Are there any advantages to never having children?

1. 55

   Joan Kingposted 12 years ago

   Are there any advantages to never having children?
   
   

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2. 70

   buckleupdorothyposted 12 years ago

   Here is a great article I just read on the subject: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/b … ks_kolbert

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3. 71

   dashingscorpioposted 12 years ago

   Life is a personal journey. If someone doesn't want children then they should not have children. Having said that there are some advantages for not having children which can't be denied.
   1. Financially it's been reported that in the U.S. it takes approximately $220 - $377 Thousand to raise a child from infant to age 18. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-0 … -says.html
   (This does not even include parents who have kids born with special needs/diseases)
   2. Freedom to be spontaneous to take trips or go out without needing to find a sitter.
   3.  Additional stress and worry comes with having children. Parents worry about how their kids are being treated in school as well as in the world in general. As children get older they are given more responsibility such as driving, dating, working part-time jobs, and going away to college. It's been said a parent (never) stops worrying about their child.
   4. Not every child grows up to be a self-reliant productive citizen. Some treat their parents like human ATMs as long as they are alive. FYI - There are no guarantees that one's children will take care of their senior parents. There are many people living in nursing homes who thought they'd never end up there!
   
   5. Environmentally it was reported in 2005 one person contributes 56 tons of trash per year. The daily amount of trash accumulated throughout the world -- especially in the United States and China -- is causing the landfills to overflow. http://curiosity.discovery.com/question … d-landfill
   In the end whether a couple chooses to have kids or not have kids they both are getting what they want. Neither is more or less selfish than the other.

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      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      A resounding applause and amen to you, Dashingscorpio. Many people have children and REGRET it, look at the way children are TREATED. Children KNOW where they are wanted or just a convenience!

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4. 83

   tamarawilhiteposted 12 years ago

   You save a lot of money. But you must also take care to save for your own retirement, healthcare and long term care (assisted living, retirement care) because you won't have descendants to support you.

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      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Having children is NO guarantee that you will be cared for in your old age.How many old people are abandoned by THEIR children/thrown n/2 nursing homes and not visited by THEIR children.There are childfree people who are CARED for lovingly by others.

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5. 71

   Darrell Robertsposted 12 years ago

   The advantages to not having childres are: Not having to worry about their safety and education. More free time to do as you please. The financial responsibility.
   
   Best wishes.

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6. 79

   phillippeengelposted 12 years ago

   The advantages are:
   
   1. resources will not be overused and depleted,
   2. the speed of development of the country that has low population growth rate will increase, and
   3. personal benefits, i.e. exempted from quarrels, stress and financial difficulties of having to raise children.

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7. 78

   Beata Stasakposted 12 years ago

   There are many children in this world, orphaned, abused, mistreated, with living parents and yet alone....there is enough people in the world, more than our planet can feed...
   They say 'children are our tickets to immortality', the need to have children and continue our line is ingrained in us by family, tradition and sometimes even as a duty to the new established nation...
   Think carefully about your wish to have children and listen to no-one except your reason and your heart..there is pro..and against...like in everything else, but just like love...it can not be measured only on the materialisitc scale...maternal and paternal love is the biggest love of them all:)

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      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Excellent and thoughtful answer INDEED!

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8. 61

   Unleashed Freedomposted 12 years ago

   dashingscorpio has said it all, so there is no need to add more ( despite the hub warning me that my answer was too short).

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9. 92

   MsDoraposted 12 years ago

   Not having children takes away the compulsory financial responsibilities of raising a child, plus the physical and emotional pressures of nurturing and protecting.

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10. 82

    gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

    
    
    There are many advantages in not having children:
    (1) Childfree couples have more time to spend together regarding their marriages.Many marriages concentrate on the children and when the children are grown and leave home,husbands and wives have grown apart,having to reacquaint themselves as husbands and wives, instead of being just parents. 
    
    (2) Childfree couples are closer. Children oftentimes causes rifts in marriage.The main subject of contention with many couples is how to raise children. One spouse may be permissive while the other is stricter.  Children, often knowingly, can cause rifts between couples for myriad reasons. 
    
    (3) Childfree couples have less stress.Children oftentimes create stress in household either emotionally, financially, mentally, psychologically, even psychically. It takes a lot of monies to raise children until adulthood. Besides that, children can be quite aggravating. Studies have conclusively proven that childfree and 1-child families are happier and have the LEAST stress whereas large families of 6 or more children have the MOST stress.Families with the most children suffer the most stress in myriad ways.Finances are tight; parents are drained and at the end of their ropes mentally, emotionally, physically, and psychologically as well as financially. 
    
    (4) Children can be a detriment to a full romantic life.Childfree couples are often free to indulge in their wildest, romantic fantasies.They also have the means to do so.  In addition to that, they have THE TIME.  Not so for couples with children. hey have to constantly schedule romantic time together; if they do have "romantic time" together, there is a possibility of being interrupted for one reason or another. Children know the opportune time to disrupt such occasions. 
    
    (5) Children can cause financial stress.If a couple has a sick child or a child/children with special needs, if the couple is not rich, expenses can pile up and seriously. Also, the sick and/or special needs child/children can cause emotional, mental, and psychological stress to the parents, even to the point of bankruptcy and penury.
    
    (6) Children can be P-R-O-B-L-E-M-A-T-I-C. Yes, there are some children who are very recalcitrant. Such children cause havoc for their parents and sometimes for other children in the family.It is hard to raise a child who is extremely hellbent. Many parents suffer breakdowns because of such children. As one parent stated children can REALLY DRIVE one C-R-A-Z-Y!

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    1. 82

       gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Meant couples without children, not couples with children.

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11. 63

    gottaloveit2posted 10 years ago

    I chose not to breed vastly preferring my rescue dogs. It was by far the best decision of my life. Interesting question. We'll done

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    1. 82

       gmwilliamsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       +1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!

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12. 62

    LadyPenelopeposted 6 years ago

    My servants don't seem to complain. Still, one could have been a bit overzealous with the 'no follower' clause I put in their contracts. 
    Besides, having children is so, terribly Middle Class these days.
    It won't be long until one can purchase them at supermarkets.

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    1. 82

       gmwilliamsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       The middle classes are having LESS children.  There are those of the middle classes who are having NO CHILDREN.  It is the lower classes who are QUITE PROLIFIC reproducers of children.  There is a saying that while the affluent classes become more socioeconomically wealthy, the poor have CHILDREN.....and CHILDREN...…….and CHILDREN.

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       1. 92

          Rada4Healthposted 2 years agoin reply to this

          I share your position fully! ^_^

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