To Be or Not To Be a Parent:More Choices, More Constraints

Discussion GroupsOglesby, Shekiuna S.

Jackson, D'Ageon C.

Pettus, Jade J.

Gaston, Fatima A.

 

Baxter, Megan M.

Wilson, Cal D.

Small, Alisha

Williams, Kiana S.

Price, Kayla M.

Harris, Kedria T.

Daniel, Stephanie M.

Wagner, Megan N.

 

Wells, Shayla L.

Storrs, Briana D.

Blackshear, Taquana

Hurt, Obinna D.

The Choice To Be a Parent• In a national study of first-year college

students, 77% said that having children is an “essential” or “very important” objective in their lives.

• Do you want to have kids?• How many?

How Many?A majority of Americans say that two

children is the ideal number, and few people want more than three. This is a dramatic difference from 1945, when 77% of families said three was the ideal number.

The Choice To Be a Parent

• What are the pros and cons for having kids?

The Choice To Be a Parent

• What are the costs of having kids? • These don’t have to be financial costs.

Costs of Having Children

Extensive academic research has shown that couples that have children are either equally or less happy than childless couples. In fact, children are one of the top reasons for marital dissatisfaction. Studies have also shown that parents are more likely to be depressed, suffer from stress and anxiety and experience more dissatisfaction with their life in general. And it appears to be somewhat cumulative: The more children a couple has, the higher the level of discontent.

THIS IS CONTRARY TO OUR BOOK!

Some Effects of ParenthoodFor 70-90% of couples, marital bliss

dips during the first year of being parents. – higher divorce rate.– Some parents think having a baby will

bring them closer, but it often drives them apart.

Benefits and Costsof Having Children

Costs:

• difficult job

• It is expensive.

• emotional costs

• Fathers and mothers spend time caring for the children, often neglecting their own relationships.

The Mommy TaxAnn Crittenden: When you've been home raising children, you

are looked at (by employers) as if your brain has been on ice, so you take a hit in your income, in the kind of wages you can command. I put a name on it: The Mommy Tax. In other words, what is your lifetime loss of income if you have a kid, in terms of lowered income for the rest of your life? There's a lot of variation, but you can say, in general, that if a college-educated woman has one child, she will lose about a million dollars in lifetime earnings. I didn't have my child until I was over 40, and I already had a number of years working. But my Mommy Tax is close to a million.

Cost of PregnancyThere are several discomforts for moms at all

stages of pregnancy:– nausea and tiredness in the first trimester– mother begins feeling movements in the second

trimester (which can be fun)– the third trimester is difficult because of physical

discomfort such as backache and fatigue

Teen Pregnancy

• Are there additional costs for teen pregnancy?

Teen Pregnancy – National Data• The United States has the highest rates of teen

pregnancy, births, and abortion in the fully industrialized world.

• Three in ten girls in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before age 20; that’s over 750,000 teen pregnancies a year.

• Although the U.S. birth rate for 15 to 19 year olds declined by 30% over the past decade, it rose by 3 percent in 2006. 

• The birth rate for teenagers fell 9% to 34.3 births per 1,000 females aged 15-19 in 2010, the lowest level ever reported for the United States

In 2009, 26.2% percent of all births among teens ages 15‐19 years old were repeat births.

According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Georgia is ranked 21th for highest chlamydia rate in the United States, 11th for gonorrhea, 4th for Syphilis, and 9th in AIDS cases nationally.

Teen Pregnancy

• How can we reduce the high rates of teen pregnancy

Teen Pregnancy• Have you heard something like this,

• “If I have sex spontaneously, without thinking about it ahead of time, then I won’t be guilty, but if I plan on having sex, then I’m a bad person.”

• What other reasons are given for avoiding contraceptives?

AbortionHas been and continues to be

controversial.

The number of abortions is on the decrease.

Who typically has an abortion?

Abortion• “Under what circumstances should a

woman have the option of electing an abortion?”

Infant Mortality• The U.S. has the highest rate of infant

mortality (number of babies who die in their first year compared to the number of babies born) for any high-income country in the world..

• The leading causes - physical defects, preterm birth, and low birth weight.• Nutrition• Medical care

Postponing ParenthoodThere are both macro- and micro-level factors

that are causing women wait to have children.

Micro-level factors—– jobs and careers– Many women are putting off marriage and don’t

want to adopt as single parents.– Many couples don’t want nannies or child care

providers raising their children, so they wait until they are more financially stable.

– Women who enjoy their jobs don’t want to give them up for motherhood.

Why Is This Happening?Macro-level factors—

– When there is high recession, many young people don’t have the financial resources to start a family.

– Many young couples still live with their parents.– Some young couples are disturbed by the high

divorce rate.– Advanced reproductive technology has put less

stress on the biological clock.– Our country does not support young families in

the same ways that some other high-income nations do.

Some Characteristics of Older Parents

Advantages—Women who give birth between 22 and 34

have healthier babies.Older mothers are more likely to be

married and have a higher education.Older mothers tend to feel more secure.Older dads also have some advantages in

that they can retire when their children are younger and get to spend more time with them.

Age and Autism• Women over age 40 are 77% more likely than women under

age 25 to have a child with autism.• Women over age 40 are 51% more likely than women aged

25-29 to have a child with autism.• Women aged 35-39 are 31% more likely than women aged

25-29 to have a child with autism.• Women aged 30-34 are 12% more likely than women aged

25-29 to have a child with autism.• Women under age 25 are 14% less likely than women aged

25-29 to have a child with autism.• Men over age 40 are twice as likely as men under age 25-29

to have a child with autism, but only if the mother is under age 25.

Age and Down Syndrom

Adoption

• Much more common options.

• Changes:• Closed to open• International

Open and Closed AdoptionsOpen adoption is the practice of

sharing information and maintaining contact between the biological and adoptive parents throughout the child’s life.

Closed adoptions, where there was no contact between any of the parties, used to be used much more common.

International AdoptionAdopting children from other counties

has become easier and more accepted.

In the past decade, approximately 216,000 children have been adopted from 20 different countries.

Genetic Engineering: Benefits and Costs

Some worry that genetic engineering, because it mettles with nature, is unnatural and unethical.

Benefits—it has been valuable in detecting prenatal genetic abnormalities.

Costs—increases the risk of birth defects, especially in the case of twins or multiple births.