Why do people have more children than they can handle ?
Hi guys, having a family in Singapore is definitely not easy due to the high costs of living.
For me personally, the thought of having just one child only and having the extra expenses kinda puts me off.
I grew up with 3 siblings and to be honest things were tough growing up especially during the financial crisis of 97. Parents arguing, siblings crying , you name it.
I personally would not want to have a kid until I can ensure that all his needs can be well met.
Hence the above question. I know you guys can say money isn’t everything, you can still be happy without material wealth etc
But when you have to scrim and save in all aspects of life, live from paycheck to paycheck just because you have too many kids … is it really worth it and why ?
Netizens’ comments
- Because some parents really don’t care about their children.
SG child-rearing is actually really cheap if you don’t care about your child. Just provide food, don’t provide additional stuff, F tuition and lessons, wear secondhand clothes, take government subsidy, then can liao.
It is expensive because people make it so. Really is a range. - trying for a <insert gender here> 🙃
I grew up with 3 siblings too! (parents rly wanted a boy…) it was very tough financially, especially when my mother stayed home to care for us. This put a lot of pressure on my father as the sole breadwinner of our family (especially when he later lost his job).
It’s really affected me growing up – I value financial stability above all else 🤣 while I’m now preparing for a child of my own (my husband and I both work, and intend to continue working!) I won’t be having another child unless I can be sure that one more won’t affect my retirement plans drastically. - I never thought me and my wife would have kids.
Then, literally within 6 months of each other we essentially more than doubled our household income and got jobs that gave us flexibility and WFH.
Huge change of perspective and now we happily (and comfortably) are raising our son.
With no safety net and shitty employee protections, The job you do is so so so important in the decision to have kids.
I worked in healthcare for peanuts, having to be in the hospital all the time. The career switch is directly responsible for us having a kid.
We’re very lucky.