Idolising Children?

Blogs are problematic. Some days it seems bloggers are on fire. Other days they sound like broken LPs from the 80s.

Sam deBrito (a fairfax blogger, and one of the more successful) at All Men Are Liars runs the old “parenting isn’t all beer and skittles - I know some of you hate it” line over here.

On one level it is boring, especially as it feels like Sam isn’t really putting the effort in on this one. He wants to hear from parents who will say - “shouldn’t have had kids”. It seems like a pretty pointless exercise in a way.

Of course sometimes we hate it. Life is like that. We all have moments where we question where how life has been. We all need to be a bit existential at times.

But, you can run exactly the same argument for people pursuing the single life, or the couple without children life, or the divorced couple with kids life. Should we? Or shouldn’t we? And, does it really matter?

Of course the childfree movementis probably a fair reaction from people who don’t have kids to our idolising of childhood and youth. But, really, they don’t need to waste their energy.

In 2016, AIFS data shows that couples without children will become the dominant family type. That is in three elections time. So, those into family-friendly politics better make the most of it while it lasts…it will be the extended family and netowrk of friends that might just matter more in the future.

Do we need to worry about being “childfree”?

Well, perhaps we do - because despite Sam & co - most of us still want to have children.