The debate on birth rates hides a textbook hypocrisy. Institutions demand more children to sustain pensions and services, while maintaining precarious wages, unaffordable housing, and zero real support for parenting. Demanding demographic sacrifice without offering stability is the perfect recipe for young people to keep fleeing the model.
The hidden cost of raising children in the age of algorithmic precarity 💸
Family management apps and early warning systems do not solve the basic equation: raising children costs money that isn't there. While automation eliminates stable jobs, daycare remains a luxury and parental leave, a pipe dream. Investing in public care infrastructure and affordable housing is more effective than any fiscal patch that punishes those who can no longer sustain the system.
The magic solution: one child, one mortgage, and off you go 🏃
The plan is simple: work 50 hours a week, pay rent that leaves you with no savings, and then, miraculously, raise three children to pay the pensions of those who did own their homes. If you complain, you're irresponsible. Next time, instead of a tax bonus, they should give away a time machine to go back to 1990.