PARENTING and POVERTY

[Opiate32]

We talk a lot about the joy of having children but what about the financial responsibility that comes with raising the children. Having children is one thing but being able to provide for them has they grow is another. From feeding to paying school fees, healthcare, buying cloths and other day to day needs which doesn’t stop until after a few years.

I’m not saying someone must be rich before having children, that will sound unrealistic. Financial situation change and some people who tend to be doing well when they started a family eventually find themselves struggling. There are also parents who earn very little but still make real sacrifices to make sure their children have a good life. But what happens when the number of children a family has is far beyond what its income can support?

It’s not always about parent not wanting to sacrifice for their children but sometimes there is not just enough money to go around all at the same time. One child may need school fees and another may be asking to sort out medical attention while the household itself still has to worry about food and rent. The difficult part is that the children don’t even understand this struggles that the parents are facing, all they know is just what they need.

I also wonder if this is one of the reasons why poverty continues from one generation to another. Parent struggle to provide, children grow up with limited opportunities and this same children may eventually still find themselves facing similar difficulties as their parents. Money is not everything , a child can grow up in a rich family and still lack proper care just as someone from a poor family can grow up to achieve great things.

Do you think one needs to be financially ready before deciding to have children?
Can having more children contribute to generational poverty?

[JoyceBTC]

In this present generation and time, partners need to be financially ready before have child/children. Gone are those days where people bring children to the world to suffer without having anything and they have the belief that God will provide and they keep giving birth to more, hoping for God to provide. At the rate of hardship and inflation in this present generation, if you’re not financially ready and you bring a child into this world, you might end up losing that child since you don’t have the finances to maintain and take care of the child.
Even when you’re financially ready to have a child or start having children, be sure of the number of children you can finance for to avoid given birth to number of children you can’t care for.

[iDEEMEE]

Looking back a lot of our parents weren’t rich before giving birth to us but we ate, had a roof, went to school. We may not having experienced luxurious lifestyles but I think our parents did well with what they had. Having a source of income is important though. But if you’re waiting till you’re financially stable you mostly likely may start having kids in your old age because the world is facing one problem or the other, pandemics, inflation, poor policies. All these things have direct or indirect impacts on financial stability.

Another important thing is born as much as you can take care of. Having two kids is okay or one if that’s what your immediate resources can handle. Don’t wait till everything is perfect, start where you are and eventually you’ll watch your kids grow, go to school, get jobs or businesses and become good adults if well trained.

[Sanitough]

Even if the government tries to control the number of kids parents can have, it still does not guarantee that it will reduce poverty. It's not just about the parents, the major reason is the government, because if the government is managing the country well, there will always be jobs for everyone. Look at China, their population is huge but their economy is doing well, so it's all about the leaders and not just the parents when it comes to generating jobs.

[Fortify]

Do you think one needs to be financially ready before deciding to have children?
Can having more children contribute to generational poverty?

In an ideal world people would be financially ready, but it's almost never the case in the real world. Lots of babies were "unexpected" and parents just learn how to make it work. Being rich doesn't magically make you a great parent but maybe it makes the process a little easier. There are poor people who make fantastic parents and there are rich people who make terrible parents. Decisions are easier when money is less of a factor, that's for sure, but it can actually be other things that matter. A parent that takes their children out into the world, teaches them proper manners, supports them through education, doesn't spoil them, encourages athletic pursuits and doesn't parent by tablet is important. On your last point, yes, bringing far too many children into a family that barely survives is irresponsible but we see it in many places like Africa and Asia - parents often using their children as a retirement safety net so they want as many as possible - a very selfish move and often bad for the whole society around them if it's not developed enough.

[Pearl_20]

There's about life, one can't predict how life turns out at the end it is good to make plans for children even before they start coming and those plans include you deciding on the number of kids to have, the spacing and their wellbeing. The rate at which children begs and hawks on the streets is alarming and this is a cause of poor family planning there are couples who barely have what to eat but they can give birth every single year and you see the children very small with minimal age gap with stunted growth because of malnutrition.

Life isn't predictable, we have some wealthy people who are well to do but they're looking for a way to just have a child and then those who don't even have money but are very productive, I just feel that you don't have to get your life all together before you do so, as long as you have something that fetches you money and a good roof over your head there's nothing wrong in planning to have kids and most times along the way things changes for better. The message that we need to spread especially to those women in the village is to do family planning and that awareness should be both husband and wife, whether you're rich, or poor just make sure you and your partner should agree on the number of children you can take care of, it's the collective effort of both parents that brings a child to the world so they're the ones that should be held responsible.

[Oasisman]

Do you think one needs to be financially ready before deciding to have children?
Can having more children contribute to generational poverty?

Absolutely. It is very important that a man should be financially ready even before deciding to marry a woman. Having children even needs more finances.

And the answer to the question is probably yes, but It can change later on when every children is passionate about breaking the poverty in their generation.
I knew a family of 12 who have been struggling when they were still young. Then eventually more than half of them finished their studies with the help of the elder siblings sacrificing their studies to let the young ones finish. From now on, they have already broke their generational poverty.

[Accardo]

Another important thing is born as much as you can take care of. Having two kids is okay or one if that’s what your immediate resources can handle. Don’t wait till everything is perfect, start where you are and eventually you’ll watch your kids grow, go to school, get jobs or businesses and become good adults if well trained.

Life for the boomers was nothing similar to the life of millennials and Gen z, the boomers were exposed to wealth after world war2, they easily could train 10 kids comfortably, married before 25, bought houses in less than 25, the economy was booming, I think that's where the name came from, because more people had to give birth to more kids, things were all in order. Currently, at 25, young men and women cohabit with their parents as tenants for father's and mothers who let their kids pay rents.

The difference is clear but, you have a great point, nothing is stopping anybody from having kids, as many as they could handle, instead of waiting for the world to balance before doing so, the world won't stop, it'll keep moving at a blazing speed.

[Comeacross]

Even if the government tries to control the number of kids parents can have, it still does not guarantee that it will reduce poverty. It's not just about the parents, the major reason is the government, because if the government is managing the country well, there will always be jobs for everyone. Look at China, their population is huge but their economy is doing well, so it's all about the leaders and not just the parents when it comes to generating jobs.

Let be realistic for once. It's not even possible for any government in this world to provide job for everyone no matter how much they tried. Even some countries that called themselves developed countries still have people that are unemployed. The highest government can do is to create a working system for people to help themselves with whatever skills they have but they can not employ every single citizen.

China economy is doing well actually but that doesn't mean they don't struggling families. Just like their population, they have millions of people still living in abject poverty. China has productive industries which is why their economy is doing well. Birth control can not reduce poverty but at least it won't increase the number of people living in poverty. The more people continue to give birth to children, the more burden they putting on already failed government.

[Joeboy]

...

Absolutely. It is very important that a man should be financially ready even before deciding to marry a woman. Having children even needs more finances.

And the answer to the question is probably yes, but It can change later on when every children is passionate about breaking the poverty in their generation.
I knew a family of 12 who have been struggling when they were still young. Then eventually more than half of them finished their studies with the help of the elder siblings sacrificing their studies to let the young ones finish. From now on, they have already broke their generational poverty.

Sure financial readiness is really important, both in the man's as well as the woman's financial status...Newly weds or those in a relationship that are planning to have kids should understand that bringing children into the world comes with a lot of responsibility...From the early stages, you will have to deal with responsibility such as buying baby wears, baby toys, pampas, feeding bottles and so on and so forth..And these responsibilities are continuous, meaning that even when the children grows, this responsibilities wouldn't just stop like that...It would still continue on and on till the child advances in age and become independent.. Even after independence, some parent still handles some other responsibilities of their children...

All of the responsibilities I mentioned and those ones I may have failed to do, all involves money to achieve them...And if a man is struggling same as his wife, a child could be denied of those things that he or she could actually be needing for proper development...If the financial life of the parent still don't increase as the child develops, the child could even take to the street when he/she is a bit of age and from there, they begin involving themselves in any and all sort of activities just to make money...For the boys they could begin engaging themselves in dangerous crimes...And for the girl child, she could even in the process of it all get pregnant in the streets. Give birth to children out of wedlock and that very cycle of poverty continues on and on till it gets to later generations ..

So as parent it is very much advisable that we focus on improving our finances first before marriage..I am not suggesting that folks become rich prior to child birth ..What I am saying is that folks should at least have some money in their pocket..And if the money is not enough, there is no point in adding more children...Folks could just stick to 1 or 2 offsprings, or any number that they know they can comfortably take care of...

[Kelvinid]

They say if you are born with poor parents, that's not your fault. But if you die still poor, that's already your fault. The same goes if you enter marriage which is your choice, poverty can be very possible but you have all the means to raise your children not struggling financially and emotionally, and that's where financial preparedness should be assured before building your own family. I'm talking about building an emergency fund, getting the right insurance and its coverage, and investing in education and financial literacy while your kids are still young and independent.

[Female King]

Realistically before settling down for marriage both couples needs to be financially stable, they must not be rich but at least there should be a source of income that can be able to cover up their early start of marriage and gradually expand their source of income as family continue to grow, again there should be a good family plan between couples and should only give birth to children they can comfortably take care of.

One of the reason why poverty is increasing is because of unplanned marriages, if you don't have money or any source of income don't think of been a family man because there is high chance of you dying poor and also your children growing up to become poor people also.

[snowpega]

I personally believe that it really matters a lot to plan a family before having a child or even getting married. As a responsible man, you should be prepared for all possibilities you can think of that may stand in front of you in the form of problems. Good parenting is really a big responsibility, in my point of view. This is why make sure to grow up your kids better so that they can represent yourself in all your belongings in a better way.

If you are not financially stable, you should know that your kids are also going to be stressed because they are not being provided with the means to have a better life. We should at least put our best efforts into providing a better lifestyle for our kids so that they can be raised well. Well, this is my point of view. What do you guys think about this?