Study: Many childless Finns see parenthood as an exhausting chore

[Sandman]

Nations that do not want to sacrifice for raising children do not have a future.

[Rumata]

Maybe they are having hard time when they are raising them up but I think when the children are older and self-sustaining it pays off. Imagine being middle age/old with a shitty dog and childless, that sounds so miserable to me. Having a family (by family i mean real family with children) has its ups and downs but is overall fun I think.

I think people normally see in their children their continuation in this world which gives them enough motivation to care about their children. The argument of being lonely and/or helpless in the old age, in my opinion, is secondary.

[Óttar]

The entire human race should have a China 1 - 2 kid policy.

[Finnish Swede]

The entire human race should have a China 1 - 2 kid policy.

Agree.

The real problem is not Europeans few kids....it is non-Europeans huge amounts of kids. Earth is already more than over populated.
Yup, the latter matter is one which really should be solved.

[Harkonnen]

Last summer Finnish statistics officials announced that the country's birth rate this year was on course to be among the lowest since the mid-19th century. The Family Federation of Finland tried to find out why.

Towards the end of the 1960s the average age of a first-time mother in Finland was about 23 years old. These days, however, first-time mothers are about 29 years old and on average, first-time fathers are about 31.5 years old.

In its so-called Family Barometer study, which the group regularly carries out, the federation raised questions about stereotypes about family life, inequality between parents and even examined people's lack of knowledge in biology.

The group interviewed adults without children in order to ask them what family life meant to them.

The respondents often connected family life with owning an automobile, a house and having a steady, secure job. Many told the group they'd be hesitant to start a family too early in their lives.

In earlier family barometers many childless women cited the lack of a suitable partner as the reason behind their non-parental status.

But now, according to the study, women said that they're not having children because they don't want to lose their freedom. Some of those women said that if they gave birth to a child they'd have to give up travelling, enjoying hobbies and spending time with friends.

Future parents, maybe
Despite a trend of delaying parenthood, it's still uncommon for women to say they don't want to have children at all.

The federation says that a family barometer carried out a few years ago indicated that a childless lifestyle may be becoming the norm in Finland. However the group says the latest barometer does not support that theory.

Anna Rotkirch, a researcher at the family federation, says that people can accidentally "sleepwalk into childlessness," in that they simply wait too long to have children.

The fertility of women begins to decline at around the age of 25, Rotkirch says.

Fully one-half of male respondents said they did not know the effect age has on a woman's fertility, Rotkirch said.

This year's study found that as people wait to have their first offspring, the time between the births of each successive child have become shorter, which has led to siblings being born with smaller age differences than in previous generations.

It is perhaps not surprising that many childless people in Finland consider parenthood to be a daily struggle of fatigue and stress.

"When this set of circumstances is combined with people around 30 or 40 who often work a lot, and hard, it can be a recipe for problems," Rotkirch said.

Effects of parenthood viewed differently
For some of those hesitant about starting families, the issue of inequality between parental roles doesn't help matters, either, she said.

"In the barometer, women wondered how much time they'd be able to take off work, while men said they reckoned that they would not be able to work as much overtime once they become fathers," Rotkirch said.

Rotkirch suggested that young people in Finland should start to look at parenthood a bit differently. She said potential parents should consider having just one child at a time rather than waiting for sometime in the future to have several children in a short period of time.

She also said that Finland as a society should not penalise people for having children, regardless of which stage of life they're in. As an example, Rotkirch said that students shouldn't be made to suffer economic hardships just because they decide to have a baby.

--------------

https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/s..._chore/9973186

This article seems to be written in a bit sensationalistic tone. Or on the other hand the study has been done in sensationalistic tone to garner attention, don't take it serious kiddos. These kind of questionnaires can be seriously skewed by the set of questions you choose to make, and then by how you interpret the answers you get.

For example here:

In earlier family barometers many childless women cited the lack of a suitable partner as the reason behind their non-parental status.

But now, according to the study, women said that they're not having children because they don't want to lose their freedom. Some of those women said that if they gave birth to a child they'd have to give up travelling, enjoying hobbies and spending time with friends.

It is very likely that women have not changed at all in few years. What has changed is the set of questions given to them. You can basically get any answer you want by carefully choosing the questions.

Let's for example set a question, "what are negatives for having kids?" Then you put there boxes like "children are smelly shitty creatures" or "lack of personal freedom" and other yaadayaada. Of course any sane person will tick these boxes because tadaa they are the right answers. The problem is when you interpret these answers as the reason why people are having less children. To most it may be, that the fact babies are smelly shitfactories, is in the end, only a minor nuisance and the real reason they are not having kids is completely elsewhere.

I always find it funny when people attack educated people, or "career people" for not having kids, when actual statistics say it is the opposite. If you are not a muslim immigrant, educated people are having more children than the uneducated. Sure kids are coming at older age but it's not all black and white you know, older parents may be both mentally and financially, in better situation to raise children, so their kids may grow up to be spoiled shitty little brats.

[catgeorge]

Selfish world we live in.

It's all about me me me. I want I want I want.

[Harkonnen]

Selfish world we live in.

It's all about me me me. I want I want I want.

Indeed. The sooner people realize this, the better.

[Ylla]

Can you blame them? Having small, noisy, crying, whining children is a nightmare. Ghastly. You can't wait for them to shut up. Anyone who says otherwise is either a liar or has a nanny in sole charge.

I think this is a HUGE mistake that we make as a society. New parents are told by existing parents "Kids are my life and the best thing I have ever done", when they should be told "Kids are fucking hard work, a serious responsibility, cost you money as teenagers and while they enrich your life, there's a lot of pain, worry and disappointment with the joy."

Maybe then people would stop and think before doing what is "my right to have a cute baby" and instead think about what is "their responsibilities to bring up a well balanced person". We need to have this conversation, we need to stop the "kids are a money spinner" crap that the lower socio-economic groups have and the "having kids is my right" crap that everyone else has as they wave goodbye to their babies as they drop them at childcare for most of their lives.

Kids are hard work and a responsibility. It's time people were told that.

Unless someone lives with limited human contact, its pretty clear to everyone that children are hard work just by observing the world around us but it should come naturally if youre a hardworking and caring person.

Its not for everyone though just like marriage isnt. Some people arent suited to the lifestyle and prefer to focus on their own endeavours (personal development, travelling, career, scientific research, preference of childfree life). I dont think thats necessarily selfish if you know its for the greater good i.e improving yourself as a person and giving to the community.

[Mingle]

The entire human race should have a China 1 - 2 kid policy.

Maybe some overpopulated lands such as Bangladesh or Nigeria could temporarily strive for that, but that is absolutely not needed in the West where a stable population is needed to replace the aging workforce and have enough tax revenue to keep the economy stable. Otherwise, you're gonna keep importing migrants from third world countries and continue scratching your head as to why that happens.

[catgeorge]

Indeed. The sooner people realize this, the better.

Soul connectivity, nurturing, endless caring and loving is lost to selfishness and self - centeredness, developing yourself is boring... developing others is where its at.

In other words, in simple words - 98% of top executives, CEO's, directors etc... have families with children or they are looked down upon as unable to connect.