniors is "residential" in nature, and many seniors currently living in public facilities, in another era (for us) or cultures would be living with family members.
|
No, this is true in Democratic East Asia, or the part of the non-Western world that has transcended the middle income trap. My relatives in Taiwan live an atomized, Western middle class life, with both parents working, just one kid that they had in their late 30s, and grandparents in the senior's home.
I think that even in a non-Judeo Christian society that's nominally more collectivist, once you attain a certain level of economic development, a natural sequence of norms just begins to materialize: women don't want to pop out babies; grown men and women don't want to come home from a day of hard work and have their private space infiltrated by elderly in-laws milling around; every child is a big commitment of your own time and resources - you don't want to raise latchkey kids or expect to pawn off parenting responsibilities of your youngest child to your eldest daughter, etc.