Re: As a childless curmudgeon.
Having children is biology, it's not a right, or a privilege. The second you start saying who can and can't have kids you end up in some very dodgy waters. (or at the least an ageing population problem a few generations down the line).
Children appear to be seen as a meal ticket these days, the more you have, the more £££ the govt will give you
Do you have any evidence of this? I'm firmly in middle age now, and remember people saying similar when I was growing up. Has it got worse since? Isn't it just that if you have a system that takes care of the poor and disadvantaged you will also end up taking care of a percentage of the lazy and shameless too?
I lament the world kids are being forced to grow up in
Why? Genuinely why? Is it much worse now than it was 'then'? (I accept we're currently in a period I suspect we'll come to refer to as 'the batshit insane years' but I hope it's just a 'blip')
But on a day to day actually living life level is it any worse? I look at my sister and her husband, they're a similar income level to my parents were when we were growing up (probably slightly worse), however their two kids have far more toys, etc, than we did growing up? They're well fed and happy and also living in a world with a diverse range of knowledge and entertainment at their fingertips. (No black and white tv watching late night ITV for them). They're certainly not worse off. Also, according to the ONS crime has fallen dramatically overall since the mid 90s so they're safer too.
and with ever increasing population numbers, things are only EVER going to worsen.
"Soooooommmeeeee things in life are bad...."